British Taekwondo’s Poomsae Performance Department is responsible for the development of athletes competing and training at national and international level.
“I was fortunate in my first week as new Disability Development officer to go along to the National Taekwondo Centre and watch the Para Poomsae squad training under the watchful eye of Lead Coach, Russell Watkinson. The Athletes were an amazing group of people who were super focussed on improving their patterns” commented Tim Matthews, Disability Development Officer, British Taekwondo.

One of the Athletes, Jane Bedford, World Champion, Para Poomsae Performance Athlete (P34), Great Britain had the following to say about being part of the squad.

“As a Para Squad member, I have felt an absolute sense of belonging from the moment I joined, not just within the Para Squad but wider than that given we train at the same time as the Recognised Elite Squad in Manchester. Within our GB Para Squad we have a range of different disabilities, but the premise is to play to strengths and ‘can do’ rather than focusing on ‘can’t do’.
Para taekwondo has come into the spotlight more and more over the last few years, certainly we are now a standard category in all our UK competitions with many watching and cheering us on. We love it !!!”
Para-Poomsae Athlete Pathway
The Para-Poomsae Athlete Pathway is shown below.
- Step 1 Added to British Taekwondo Para-Poomsae Athlete Register
- Step 2 UK Provisional Classification for Domestic Competitions
- Step 3 Attendance at Official British Taekwondo Para-Poomsae Open Seminars
- Step 4 Selected to join Regional & National Para-Poomsae Squad
- Step 5 Official WT Classification process
- Step 6 Selected for GB Team for Major Championships
Para-Poomsae Squad Categories
Classification | Sub Categories | Impairment |
P10 | Male/Female | Visual |
P20 | Male/Female
U16/u30/31+ |
Intellectual |
P30 | Male/Female | Neurological |
P40 | Male/Female | Physical |
P50 | Male/Female | Wheelchair User |
P60 | Male/Female | Hearing |
P70 | Male/Female | Short Stature |
- Para-Poomsae – British Taekwondo Domestic Categories
- BT-P80 – Male/Female – Physical not classifiable above
- BT-P90 – Male/Female – Intellectual not classifiable above
To find out more about Classifications use this document – v16 Guide WT Para Classification guide to icons and infographics (Please note that the classification procedure in this is for International Competitions)
For Domestic Competitions, please follow this step-by-step guide

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