Kimmo Rauhala
TAEKWONDO AND IT’S ECONOMICAL IMPACT
The European Model of Sport
University of Jyväskylä
Department of social
sciences of sport
Summer school
(21.05.2006)
UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ
Department of social sciences of sport/Faculty of sport and Health sciences
RAUHALA KIMMO: European model of Sport 16p.
Summer school 2006
In September 1998 The European commission working paper identified sport as a
performing five functions: an educational, a public health, social, a cultural and
recreational function. Sport is also a rapidly growing are, about 3% of world trade. This
papers purpose is to examine Taekwondo in European model perspective.
Taekwondo, the Korean art of unarmed fighting, has been developing with the 5000-year
long history of Korea, being called by several different names in the course. In Korea,
Taekwondo began as a defense martial art called "Subak" or "Taekkyon," and developed
as a way of training body and mind in the ancient kingdom of Koguryo, under the name
of "Sunbae." Taekwondo fighting art has developed over the centuries since its creation
into the deadly self-defense system to the immensely popular international sport that it is
today. But what is Taekwondo? Why has it become such a renowned popular sport?
What is its economical impact?
Increasingly, various stakeholders affect the strategic decision making process and
actions undertaken by firms. Stakeholders are important because they constrain what
firms can or ought to do and thus limit the set of feasible alternatives. . The increasing
importance of stakeholders can be viewed as a facet of more profound social, ecological,
technological and economic change where complexity, turbulence an duncertainty are
inherent characteristics of the situation many firms are facing.
The World Taekwondo Federation is the International Federation [IF] governing the sport
of Taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International
Federations [ASOIF]. The WTF recognizes national Taekwondo governing bodies
recognized by the NOC in the pertinent country, one in each country, as its members.
Tekwondo can also be applied in Beech & Chadwick’s development framework. You can
find the six development phases in Taekwondo, but in my oppinion Taekwondo hasn’t
yet reached the seventh phase of development (post-commercialisation). Altough
Taekwondo can be seen in sport and business, it is much more than that. It is also a way
of life and there is always the spiritual side along with it. This makes it hard and maybe
even unethical to mesure Taekwondo only in terms of money.
There are over 40 million Taekwondo practitioners all over the world and hundreds of
organisations so the economical impact is definitely there.
KEY WORDS: Economics, European model, National sport Organizations, Taekwondo
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO TAEKWONDO ................................................................... 1
2 THE EUROPEAN MODEL OF SPORT......................................................................... 2
2.1 STRUCTURE ........................................................................................................... 3
2.2 ORGANIZATIONS AND FEDERATIONS IN TAEKWONDO (WTF)................ 4
3 STAKEHOLDERS IN TAEKWONDO .......................................................................... 7
3.1 TAEKWONDO IN BEECH & CHADWICK’S DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK
......................................................................................................................................... 8
4. DISCUSSION/RESULTS ............................................................................................ 12
BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................... 13
1
1 INTRODUCTION
In September 1998 The European commission working paper identified sport as a
performing five functions: an educational, a public health, social, a cultural and
recreational function. Sport is also a rapidly growing are, about 3% of world trade.
(European Commission consultation document of DG X p.1) Because of the economical
impact of sport, I am taking the economical point of view to European model of sport. In
addition I am building a case of Taekwondo, and then try to put it in European model. I
am also using this Beech & Chadwick’s development framework in terms to analyze
Taekwondo as becoming a big business. Although this paper purpose is to examine
Taekwondo in European context, also the broader view is needed to explain the
phenomena.
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO TAEKWONDO
Taekwondo, the Korean art of unarmed fighting, has been developing with the 5000-year
long history of Korea, being called by several different names in the course. In Korea,
Taekwondo began as a defense martial art called "Subak" or "Taekkyon," and developed
as a way of training body and mind in the ancient kingdom of Koguryo, under the name
of "Sunbae." In the Shilla period, it had become the backbone of Hwarangdo that aimed
at producing leaders for the country (world taekwondo federation,
www.wtf.org).
Taekwondo fighting art has developed over the centuries since its creation into the deadly
self-defense system to the immensely popular international sport that it is today. But what
is Taekwondo? Why has it become such a renowned popular sport? What is its
economical impact?
Tae Kwon Do literally means the art (do) of kicking (tae) and punching (kwon) (Park,
Gerrard, 2000 p.xiii). But this is only the barest, most superficial defenition of an intricate
and complex art. Although Taekwondo shares some superficial traits common with other
martial arts, it can be differentiated from these other systems by very specific
characteristics. First, Taekwondo relies predominantly on kicking techniques. As much as
2
70% of the techniques in Taekwondo are kicks. Second, the kicking techniques are
performed in uniquely quick, snapping manner. This kind of quickness is not found in
other systems.
Taekwondo’s immense popularity as a sport is due to the unique and dynamic nature of
its sparring competitions. Taekwondo competitions allows spectators the opportunity to
witness dazzling displays of acrobatic skill. The numerous high jumping and spinning
kicks offer spectators something to remember. This is one reason why Taekwondo is so
popular. This aspect of the art ultimately earned it a spot on the roster of international
sport, including the Olympic Games. Today Taekwondo is practiced in 167 countries by
an estimated 40 million people and is recognised as the most popular martial system in
the world (Park, Gerrard, 2000 p.xiii) So you can imagine the economical impact to
buyers and sellers of Taekwondo product/products.
There are two major organisations in Taekwondo. One is World Taekwondo Federation
(WTF) and the other is International Taekwondo Federation (ITF). Taekwondo is Korean
national sport just like the baseball is USA’s. Taekwondo is also taught at schools all
over Korea. Later I’m going to focus on WTF, because its status as a Olympic Game.
2 THE EUROPEAN MODEL OF SPORT
The European Union intends to use sport to implement a range of social, cultural and
educational policy objectives. (Parrish, R. 2003 abstract) However, the rapid
commercialization of European sport threatens to obstruct this goal. Traditionally, the
sports sector has developed rules, which have attempted to maintain a competitive
balance between participants.
3
2.1 STRUCTURE
The heavily organized clubs in grass-root level has been the dominant feature of
European system. The structure can bee seen as a pyramid, where clubs are the
foundation of this pyramid. At this level the voluntary people plays a significant role in
development of European sport (European Commission consultation document of DG X
p.2). This is also the case in Taekwondo. Although in Finland there are lots of voluntary
works in clubs e.g. transporting, some of the coaches are doing it for free and also
families support their children financial. This indicates that sport has a strong social
function by bringing people together also in Taekwondo.
The regional federations are usually the next level. Their area of interest is limited to a
region in which they are responsible for organizing regional championships or
coordinating sport on a regional level. National federations are next in hierarchy. These
federations purpose is to regulate all general matters within their discipline and at the
same time represent their branch in European or International federations. Because there
is only one national federation for each discipline, they have a monopolistic position.
(European Commission consultation document of DG X p.3) This monopolistic position
affects the behavior of federation, because there is legislation concerning the monopoly
position. The European federations, which are organized, form the top of the pyramid as
the same way as the national federations. (European Commission consultation document
of DG X p.3)
The pyramid structure implies interdependence between the levels. This means that
interdependence happens organizational and competitive side. This system is seen as an
open one where e.g clubs may qualify for championships, get there, but also fall in lower
level. In US model team sports are happen usually in closed system where all the same
teams are playing against each other. So the system of promotion and relegation is one of
the key features of European model. (European Commission consultation document of
4
DG X p.4) Taekwondo is individual sport, although there are national teams that compete
against other national teams, but basically it is individual sport.
European Sports
Federations
National Sports
Federations
Regional Sports
Federations
Grassroots Federations / Clubs
Figure 1. The Pyramid Model of Europe (applied from source European Commission
consultation document of DG X p.3)
2.2 ORGANIZATIONS AND FEDERATIONS IN TAEKWONDO (WTF)
The World Taekwondo Federation is the International Federation [IF] governing the sport
of Taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International
Federations [ASOIF]. The WTF recognizes national Taekwondo governing bodies
recognized by the NOC in the pertinent country, one in each country, as its members.
5
Chart 1. Organizational chart of the WTF (www.wtf.org/organization)
This is the organizational chart of WTF. There are 12 major organizations in Taekwondo.
Kukiwon is the head organization that set the main rules of competitions, dan graduating
and authorized all actions. WTF works under Kukiwon, (headquarter in Korea). In
Europe there are many minor organizations almost every country have their own. (31
organizations)
In
USA
there
is
as
many
(http://tkdtutor.com/02Taekwondo/OrganizationList.htm).
as
So
57
there
organizations
are
many
organizations in Taekwondo and they all have their own regulations and rules, but I’m
not going to deal whit those rules in this contexts. All you need to know is That Kukiwon
6
is the head “organization” of WTF and ITF is different organization. ITF is more
traditional Taekwondo, WTF being more competitive Olympic sport.
The European Taekwondo Union is governing all Taekwondo Activities in Europe. Main
activities are:
-
“Organizing Taekwondo tournaments like European Taekwondo Senior and
Junior Championships and other international sporting events.
-
Conducting referee seminars.
-
Providing seminars for trainers.
-
Spreading Taekwondo through solidarity programs.
-
Establishing and maintaining standards according to the World Taekwondo
Federation.” (http://www.etutaekwondo.org/)
The aim of European Taekwondo Union is to Promote and develop Taekwondo in
Europe. The structure and tasks of this organization are:(http://www.etutaekwondo.org/)
1. General assembly (every two years): organizing the main guidelines of our
activities including the election of the Executive Council members.
2. Executive council members: 14 members elected for four years managing the
ordinary business.
3. Technical, referee, scientific and medical committees are studying specifically
items in order to make proposals to the Ex.Co., and the General Assembly.
4. Finance: Members annual fees, sponsors and organizations profit. No consultative
status.
5. Contacts with our world organization: WTF and the CIO for some matters.
6. Programs: Every two years: Europe Championships for senior and junior, the
other year we organize the Europe Cup.
7. We organize some specifically seminars, meetings, and solidarity activities for
some countries in technical matters. We help some local organizations and we
provide our members with some information in our ETU newsletter. We also act
as spokesmen for our members in the WTF forum.
7
As a national level in Finland there is 61 clubs, which belongs under the Finnish
Taekwondo federation. (http://www.etutaekwondo.org/) As we can notice, Taekwondo
fits perfectly to European model despite the fact that is a national sport of Korea. On the
next chapter I concentrate to Taekwondo business side.
3 STAKEHOLDERS IN TAEKWONDO
Increasingly, various stakeholders affect the strategic decision making process and
actions undertaken by firms. Stakeholders are important because they constrain what
firms can or ought to do and thus limit the set of feasible alternatives. The increasing
importance of stakeholders can be viewed as a facet of more profound social, ecological,
technological and economic change where complexity, turbulence and uncertainty are
inherent characteristics of the situation many firms are facing (Knudsen, Eriksen 1998
p.1). Taekwondo federations are not firms, but there are same kind of traits in business
that firms has. A stakeholders in organisation is (by defenition) any group or individual
who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organisation’s objectives
(Knudsen, Eriksen 1998 p. 5). In Taekwondo you can call stakeholders, Taekwondo
trainers/teachers, sponsors and anyone that is somehow atached to Taekwondo action.
Taekwondo product in larger sence can mean game products, merhandise and movie
product. Game product means fights in different games for example Olympic Games,
Asian Games etc. Merhandise product means training outfits, shoes, shirts and so on.
Movie products are all the movies that movie makers have made about Taekwondo (Best
of the best part 1,2,3,4, Blood sport and bichunmoo etc.). The consept of sport product is
a good, service or any combination of the two that is designed to provide benefits to a
sport spectator, participants or in wider other stakeholders (Mason D. 1999). Taekwondo
product is producet to provide entertainment for spectators. Taekwondo product is now
sold to four distinct groups (altough in Korea and USA). 1. Fans who suport Taekwondo
teams and love to watch the fights on tv or right next to ring. Fans and practioners are
those who buys Taekwondo relatet merchandise for example training shoes taekwondo
outfit called tobuk, protection for fights and other Taekwondo gears. Fans are buying tshirts posters and all kinds of fan merchandise 2. Television and media companies which
8
purchase the right to show fight as an programming option ( for example Euro sport). 3.
Communities and even countries (Korea and USA) which built Taekwondo stadiums and
suport their national teams. 4. There are sponsors/ corporations (recognized products:
Daedo international, adidas korea, ALS electronics) which support teams financially
increasing gate moneys/ticket fees, purhasing teams outright or providing revenues
through sponsorship or other associations ( Mason D. 1999). As you can see Taekwondo
product is quite same as the leaque product. There are no doupt that there are lots of
money involved this kind of business. It is hard to talk about amount of money becouse
the main purpose to Taekwondo or it’s organisations is not the money but to develop and
progress Taekwondo as a martial art and it’s philosophy.
But if there are in some estimates a 40 million practioners in 167 countries practising
Taekwondo, it is sertain that somebody always try to benefit for it. For example I found
internet site that says you can franchising a Taekwondo school. It means that you have a
right
to
use
a
company’s
name
in
your
own
Taekwondo
school
(http://www.hallstaekwondo.com.au/pages/).
3.1 TAEKWONDO IN BEECH & CHADWICK’S DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK
Sports vary considerably in the extent to which they have become “big business”. Those
that have generally followed a similar sequence. This sequence is best understood
accordinly to Beech and Chadwick by distinguihing between evolutionary phases, where
change is slow and incremental, and revolutionary phases, where change is rapid and the
phase is characterised by high levels of uncertainty (Beech, Chadwick s.a. p.1).
9
Figure 2. The development of a sport as business (applied from source Beech and
Chadwick s.a. p. 1)
This framework can be applied in Taekwondo. These phases are:
1) Foundation (Evolutionary)
More than 2000 yers ago when peoples using
Taekwondo techniques in their work (Park, Gerrard 2000). King chinhung called
upon famous Buddhist priest, Won Kang Bopsa, and asked him to develop a
system of martial art that was in harmony with his consept of the laws of nature.
The early form of Taekwondo called Taek Kyon (foot fight) was born. Taek kyon
was military art and it has been said to develop to kick enemy right off the horse
(Cho, 1981).
2) Codification (revolutionary) During the Silla dynasty (A.D. 668 to A.D. 935)
Taek Kyon was mostly used as a sport and recreational activity. Taek Kyon's
name was changed to Subak and the focus of the art was changed during the
Koryo dynasty (A.D. 935 to A.D. 1392). When King Uijong was on the throne
from 1147 through 1170, he changed Subak from a system that promotes fitness
to primarily a fighting art.The first widely distributed book on Taekwondo was
during the Yi dynasty (1397 to 1907). This was the first time that Subak was
intended to be taught to the general public, in previous years the knowledge was
limited to the military. During the second half of the Yi dynasty, political
conflicts and the choice to use debate instead of military action almost lead to the
10
extinction of Subak. The emphasis of the art was changed back to that of
recreational and physical fitness. The lack of interest caused Subak as an art, to
become fragmented and scarcely practiced throughout the country (Draeger,
Smith 1980)
3) Stratification (evolutionary) In 1909 the Japanese invaded Korea and occupied
the country for 36 years. To control Korea's patriotism, the Japanese banned the
practice of all military arts, Korean language and even burned all books written in
Korea. This ban was responsible for renewed interest in Subak. Many Koreans
organized themselves into underground groups and practiced the martial arts in
remote Buddhist temples. Other people left Korea to study the martial arts in other
countries like China and Japan. In 1943 Judo, Karate and Kung-fu were officially
introduced to the Korean residents and the martial arts regained popularity. The
first Taekwondo school (Kwan) was started in Yong Chun, Seoul, Korea in 1945.
Many different school were opened from 1945 through 1960. Each school
claimed to teach the traditional Korean martial art, but each school emphasized a
different aspect of Taek Kyon/Subak. This caused different names to emerge from
each system, some of them were: Soo Bahk Do, Kwon Bop, Kong Soo Do, Tae
Soo Do and Kang Soo Do.On April 11, 1955 at a conference of kwan masters,
historians, and Taek Kyon promoters, most of the kwan masters decided to merge
their various styles for mutual benefit of all schools. The name "Tae Soo Do" was
accepted by a majority of the kwan masters. Two years later the name was
changed again, this time to "Taekwondo" The name was suggested by General
Hong Hi Choi (who is considered the father of Taekwondo). "Taekwondo" was
suggested by Choi because of its resemblance to Taek Kyon, and so provides
continuity and maintains tradition. Further, it describes both hand and foot
techniques (Yoo, 1990).
4) Professionalisation (revolutionary) Dissension among the various kwans that did
not unify carried on until September 14, 1961. Then by official decree of the new
military government, the kwans were ordered to unify into one organization called
the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA), with General Hong Hi Choi elected as
its first president. In 1962, the KTA re-examined all the black belt ranks to
11
determine national standards and also in 1962, Taekwondo became one of the
official events in the annual National Athletic Meet in Korea. The KTA sent
instructors and demonstrations teams all over the world. Jhoon Ree (who is
considered the father of American Taekwondo) attended San Marcos Southwest
Texas State College, and later taught a Taekwondo course at the college and
formed a public Taekwondo club (Park, Park, Gerrard 1989).
5) Post-professionalisation (evolutionary) In Korea, the study of Taekwondo spread
rapidly from the army into high schools and colleges. In march of 1966 Choi
founded the International Taekwon-do Federation (ITF), which he also served as
president. Choi later resigned as the KTA president and moved his ITF
headquarters to Montreal, Canada, from where he concentrated on organizing
Taekwondo internationally. His emphasis is on self-defense methodology, not
particularly on the sport. By 1974, Choi reported that some 600 qualified ITF
instructors were distributed throughout the world.Young-wun Kim was elected
the new KTA president. Feeling that Korea was the mother country of
Taekwondo and that the world headquarters should be located there, he dissolved
the ITF's connection with the KTA and on May 28, 1973 created a new
international governing body called the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF),
which coincided with the first World Taekwondo Championships that were held
in Seoul, Korea. At the first inaugural meeting, Un Yong Kim was elected as
president of the WTF and drafted a charter for the federation. The WTF is the
only official organization recognized by the Korean government as an
international regulating body for Taekwondo (Corcoran, Farkas 1993).
6) Commecialisation (revolutionary) The World Taekwondo Federation has since
made a major effort to standardize tournament rules and organize world-class
competitions. After the 2nd World TKD Championship in Seoul, the WTF
became an affiliate of the General Assembly of International Sports Federation
(GAISF), which has ties to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC
recognized and admitted the WTF in July 1980. In 1982 the General Session of
the IOC designated Taekwondo as an official Demonstration Sport for the 1988
Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea (Corcoran, Farkas 1993).
12
7) Post-commercialisation (evolutionary/revolutionary) This is only my oppinion
and I can’t be sure about this, but I think that Taekwondo has not reached this
stage yet.
4. DISCUSSION/RESULTS
Sport Tarkwondo product is very much like a leaque product. You can find there the
performer (practitioner), the spectator (fan), the club (ex. Hall’s TKD club), the consumer
(practitioner, fans, ect…), corporations/sponsors (LG-electronics, Addidas Korea ect…),
the governing body (Kukiwon, WTF, ITF), the merchadiser (Addidas, in Finland Nidan
and so on) and in Olympic games you can find also the TV-rights owner. It is clear that
Olympic Taekwondo is pure business with all it’s components. It is simply a top sport
like any other, for example down hill skiing.
I have to give myself a minus for not been able to find any money measurement for
Taekwondo. There were some statements that said WTF is giving a 10 million dollars to
promote Taekwondo in Intia. This is only a tip of iceberg because there are so many
people involved in Taekwondo that it has got to be a billion dollar business. In European
point of view Taekwondo phenomenon is not so obvious. When you are a trainer or
teacher in Taekwondo you see it, but it doesn’t really open up to regular people at least in
Finland. In Korea and USA it’s a different ball game. If you wan’t to overstate you can
say that original Taekwondo and the way it was meant to be is better seen in Europe than
it is in USA. In my opinion it is also complex to talk about money in compared with
Taekwondo, because there are always the spiritual and philosophical side of Taekwondo.
Taekwondo’s purpose is to educate you in every aspect of life. It is not just sport and
physical fitness, it’s a way of life, a life time thing. In addition it is strongly affected on
civil society side in Europe. So how many are willing to measure their own lives in
amount of money. Propably not many.
13
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beech & Chadwick, The business of sport, The development of a sport as business (s.a.)
Donn F. Draeger and Robert W. Smith, Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts ( New York,
New York: Kodansha International, 1980)
Dr. Yushin Yoo, The Making of Modern Korea ( Louisville, Kentucky: Golden Pond
Press, 1990)
John Corcoran and Emil Farkas with Stuart Sobel, The Original Martial Arts
Encyclopedia - Tradition, History, Pioneers ( Los Angeles, California: Pro-Action
Publishing, 1993)
Knudsen, T., Eriksen, B. Why do stekeholders matter? Publications from Department of
Management No. 2/1998
Mason. S., What is the sport product and who buys it? The marketing of professional
sport leagues. European journal of marketing. Vol 33 No. 3/4, 1999, pp. 402-418.
MCB University Press, 0309-0566
Parrish, R., 2003 The politics of sports regulation in the European Union. Journal of
European Public Policy. Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group. Volume
10, Number 2 / April 2003.
Yeon Hee Park, Yeon Hwan Park and Jon Gerrard, Tae Kwon Do: The Ultimate
Reference Guide to the Worlds Most Popular Martial Art ( New York, New York:
Facts On File, Inc., 1989)
http://www.etutaekwondo.org/). Referred to 21.5.2006
http://www.hallstaekwondo.com.au/pages/. Referred to 20.5.2006
http://tkdtutor.com/02Taekwondo/OrganizationList.htm. Referred to 20.5.2006
http://www.wtf.org . Referred to 19.5.2006
http://www.wtf.org/organization/ Referred to 20.5.2006