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Companion Guide · Taekwondo

The Gam-Jeom Avoidance Kit

Mat Manual companion guide to "Points You Gave Away: The Gam-Jeom Habits That Lose Matches." Print it. The article explains the penalties. This book removes them: the full prohibited-acts list in plain language for the…

Key Facts
ArtTaekwondo
FamilyKorean Arts
Levelbeginner
Formatplaybook
Topicsrules, competition, sparring
PreviewThe opening of the guide

Mat Manual companion guide to "Points You Gave Away: The Gam-Jeom Habits That Lose Matches." Print it. The article explains the penalties. This book removes them: the full prohibited-acts list in plain language for the gym wall, a legal-alternative card for every habit that donates points, the three-second and four-kick drills for front-leg fighters, and a mock-match foul tracker that counts your donations in sparring the way a referee counts them in a match.

Name: ______________________________ Gym: ______________________________ Coach: ______________________________ Division: ______________ Events this season: ______________

BEFORE ANYTHING: HOW THIS BOOK WORKS ☐ A gam-jeom is a full point to your opponent, charged by the referee for a prohibited act. Five in one round forfeits the round under best-of-three. This book treats every donation as a habit with a legal replacement, never as a character flaw. ☐ The acts below follow WT Article 14 as currently in force. Rules are revised on a cycle: check your event's briefing for the edition being used, and write any local variation into Part 3's margins. ☐ Drills in this book that practise the stop, the boundary, and the raised-leg deadline are done at controlled speed until the standard is met. A drill for not falling down is not an excuse to fall down harder. ☐ Nothing here teaches arguing with officials. The review channel at an event is the only protest this book recognises, and it belongs to the coach, after the match.

Part 1: The Full List on One Page

Part 1: The Full List on One Page
Prohibited actPlain languageThe usual habit behind it
Crossing the boundary lineBoth feet out of the contest areaRetreating in a straight line
Falling downDown for any reason the referee does not read as part of a scoring exchangeKicking past your balance, slipping on a turn
Avoiding or delayingRefusing to engage, stalling, slow to be ready after a breakProtecting a lead with the clock
Grabbing or pushingHands moving or holding the opponent's bodyMeasuring distance with a palm, shoving off in the clinch moment
Lifting the leg to blockA raised leg parked in an incoming kick's pathThe shin-check habit from other arts and older coaching
Kicking the opponent's legStriking the leg to kill an attack before it startsThe leg-kick answer imported from other rule sets
Holding a leg upA raised leg kept up beyond about three seconds without kickingFencing on one leg, waiting
Kicking in the air repeatedlyKick after kick in the air past the small allowed count, without committingFlicking to keep distance instead of fighting
Attacking below the waistAny kick landing below the belt lineA low roundhouse that slid, or was aimed there
Attacking after kal-yeoAny strike after the referee's break callThe one-more-shot instinct
Striking the head with the handPunch, backfist, or hammerfist to the headClose-range panic, habits from other arts
Attacking with the knee or headKnee strikes and buttsClinch habits from other rule sets
Attacking a fallen opponentStriking a fighter who is down or fallingFollowing a knockdown in, trained in other contexts
MisconductArguing, gestures, ignoring instructions; coach's misconduct charged to the fighterThe thirty seconds after a decision goes against you
The Companion Guide

The Gam-Jeom Avoidance Kit

Mat Manual companion guide to "Points You Gave Away: The Gam-Jeom Habits That Lose Matches." Print it. The article explains the penalties. This book removes them: the full prohibited-acts list in plain language for the gym wall, a legal-alternative card for every habit that donates points, the three-second and four-kick drills for front-leg fighters, and a mock-match foul tracker that counts your donations in sparring the way a referee counts them in a match.

Taekwondobeginnerplaybookrules, competition, sparring

What's Inside

  • Part 1: The Full List on One Page
  • Part 2: What a Gam-Jeom Costs — The Arithmetic
  • Part 3: The Wall Checklist
  • Part 4: The Boundary — Habit and Replacement
  • Part 5: Falling — Habit and Replacement
  • Part 6: Avoiding and Delaying — Habit and Replacement
  • …and 22 more sections
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Free companion article: Points You Gave Away: The Gam-Jeom Habits That Lose Matches — the full article, free in full.

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