How the Olympics Rekindled My Love for My Sport…But Not the One You Think

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Most of the time I couldn’t care less about sports. I don’t go to games, I don’t watch sports on TV, and I don’t get involved in discussions about sports. My eyes glaze over when my coworkers talk about their fantasy football picks. I enjoyed watching the Texas Rangers play in the World Series a few years ago, and I enjoy watching the occasional UFC match, but that’s about it. When the Olympics are on, however, my inner jock goes into overdrive. I love it. Whether it’s the winter or summer Olympics, the TV is playing the games whenever I’m at home.

There’s one sport that kept me on the edge of my seat and motivated me to get up early and go to the gym more often.  I eagerly awaited finals and semifinals, yelled at the TV, and jumped around the living room when my favorite athletes won medals.  I watched the athletes’ form and technique carefully, eating up any tips I could gain to enhance my own performance.

Was it taekwondo? Nope! It was swimming.
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My Guest Post: Keeping an Eye on Taekwondo in the Olympics

This article was originally a guest post on the website BookMartialArts.com.

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 The 2016 Olympics have begun, and martial artists all over the world will be tuning in to watch the events. Taekwondo, one of the world’s most popular martial arts, debuted as an official medal sport in the 2000 summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Prior to that taekwondo was a demonstration sport in the 1988 summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, and later at the 1992 summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Currently taekwondo and judo are the only Eastern martial arts included in the summer Olympic games, although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has proposed including karate for the 2020 games in Tokyo. Anyone can enjoy and learn from the taekwondo matches whether they are familiar with the sport or not.

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