Thursday, September 8, 2022

A Brief Look at One-Step Sparring - Taekwondo


 With a degree in architecture from California Polytechnic State University, Douglas Austin is a longtime San Diego, California resident who draws upon four decades of experience as an architect to serve as the chairman and CEO of AVRP Studios. Through the San Diego-based AVRP Studios, he provides clients with next-generation architectural design solutions. During his leisure time, Douglas Austin enjoys practicing taekwondo.


A taekwondoin (taekwondo practitioner) must perfect one-step sparring to a satisfactory extent from their early stages in combat. The highest rank in taekwondo is the black belt. The lowest rank is arguably a white belt with yellow stripes. A taekwondoin must earn a white belt with yellow stripes to proceed to higher levels in the combat sport, and one-step sparring is one of the sparring processes required for the rank.


One-step sparring requires two taekwondo practitioners. The sparring format entails throwing an attack stance immediately followed by a defensive stance toward their opponent, one step at a time. The attack and defense in each step need to be combined in a split second. Otherwise, the attacking participant may lose the match.


The participant must also choose their attack moves since there is no pre-agreed move or combination in one-step sparring, and must alert their opponent by yelling "kihap" and waiting for their opponent to respond with the same word before they proceed. Technically, one-step sparring requires two steps (sequence) of attack and defense combined to form a complete process.


A Brief Look at One-Step Sparring - Taekwondo

 With a degree in architecture from California Polytechnic State University, Douglas Austin is a longtime San Diego, California resident who...