Olympic TKD

Nia Abdallah - Texan vs. Jang Ji Won - Korean

Thus far, this is the only Olympic match I've been able to see. I "taped" (TiVo'ed) six hours of crap for something under 3 and a half minutes of TKD match. Oh well. That's the way the ball bounces.

I found the match interesting. The players or contestants have a "unique" style. Their arms and thus their guard remains firmly planted at their sides. This does little good if one is actually attempting to deflect a technique. Never-the-less, they dazzled us with their repertoire of varied and unusual techniques. The only kick I recall seeing from either person was a round house except for one push kick executed to Ms. Won's head while she was falling on her Korean pride and another push kick also applied to Ms. Won but against the front of her hogo. The first technique scored no points as it was illegal at the time of execution. You're not supposed to attack a fallen opponent. Obviously, Ms. Abdallah took a page from my book. If they hurt me, kill them.

The official score was 4 to 1, Ms. Won's favour. Unfortunately, she received 2 full point deductions making the score 2 to 1. Had she received but one more full point deduction and she would have been disqualified, at least around here. I'm not sure what rules the Olympic committee set up for these games. It seemed fairly obvious that some of the rules included free points for the Korean player. During a shoving match (also not allowed in this sport), Ms. Won gained a point. I have no idea how it happened as punches are not counted as points and both contestants' feet were on the ground during the entire incident. The rules also seem to include NOT counting points for non-Koreans. Ms. Abdallah plowed Ms. Won at least twice with powerful body shots that counted nothing. She even grazed Ms. Won's head which also counted for naught. (Yes, TiVo slow-motion/frame advance can be very nice in this situation.)

Obviously I'm not very happy about the outcome of the match. What I wish to make clear however is that this not prejudice against Koreans. IF Ms. Won had actually won the match (hmm, homonyms), I would cheering her all the way home, but as far as I could tell, she did not. Now, before judging me as some arm-chair referee, please be aware that I am a certified USTU referee, grade C3. I also teach the Art form which, Olympic announcers is NOT "The Way of the HAND and FOOT." It is, "The way of the Foot and Hand." Tae Kwon Do = Foot Hand Way. Look it up. Order IS important. Otherwise, who cares who gets the gold if gold doesn't mean first?