Hogu (호구) is the

armor Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...

worn by practitioners of

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

and

Geomdo Kumdo is a modern Korean martial art derived from Japanese Kendo. Though romanized in a number of ways when written, Kǒmdo or Geomdo, the meaning remains "the way of the sword" and is cognate with the Japanese term. As a martial art, Kumdo has ...

during

sparring Sparring is a form of training common to many combat sports. Although the precise form varies, it is essentially relatively ' free-form' fighting, with enough rules, customs, or agreements to minimize injuries. By extension, argumentative debate ...

and competition. Translated into English, ''hogu'' means chest or chest protector. The ''hogu'' has been used in

World Taekwondo World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is an international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The ''World Taekw ...

sparring since the 1950s and is considered the most important piece of sparring equipment in the Taekwondo practitioner's arsenal. The ''hogu'' is the most common scoring area in Taekwondo sparring. The ''hogu'' is hit by the heel, the sole and the top of the foot by many kicking techniques like the roundhouse kick or the back kick, and can also be hit with the fist. ''Hogu''s are made by various companies such as Adidas and Dae Do; only certain brands of chest protector are approved by World Taekwondo. The chest protector is mandatory in World Taekwondo- or Olympic-style competition; however, it is not used in

International Taekwon-Do Federation International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) is an international taekwondo organization founded on March 22, 1966, by General Choi Hong Hi (Korean: 최홍희) in Seoul, South Korea. The ITF was founded to promote and encourage the growth of the K ...

-style sparring. In Korean Geomdo, hogu refers to the armor worn by practitioners during sparring. It is similar to the

bōgu , properly called , is training armour used primarily in the Japanese martial art of kendo,Uchida, M. (2005)Kendo Bogu (Protective Equipment)(October 2005). Retrieved on 12 May 2010.

worn by practitioners of Japanese

Kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...

References

Taekwondo Martial arts equipment Body armor {{taekwondo-stub ko:호구 (보호 장비)

See also

References