SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – Gangnam District in Seoul announced on September 24 that it will host the “2024 Foreigners’ Taekwondo Performance Festival” on September 28 at Kukkiwon, the world taekwondo headquarters.
This annual event, co-organized by the Gangnam District Office, Kukkiwon, and the Foreigners’ Taekwondo Culture Association in Korea since 2022, is expected to draw approximately 900 foreign taekwondo practitioners from about 20 countries.
The image shows “2023 Foreigners’ Taekwondo Performance Festival”
Participants will include U.S. military personnel stationed in Korea, international students, foreign workers, and multicultural families.
The festival will unfold in several stages, beginning with morning preliminaries featuring poomsae (form) competitions and sparring matches. Following an opening ceremony, the event will proceed with sparring finals in the afternoon, concluding with an awards ceremony.
Taekwondo demonstrators from the Kukkiwon Taekwondo Centre demonstrate their skills at the 2012 World Taekwondo Hanmadang in Seoul, South Korea.
Competitions will be divided into student (elementary, middle, and high school) and adult categories. Participants will showcase their skills in five disciplines: poomsae, sparring, knifehand strioking, speed kicking, and high jumping kicks.
In addition to the taekwondo competitions, the organizers have prepared a range of traditional Korean cultural experiences.
A demonstrator showcases breaking at the World Taekwondo Hanmadang 2012 in Seoul, South Korea.
Attendees will have the opportunity to make Hahoe masks, create traditional tops, fold paper toys, try archery, and play tuho, a traditional Korean game of pitch-pot. A photo zone featuring Kukkiwon as a backdrop will allow participants to capture memories in their taekwondo uniforms.
A member of Hong Kong’s team performs taekwondo Poomsae in synchronised movements during the Foreign Certified Poomsae Team Competition at the World Taekwondo Hanmadang 2019 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Cho Sung-myung, the head of Gangnam District, expressed his hopes for the event, stating, “Through this festival, we aim to provide foreigners with an opportunity to experience Korean culture through taekwondo and foster communication.”
He added, “We will continue to create diverse opportunities to promote Korean traditional culture and engage with the world using taekwondo as a medium.”
A group of grandmotherly taekwondo demonstrators demonstrate their skills at the ‘2012 World Taekwondo Hanmadang’ event.
Image credit: Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
