Head Injuries in Junior Taekwondo Competitions

This paper relies on a systematic analysis of the studies about the injuries occurred during Taekwondo competitions, published in several electronic databases such as: Pubmed, Google Scholar, Proquest, but also a constative and interpretative study based on video analysis. Within this research, we analyzed 732 matches, among which 413 (56%) represented men's events and 319 (44%) women's events performed during the 2012 World Junior Championship held in Egypt. Results revealed that out of the total number of matches, only 7 ended with a KO (2 in women's contests and 5 in men's contests). We consider that the reduced number of KOs (head injuries) is due to the refereeing system, powerful kicks not being necessary in order to win points.