Sports
Taekwondo sport witnesses exponential growth courtesy of Korea’s support
Police officers who completed the Taekwondo training course, pose for a phot with trainers and Embassy of Korea officials
The president of the Uganda Taekwondo Federation Marvin Baryaruha has testified about the runaway growth of the sport, something he attributed to the support of the government of Korea.
Baryaruha delivered his testimony during a certificate-awarding ceremony for 22 police officers who had completed a special two-months course in Taekwondo that was funded by the Korea Taekwondo Promotion Foundation.
The function was held on December 5, 2024 at Fairway Hotel in Kampala and was witnessed by officials from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, the Uganda Police Force, and the National Council of Sports.
Baryaruha said: “In 2017 we had 15 clubs (registered with the National Taekwondo Federation) now we have 41. In 2018, we had 95 active players, now we have more than 400.”
Baryaruha also testified that for the first time Uganda sent a Taekwondo team to participate in the 13th edition of the All Africa games that were held in Ghana in March 2024.
The exponential growth of Taekwondo sport in Uganda was further attested to by Mr. Peter Malavu, the Chief Executive officer of the Uganda Police Martial Arts Club.
Malavu hailed the support of the Embassy of Korea that has helped them train 95 officers in the force. Out of these, he said 31 have received black belts.
As part of the Korean support to the Taekwondo sports development, two experts were dispatched from Korea over the last two years and have been training police officers, club leaders and UPDF officers in various Taekwondo forms.
Malavu also testified about the invaluable support by the police administration towards Taekwondo.
He noted that the Taekwondo has brought more medals for the force than any other sport.
Despite the noted growth, both Malavu and Baryaruha cried out to the Koreans to help them secure an electronic scoring system. They said this system will enable their players to raise their game using an international scoring system.
Mr. Seunghee YI, the 2nd secretary from Korean embassy revealed that the Embassy remains committed to the promotion of Taekwondo in Uganda including in 2025.
During the same pass out ceremony, 20 men from the Uganda Peoples Defense Force (UPDF) started a one year Trainers of Trainers course also being supported by the Korea Taekwondo Promotion Foundation.
This is the second intake of UPDF officers, the first one having been held last year.
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