As I watched the TKD competition what I saw mot only saddened me but angered me as well. All the fist pumping was idiotic to say the least. If you saw all the kicks being thrown it was only all to apparent that not even 5% of the kicks scored. But everytime there was a kick in which the competitor thought there was a score the first thing that happened was his/her fist went up in the air and was a look at the score board. Now when I started to train for tournys my master made it clear that there was a time and place for celebrations and inside the ring is not it. If we did something like that he would have yanked any of us out of the ring and just had the match called. As referee I would not have condoned such actions. Now I know some that might read this might say well the rules don't say the we can't cheer anymore. Well to them I say it is disrespectful to you opponet, and as a referee I would call it on the grounds of undesirable remarks towards an opposing contestant or coach. It is also an issue of self control.. the control of ones emotions and actions. We talk to our kids about controling their temper, but what about the flip side of the coin.
Then there was the case of a young man from Spain that was not satisfied in that his kicks did not score and raised his arms in a "What the heck" motion. I too would have given him a deduction for such a outburst. I would have also talked to the coach telling him to control his player.
The final straw for me was the young man from Cuba throwing a kick at a referee. It is only right that he earned a lifetime ban from sanctioned WTF events. Now I am not saying some were or were not given more time. However, as those who practice and fight in the ring we all know the rule is you get one minute medical time out, and if you are still bleeding and/or cannot continue you have lost the match. While many would say, and I might tend to agree with them, that the ref should have asked if he was ready to continue; the rules state that the fighter must be up and ready to continue at the point the time out is concluded.
After the events of this Olympics I would not be surprized to see the IOC seriously look into omitting the sport for 2012. The WTF has streamlined the sport in an effort to make it more TV friendly but at what cost. I for one am not going to be competing in fighting (mainly 'cause I am not in the shape I used to be) but instread I am going to be talking with other instructors/coaches/referees to changing the attitude of those in the ring and those outside of it.
So that is my rant. 
Tags: Respect Self Control
