By Cameron Sawyer
sawyer@newsroom.byu.edu
Tae kwon do is one of the new Olympic events entering this year's Games in Sydney.
Master Shaun R. West, a 5th degree black belt and owner of Royal West Martial Arts in Provo, has been involved in tae kwon do for 29 years.
West said he believes that having tae kwon do in the Olympics will get people more interested in martial arts.
'We get people calling up asking if we train people like they do in the Olympics,' he said.
However, West said, there is a big difference between traditional and sport tae kwon do.
'Traditional is geared towards self-defense, sport is geared towards winning,' West said.
Sport tae kwon do has restrictions and special padding to prevent injuries, whereas traditional methods of Teakwondo could be used to seriously injure or even kill an attacker, West said.
West said he considered training for the Olympics but has been turned off to the idea because of the restrictions and the monotony of the demanding training schedule.
Haley Taylor, a junior from Bountiful, Utah, majoring in communications marketing is a student of West and a green belt with a blue stripe.
'I am really excited about it,' Taylor said. 'I hope it will really get people excited about martial arts and learning more about it.'
Even though West is more interested in the traditional aspect of tae kwon do, he said that the speed of the game will be exciting, and he plans on taping the matches.
Tae kwon do began as a demonstration sport in the 1988 Games in Seoul. It was also featured as a demonstration sport in the 1992 games in Barcelona before being added as an official Olympic sport.
The Olympic tae kwon do matches will take place Sept. 27-30.