European Taekwondo Union


The European Taekwondo Union or World Taekwondo Europe is the official governing body for all Taekwondo matters in Europe as a regional organisation of World Taekwondo. It comprises the National Taekwondo Federations of all the European member nations and regulates all Taekwondo matters on a continental basis. The first participating countries in the ETU were Spain, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands, Turkey, Greece, Denmark and the UK. The first president was Antonio Garcia de la Fuente. The First European Championships of the ETU were held in Barcelona on May 22–23, 1976. After being considered only a demonstration sports event twice - in Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 - the WTF style - was incorporated as a full Olympic discipline in Sydney in 2000. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was announced that European Taekwondo Union will not recognise taekwondo events organised in Russia and Belarus, and will not host events in either country.
Members of the European Taekwondo Union uses the Poomsae style of teaching Taekwondo.
WWW taekwondoetu.org

Main events

Open

  • Polish Taekwondo Open
  • Russia Taekwondo Open
  • Spanish Taekwondo Open
  • Turkey Taekwondo Open

Advancement

Advancing through the belts is done by a system of gradings. Gradings are typically held in 3 month cycles at regional training centres. Grading systems will typically consist of line work, patterns, theory, and sparring. Students can typically advance through the belts at a rate of 1 Kup every 3 months. Although it is possible for students who perform exceptionally well during their grading to 'double promote', this means that they gain 2 Kup instead of one. this is however not very common and is only done if the student has exhibited complete understanding of the material they are being tested on as well as control and maturity. A double promotion is not possible for a student of red belt because their instructor is not permitted to grade them for their black belt.

Belts

ETU uses the following system of belt gradings: