In our April edition I presented a new fighting system, the 3-Pointsystem. By then, this system had never been put to practice. I am happy to inform you that on the beginning of June students of Youngsan University in Pusan/Korea gave this system a try. At Youngsan University there are two groups of Taekwondo-students. One consists of students who concentrate mainly on Taekwondo and who fight at tournaments regularly. The other group is made up of students who concentrate on general sports studies and do taekwondo just as one part of these studies. Once a year the second group fights at a special tournament that counts as a practical study. This year this tournament was used as a test event for the 3-Pointsystem. The first group, the taekwondo-professionals, provided the referees and coaches. The players got practical marks according to their performance in the tournament – so the organizers of the test event could be sure, that all players did their best to end as winners.
For all participants the system was new. Nevertheless, after they received a short introduction, the players, coaches and referees were ready for the test event. All participants could easily adapt to the system and felt comfortable with it. This speaks for this relatively simple system that still offers many possibilities for tactical and technical refinement.
80 fights took place. Even with the 3-Pointsystem for these 80 fights we would need a maximum of 5 hours and 20 minutes: 4 hours for fighting, 80 minutes for time-outs. But actually all 80 fights could be finished in exactly 1 hour 40 minutes and 18 seconds: 1 hour 24 minutes 48 seconds for fighting, 15 minutes 30 seconds for time outs. This means, that in real-life conditions we could save about 3 hours 40 minutes in comparison to the maximal fighting time under the 3-point system. In comparison to our official competition rules with an average fighting time of 6 minutes plus 2 minutes break per fight we could even save 9 hours.

At the test event one fight lasted for an average of 1 minute 25 seconds. 68 fights ended early, when one fighter reached 3 points. Two fights ended early with a withdrawal. Only 10 fights lasted 3 minutes, two of them ending in a draw.
So the 3-point system certainly has on virtue: brevity. But that is not all. The spectators at the test event reacted enthusiastically. When asked, they declared that the fights were full of action and exciting from beginning to end. There was never a moment, when the audience would relax, because the result of the fight was already obvious and they were just waiting for the fight to end. After a short explanation, the 3-Pointsystem was easily comprehensible for the spectators. They considered the system transparent and logical. As the fighting time was short, the test event took place on one single mat. This was also very welcome to the audience, who could concentrate on one fighting area. The spectator seats surrounded the fighting area, so all spectators could experience the fights very closely, which added to the excitement of the event.
With the fighters the opinion was decided between the winners and the losers. While the winners were quite content with the system, the losers considered the fights too short. But instead of being frustrated, many losers said, they would like to have second go at the 3-point fighting. With the normal fighting system of three rounds, the losers at this student event often reacted extremely disappointed and especially when they lost highly, they declared that they had the intention never to fight again. Of course, players have to get used to a completely new set of rules like the 3-Pointsystem. And as I wrote before, a fast system like this teaches a thruth that applies to sports but also to our daily life: There are situations when you get no second chance. Every move you make might lead to success or to failure and you have to take the consequences for your actions. But of course you can learn from your failure and do better next time.

The referees considered the system very demanding: With the new system every single hit is important. Three points make the winner, so no fighter can afford to lose points due to the referees’ failing attention. The responsibility of the referees is even bigger here than with our official competition rules, where we have a longer fighting time and no point ceiling.
The coaches were especially happy that there were almost no injuries at the test event. One thing they had clearly to get used to is the time-out: Often the fight was over before they could find the right moment for a break. Like the referees they found the system very demanding but at the same time very intense and exciting.
The 3-Pointsystem may not be perfect but it proved to be very promising. Our current system with three rounds was perfect when it was introduced. At that time taekwondo was fighting for its recognition in the world of international sports. But now that Taekwondo is an established sport we should keep an open mind for new ideas and find our own, authentic style. What Taekwondo needs is a system that is ideal for the needs of our players and especially for the audience and the media.

The 3-Pointsystem in brief
- Maximal length of a fight is three minutes
- When one opponent has gained three points, he is the winner of a fight.
- If after three minutes the score is 1:1 or 2:2 points, the player who made the first point is the winner.
- Both coaches can take a time-out of 30 seconds to give instructions to their players.