TAEKWONDO
History
In Korean, tae means flying kick, kwon means "punch" and do means the "way of".
The way of the flying kick and punch was formulated as a sport in the late Fifties by the Korean Choi Hong Hi, a general and ambassador for his Government and his sport (though not necessarily in that order).
Choi was extraordinarily successful in disseminating his new ideology, a sport that he felt was based on moral and spiritual precepts.
The international federation was set up in 1966, with just nine countries and 22 years later it was in the Olympics as a demonstration sport.
Taekwondo became a full Olympic sport in 2000 and, by rights, the first Olympic champion should have been a Korean.
Sadly, it was an Australian, Lauren Burns.
We played a crucial role in the victory, British referee Kevin Hornsey awarding Burns a crucial semi-final win over the Taiwanese world champion Chi Shu-Ju when the scores were at three-all.
Even so, Koreans won three of the eight titles in Sydney and two more in Athens, to make them the most successful nation so far.
They will be looking over their shoulders in Beijing, though, for the Chinese are sure to have targeted this sport. Chen Zhong, who refused to leave the mat after losing a fight in her first major championship, is the Chinese superstar.
She will be attempting to win her third successive title in the +67kg class.
Technical
Although it sometimes seems that the flying foot and the fist can land anywhere, taekwondo is very scrupulous about which parts of the body you can wallop.
You can kick or punch the trunk and for that you score a point.
You cannot punch the face, you can only kick it (including the ears) and for that you score two points.
An extra point is scored for a knock down.
Rounds are two minutes long and there are three rounds in a match.
A fourth round is held if the scores are even after three rounds.
There are eight weight divisions; four for each sex.
The Major Players
The Lopez family, from Texas, are an Olympic team in their own right. Steven Lopez, in the +80kg class, is seeking an Olympic three-timer.
His younger brother Mark and sister Diane are also competing. His older brother Jean is the US coach.
Britain's athletes may be golden, shame about the finances
