Rant on an Olympic sport no one else probably cares about:
I had exposure to Taekwondo sparring tournaments as a teen, so I like to watch a few sparring matches. I don't follow particular athletes, and I'm really just looking to see what's going on. What's going on does not impress me. Husband commented that it's a terrible spectator sport and that he can't even tell what just happened unless there's a slow motion replay - probably true, although I don't think it's that hard to follow (after years of sparring, and watching friends spar, myself). What's interesting and unfortunate is that the electronic point detection system - something I remember was starting to come into use over 15 years ago, but I don't know when it became part of the highest level competitions - is affecting the "kicks" that the competitors use. They're doing some weird, weird things to trigger the sensor. Now, WTF (World Taekwondo Federation, you peanut gallery) Taekwondo sparring has never been a "fight" - I'd say sparring is to a street fight as chess is to a military battle - but to me, that makes it even more important that competitors at least keep it somewhat legit by using recognized techniques. These people are not inventing moves that would be effective on the street - they're using moves that would get them pummeled in a real fight.
Here's an article husband found on the stupid (my words) kicks:
http://www.taekwondo-information.org/taekwondo-sparring-rules.html
And here's an article I found on point scoring:
http://www.taekwondo-information.org/taekwondo-sparring-rules.html
I remember when WTF TKD became an Olympic sport, and sparring consequently went from one point per hit to that BS where you get more points for flashier kicks - widening the inherent gap between sparring and real fighting. I do not recommend doing a spinning kick to the head if someone's attacking you. I don't think it makes the sport any more watchable.
Also weird is that 20 years ago, WTF refs of a certain rank wore these banana yellow business suits. Kind of silly looking, but they were easy to find in a hurry. Now the ref suits seem to be some variation of the Sea World employee uniform. Don't get it.
FWIW, the reason I keep emphasizing WTF is that there's another standard with different legal targets and required body protection, called ITF, with the US division being the ATA.
It's a bummer to see a sport change this way. I doubt more kids are active in martial arts due to the Olympic exposure, but it does seem (to this grumpy old person) to have made the sport a lot less ... authentic, I guess the word is. Meaningful. When they don't have sensors, there are four corner judges, and three of them have to have noted a hit for it to score. I like that a lot better. I see that the justification for sensors is that it's hard to gauge head shots accurately, but you know, I find soccer fouls hard to see, too, and somehow the handful of refs on the field manage.