…starts with the laying of the mats.  

And it’s possibly also the part of any competition everyone looks forward to the least, other than keeping the mats (as covered in a separate article). But at the same time, it symbolically indicates the beginning of a competition.  

But like keeping the mats, laying them is backbreaking work. They have to be manually pulled out of their stacks, brought to a designated area and interlocked and laid out in the needed configuration.  

After all, no taekwondo competition can be held without the mats. In both poomsae and kyurugi, they show competitors the boundary lines as listed in the rule books. The mats also offer poomsae athletes the friction and support needed to perform their pattern. On the other hand, kyurugi players have a surface to safely fall on, if needed. 

However, when the mats are finally all laid out, there is a feeling of happiness – because the mats have been laid out, the competition can now begin in a manner that both enables players and ensures their safety. 

Written by Victoire Morier