WT Taekwondo vs. ITF Taekwondo
Quick answer
WT Taekwondo and ITF Taekwondo are two branches of taekwondo: the ITF was founded by Choi Hong Hi in 1966, and World Taekwondo came into being in 1973 after the split from the ITF, and its rules apply at the Olympic Games. WT fights three rounds with electronic scoring and no hand strikes to the head, ITF two rounds with controlled contact, hand strikes to the head score, and competition also includes tul and breaking. After 2002 the ITF split into three organizations.
At a glance
| WT Taekwondo | ITF Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | South Korea | South Korea |
| Origin | 1973 | 1966 |
| Founder | – | Choi Hong-hi |
| Contact | Full contact | Semi-contact |
| Sparring | Full contact | Medium contact |
| Competition format | Point fighting | Point fighting |
| Olympic status | Current Olympic sport | Not Olympic |
| Ranks | Yes (belts) | Yes (belts) |
| Rank recognition | by federation | fragmented |
| Attire | Gi required | Gi required |
| Weapons | No weapons | No weapons |
| Forms | Forms at the core | Forms at the core |
| Relative cost | medium | medium |
| Katas and forms in the encyclopedia | 17 | 24 |
| Techniques in the encyclopedia | 332 | 237 |
Scales 1–5
Rated for the typical training of an adult beginner in an ordinary club, calibrated across all arts.
What each art is built from
Editorial rating 0–3: how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
History and relationship
Both branches derive from taekwondo, a name Choi Hong Hi introduced on 11 April 1955. He founded the ITF in Seoul on 22 March 1966 with nine national associations, and World Taekwondo came into being on 28 May 1973 as the World Taekwondo Federation after the split from the ITF.
- The ITF headquarters moved to Toronto in 1972 and to Vienna in 1985. Choi Hong Hi left for Canada in 1972 and travelled to North Korea in 1979.
- After Choi Hong Hi’s death on 15 June 2002, the ITF split into three organizations: the ITF based in Vienna, the ITF led by Paul Weiler and the ITF led by Choi Jung-hwa.
- In June 2017 the WTF was renamed World Taekwondo. The Kukkiwon in Seoul is a separate institution that works closely with WT.
- Taekwondo under WT rules has been an Olympic medal sport since Sydney 2000, and PSS electronic scoring made its Olympic debut in London 2012.
Technique
- The head may be struck only with the foot, and a punch to the face is penalized with gam-jeom.
- Points under the rules from 1 June 2026: punch to the trunk 1, kick to the trunk 2, kick to the head 3, spinning kick to the trunk 4, spinning kick to the head 6.
- The value of the spinning kick to the head has changed: 4 points from 2010, 5 from 2018, 6 from 2026.
- The rules penalize grabbing, holding, pushing and attacking below the belt.
- Hand strikes to the head score, and contact must be controlled.
- Points under the ITF (Vienna) rules 2026: hand strike to the trunk or head and kick to the trunk 1, kick to the head 2, jumping kick to the head 3, airborne kicks with a turn from 180 to over 360 degrees to the head 4 and 5.
- The sine wave, the rise and fall of the body between techniques, is used only by some ITF schools.
- Choi Hong Hi’s Theory of Power puts speed above mass, because kinetic energy grows with the square of speed.
The sine wave is described in the 1983 edition, and the term sine wave appears only in 1993. Silva, Lara and Barros (ISBS 2015, 8 ITF and 9 WTF competitors) found two strategies in the roundhouse kick: WTF greater pelvic rotation, ITF greater flexion and abduction of the supporting hip.
Training
| WT Taekwondo | ITF Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Forms | poomsae: eight Taegeuk for colored belts, nine for dan holders | 24 tul from the ITF syllabus |
| Sparring | kyorugi with an emphasis on kicks | matsogi with hands and feet, including step sparring |
| Breaking | part of training (gyeokpa) | also a competition discipline: special technique and power breaking |
| Muscle torque (Pędzich et al. 2012) | 12 competitors: right lower limb about 10% higher, hip flexors about 16% | 12 competitors: upper limbs about 2 to 3% higher |
Pędzich, Mastalerz and Sadowski (Acta of Bioengineering and Biomechanics 2012) attribute the differences to training: WT emphasizes kicks, while ITF allows strikes to the face.
Progression and ranks
| WT Taekwondo | ITF Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Dan grades | dan examination, Kukkiwon certificate | each of the three ITF organizations separately |
| Belts | colored grades and dan | six colors, gup 10 to 1, dan 1 to 9 |
| Waiting periods | according to a British guide to the Kukkiwon, 1 year between 1st and 2nd dan up to 4 years between 4th and 5th dan | we did not find them in ITF sources |
| Titles | 1st to 3rd dan kyosa-nim, 4th to 6th dan sabum-nim | 1st to 3rd dan boosabum, 4th to 6th dan sabum, 7th and 8th dan sahyun, 9th dan saseong |
The source does not state how WT and the Kukkiwon divide responsibility for dan grades, as these are two institutions linked by cooperation. The ITF grades are not uniform across the three organizations.
Physical load and risks
- Archives of Budo 2015 conference paper: WTF men 82.8 injuries per 1,000 exposed athletes, WTF women 87.0.
- A match is three rounds of 2 minutes, with a Golden round of 1 minute if the score is tied.
- The same paper: ITF 111.6 injuries per 1,000 exposed athletes (95% CI 91.8 to 131.3), ITF juniors 117.7.
- A match is two rounds of 2 minutes with a one-minute break.
The paper summarizes about 4,000 competitors, with ITF data from 15 medical reports from competitions in Poland and WTF data from published studies.
Who it suits
| WT Taekwondo | ITF Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Sparring age categories | cadets 12–14, juniors 15–17, seniors from age 17 | from age 8 to veterans from age 45 |
| Forms for older practitioners | poomsae divisions up to over 65 | tul in age categories up to veterans |
| Women | at the Olympic Games since 2000 | women’s self-defense teams |
Children
| WT Taekwondo | ITF Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest competition category | cadets aged 12–14, age by calendar year | pre-children 8–9 years, children 10–11, cadet 12–13 |
| Length of children’s matches | base 3 × 2 minutes, the technical delegate may shorten to 3 × 1 minute or 3 × 1:30 | pre-children 2 × 1 minute, children and cadet 2 × 1.5 minutes |
| Protection | cadets’ head guard may have a face shield, compulsory at the cadet world championships | gloves 8 or 10 oz, area reduced to 6 × 6 or 7 × 7 m |
| Cadet weight classes | boys 33 to over 65 kg, girls 29 to over 59 kg, also height-based categories | we did not find them |
Self-defence
- Sparring in protective gear at full contact, a win by knockout is possible.
- No hand strikes to the head, no grabbing, holding, pushing or attacking below the belt.
- Controlled contact, excessive contact is penalized, hand strikes to the head score.
- Self-defense as a competition discipline: a performed routine, Hero with three opponents, Heroine with two.
The ITF rules do not describe full resistance in the self-defense routine. We did not find a source that evaluates how training in one branch or the other transfers to self-defense.
Practical use
| WT Taekwondo | ITF Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Muscle torque (Pędzich et al. 2012) | higher torque of the lower limbs | slightly higher torque of the upper limbs |
| Fitness or health benefit for ordinary practitioners | we did not find any | we did not find any |
| Self-defense programs for women | we did not find any | we did not find any |
The 2012 study measured competitors, not ordinary practitioners. Studies of taekwondo that do not distinguish between federations cannot be applied to either branch.
Competition
| WT Taekwondo | ITF Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Rounds | 3 × 2 minutes, a winner of each round, the score is the number of rounds won | 2 × 2 minutes with a one-minute break |
| Tie | Golden round of 1 minute | we did not find it |
| Scoring | electronically by the PSS system, except for punches | judges, 1 to 5 points depending on the technique |
| Video replay | only at the request of the chief referee for an unawarded head kick | we did not find it |
| Area | 8 × 8 m square or an octagon about 8 m in diameter | 9 × 9 m with a 1 m margin |
| Other disciplines | poomsae: individuals, pairs, trios, freestyle with music | tul, special technique, power breaking, self-defense, team sparring |
| Olympic Games | since Sydney 2000 | non-Olympic |
In the ITF, tul are judged out of 100 points, 80 for techniques and 20 for power. At the 2020 online world championships, WT poomsae were judged on accuracy up to 4.0 and presentation up to 6.0.
Gear and costs
| WT Taekwondo | ITF Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Dobok | usually a V-neck modeled on the hanbok | jacket with a vertical closure |
| Trunk | electronic trunk protector (hogu) | the rules do not mention a trunk protector |
| Head | head guard, with a face shield for cadets | helmet protecting the head except for the face |
| Hands and feet | gloves, forearm and shin guards, removable socks | closed 10 oz gloves (children 8 or 10 oz), shin guards, hand and foot protectors |
Availability and organisations
| WT Taekwondo | ITF Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| World organization | World Taekwondo, dan grades through the Kukkiwon | three separate ITF organizations |
| Olympic pathway | yes, one athlete per weight category per national Olympic committee since 2016 | no |
| Championships | Olympic weight categories: four for men and four for women | per country two men and two women, up to three for seniors |
Switching and combining
- Hand strikes to the head are added as a scoring technique.
- Contact must be controlled at the point of impact, and points are awarded by judges, not sensors.
- Instead of poomsae, 24 tul, plus breaking and self-defense routines.
- Hand strikes to the head are penalized, and the head is targeted only with kicks.
- Trunk points are recorded by the electronic protector, and the hit must have a force set for weight, sex and age.
- Instead of tul, Taegeuk poomsae and routines for dan grades.
On the left is the move from WT to ITF, on the right the reverse. We did not find data on competitors switching between the branches.
Philosophy
- A reference to the five commandments of the hwarang, the forms are called poomsae.
- A reference to the five commandments of the hwarang and Choi Hong Hi’s five principles, the forms are called tul and their names refer to Korean history.
The hwarang is a legacy shared by both branches. The difference is that the ITF also subscribes to the founder’s five principles.
Forms and terminology
At the world poomsae championships, WT assigns forms by age and round, for example the division up to 30 years Taegeuk 6 and Koryo, the final up to 65 years Jitae and Hansu. Freestyle poomsae requires five compulsory elements. The Taegeuk replaced the Palgwe forms in 1971.
The ITF has 24 tul, which according to sources symbolize the 24 hours of the day. In 1986 the tul Juche replaced the tul Ko-Dang, and according to sources most ITF schools practice neither of them. In competition, 1st dan holders draw a tul from Kwang-Gae to Ge-Baek and from Chon-Ji to Ge-Baek.
Which to choose
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between WT and ITF taekwondo in sparring?
WT fights three rounds of 2 minutes with electronic scoring and prohibits hand strikes to the head. ITF fights two rounds of 2 minutes, hand strikes to the head score, and contact must be controlled.
Which taekwondo is at the Olympic Games?
The World Taekwondo rules. Taekwondo has been a medal sport since Sydney 2000, and the ITF is not Olympic.
Is one of the branches riskier?
The Archives of Budo 2015 conference paper reports 111.6 injuries per 1,000 exposed athletes in competitions for ITF and 82.8 for WTF men. The data for the two branches come from different sources, and the authors place both styles around the average of sports.