What is the difference between WTF taekwondo and ITF taekwondo?
The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and the International Taekwondo Federation are the two largest global governing associations. Broadly speaking,WTF Taekwondo tends to be perceived as a modern sport oriented federation, mainly due to the fact that WTF Taekwondo is a well established Olympic sport whereas ITF taekwondo tends to be somewhat more tradition oriented. The sparring/competition rules are also different in that WTF taekwondo uses full contact rules with competitors wearing full protective body armour and ITF only semi contact with competitors wearing less protective clothing. Of course, during training sessions controlled sparring and safety is of the highest order, with only the more experienced students being able to apply more force in order to simulate a real competition scenario.
