17 year man kicked and died in Taekwondo match

A 17 year man collapsed after receiving a kick from his opponent in a Taekwondo match barely a minute into the sparring session last Sunday.

The teenage fumbled with his head gear before collapsing without ever gaining consciousness. His neck vein as badly damaged and he died last Thursday.

The former head of the national Taekwondo team said that “kicks above the shoulder were not allowed for members who are 17 and below”. It is a very heavy price to pay for not following the safety rule of the sports.

There are many reasons why people take up Taekwondo as a sport. My staff who enrolled her young son for Taekwondo said that her husband wanted him to learn self defence.

We are living in a world where people carry guns and dangerous weapons. How often do we encounter a situation where we need to defend ourselves? The best self defence if we have to face an enemy is to run. Hence, I would rather learn how to run faster.

The best self defence is preventive. I would rather avoid having to pick a fight with anyone. If someone threatens you and asks for your belongings or money, give it to him and report to the police later. Such a person would most likely be carrying a dangerous weapon in his hand. There is no point in picking a fight with such a person and getting injured unnecessarily. You could be spending more money to repair the injuries later.

Some people pick up Taekwondo as a form of exercise. The purpose of exercise is to keep fit. The reason why we want to keep fit is because we want to have a healthy body. With a healthy body we hope to live longer and enjoy life.
If the exercise we engage in causes more injuries than health benefits, it would have defeated the purpose of exercising in the first place.

We should exercise safely. If you are in a competitive sports, remember that safety always come before winning.
If you are running to keep fit, remember to do warm up exercises first to avoid ligamentous and muscular injuries. There is really no point in having a “cardio vascularly” fit heart when you have to walk around in clutches because of injuries.