Taekwondo

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GB Taekwondo

The martial art of Para taekwondo has one key difference to Olympic taekwondo – kicks to the head are not allowed.

Matches are made up of three two-minute rounds and take place indoors on an octagonal shaped court. Para taekwondo comes in two forms - Kyorugi for athletes with limb impairments and Poomsae for athletes with intellectual impairments. Only Kyorugi will take place at the Paralympic Games.

The rules

All scoring is based on kicks to the trunk. Two points are awarded for a valid kick, four points for a kick involving a 180-degree turn, and three points for a spin kick.

Athletes wear body protectors with in-built electronics that register kicks, while a jury watching from the sidelines determines the complexity of each move and the exact number of points that can be awarded, if required.

In the event that scores are tied after three rounds then an extra golden point round is held.