Will the ITF WC to be held in North Korea affect your decision to participate?

Discussion in 'Tae Kwon Do' started by itf-taekwondo, Oct 16, 2014.

  1. itf-taekwondo

    itf-taekwondo Banned Banned

    I joked to a couple friends that I would like to visit North Korea in order to spar and train with the ITFers over there, since they are technically the best in the world.

    As it happens, the world championships are to be held there next year.

    - Will you guys go?

    - Isn't there a risk you don't know what to expect when visiting such a country?

    - Won't you still be under close surveillance the entire trip, just as if you were a tourist?

    - I assume you are not allowed to bring anything with you to their country, aside from the ITF taekwondo dobok.:s

    Thread maker first: No, I won't go.
     
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2014
  2. TheMadhoose

    TheMadhoose Carpe Jugulum

    I'd go but not affiliated to the Chang Ung Group

    Define risk...People get shot and stabbed and murdered in Scotland

    probably under very strict surveillance although UK is already heavily monitored by cctv surveillance.

    don't take anything to a country they don't allow legally isn't really rocket science
     
  3. philosoraptor

    philosoraptor carnivore in a top hat Supporter

    Why are they technically the best in the world?

    I hear North Korea's got the best everything. Best army, best literature, best movies, best leader, best freedom. Best political prisons for that matter!

    [​IMG]

    Totally got the best rabbits.
     
  4. FunnyBadger

    FunnyBadger I love food :)

    I'd like to watch a whippet try and catch that !
     
  5. itf-taekwondo

    itf-taekwondo Banned Banned

    As far as I know you are not allowed to take any possessions with you to North Korea. You cannot move freely as a tourist, which however is possible in the UK.

    Because the Taekwondo representatives in North Korea are selected and trained 8 hours a day from a very young age.
     
  6. philosoraptor

    philosoraptor carnivore in a top hat Supporter

    Let me rephrase: what evidence exists that they are the best?
     
  7. itf-taekwondo

    itf-taekwondo Banned Banned

    They win the majority of first prizes in most weight divisions and categories in the world championships.
     
  8. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    You don't honestly think the two are remotely comparable, do you?
     
  9. TheMadhoose

    TheMadhoose Carpe Jugulum

    the level of direct surveillance by authorities is comparable.
    The UK has an estimated 1 camera for every 11 people. Even our cars tax and insurance are monitored by automatic number plate recognition cameras.
    besides i was just stirring the pot to see what happened anyway
     
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2014
  10. Giovanni

    Giovanni Well-Known Member Supporter

    you should go.
     
  11. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    If I was an international level ITF fighter, I'd go, because that's my job. I wouldn't be happy about it though.
     
  12. itf-taekwondo

    itf-taekwondo Banned Banned

    lol...

    Believe it or not, most of the guys I talked to have no problem with it. It's like they live in parallel universes.

    As if it read Spain, instead of North Korea.
     
  13. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    I'd say they'd taken one too many knocks to the head...but then I remembered this was ITF, so that's pretty unlikely.
     
  14. Earl Weiss

    Earl Weiss Valued Member

    Historicaly they would take a huge amount of medals home at WCs under the unified ITF. The reason was no different than what happened in the Olympics when the USSR was one large country and did so well as did East Germany etc.

    Those countries ran their programs like professional sports. Full time athletes and huge numbers getting them very young and training them full time. Perhaps their are "Other Supplements" at work as well.

    NK treats the TKD people like professionals. Plus they take the huge numbers in the Millitary, train them, take the best of the best, train them full time, house and feed them well relative to theri countrymen. Succesful NK TKD athletes in that country may be akin to top level pro athletes in other countries as far as the relative benefits they enjoy as compared to their countrymen.
     
  15. Earl Weiss

    Earl Weiss Valued Member

    I know some peole who toured NK 30+ years ago as part of an ITF demo team. The team was treated royaly and had a full schedule of sightseeing and what not.

    Back at their hotel - in their rooms, they were talking about being run ragged by the schedule of events.

    The next day someof the handlers said " We hear you are not happy with the way you are being treated." How did they know....?
     
  16. itf-taekwondo

    itf-taekwondo Banned Banned

    I don't think NK would have been quite as victorious had the sparring format been full contact at the ITF world championships.
     
  17. Giovanni

    Giovanni Well-Known Member Supporter

    i wasn't joking.
     
  18. itf-taekwondo

    itf-taekwondo Banned Banned

    Their food is said to taste like something artifical..... And just the overall politics makes it feel unpleasent.

    Here's two of the best (4 dan or more) in action. One of them a North Korean, no less.

    [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoCBiSltAFo"]Tomaz Barada - final match world champs 2001 - YouTube[/ame]

    This is a final, apparently consisting of several rounds back then. Even so, 2 mins moving around like that is very tiring.

    How do you improve your stamina in the most efficent way for these types of TKD competitions? Just running or maybe soccer practice on the side?
     
  19. Earl Weiss

    Earl Weiss Valued Member

    Interesting. That was Rimini and I judged that Championship and pretty sure I judged that division. It may even be me in the corner that is most visible, but the video quality makes it hard to be sure.
     
  20. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    Build a solid cardio base equal to or exceeding the total length of time you expect to fight, as well as interval training using movements specific to the sport to simulate the start-stop nature of a match.
     

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