Transducer Reviews

If your automobile impacts something, often, even if the impact is very light, the airbag detonates with more than 1200 lbs of force at speeds that can exceed 200 mph. This data has been obtained from extensive testing with sophisticated load cell technology. We hear about the results of the deployment of airbags from hospital emergency rooms, from individuals who have been injured, from private companies who work in the automobile safety industry, from automobile manufacturers, and even from the government. Even with such a large group, all saying that airbags are dangerous, the public does not have available to it accurate statistics on airbag injuries and deaths. The number of airbag deaths reported by the National Highway Traffice Safety Administration is far lower than the actual number. The airbag deaths reported are only those from accidents investigated by NHTSA’s Special Crash Investigation Division, and as of 1988 the SCI Division of NHTSA only investigated accidents that included the latest airbag technology. Their justification for this misleading information is that their primary purpose is to help auto manufacturers develop safer airbags. What, you thought the purpose of reporting a death statistic was to inform the public?

Why are airbags so dangerous? To start with, airbag systems were developed for the 5 ft 8 inch 180 lb. male, and they were only tested to be sure they met those specific needs. Unfortunately, this limited airbag testing did not help shorter people, who have to sit closer to the steering wheel than 10 or 12 inches. Nor did the requirements consider children, or those who have medical reasons why they are in danger from the force of an exploding airbag. We can’t totally blame the auto makers either. While the airbag was still in the research and development phase, the automobile industry conducted tests that clearly demonstrated the potential for fatal airbag injuries associated with airbag deployment, and the automobile industry itself concluded that the life-saving airbag could also be life-threatening.

The Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Louisville and the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office have been conducting an on-going study for the past 10 years to identify injuries from airbags deployment. Their study has irrefutably indicated that an automobile occupant in close proximity to a deploying airbag can sustain severe airbag injuries such as traumatic amputation of fingers, hands and forearms, pulverized compound fractures of the forearms and fractures of the upper arms,and even death. These airbag injuries and possible death can occur no matter what the speed of the vehicle is. These airbag injuries occur not only from the rapid forceful deploment of the airbag itself, but from the rigid airbag cover which splits open, or sometimes just blows off when the airbag deploys.

The automobile driver’s side airbag module is located within the center of the automobile steering wheel and is covered by some sort of rigid material–thermoplastic, rigid urethane foam covered with polyvinyl or rigid metal plates covered with foam and vinyl. At the moment of deployment the cover splits along seams intentionally weakened in manufacture and rapidly opens outward to allow the airbag to inflate, averaging between 144 mph and 211 mph.

A survey of 184 automobiles in the model year 1999 revealed that 85% have the horn activation button located in the airbag module cover. Drivers often place their hand on the horn right before an accident, exactly the most dangerous location if their airbag deploys! Passengers have also sustained very severe airbag injuries when they attempted to brace themselves by placing their hand on the dashboard. Today, no warning labels inform the driver or passenger of these risks of airbag injuries from placing hands or forearms on driver or passenger side air bag module covers. As long ago as 1972, Ford Motor Company recommended a warning placard be affixed to the crash pad directly in front of the right front passenger to warn of hazards associated with the airbag.

So far, the airbag systems developed over the last few years have made progress, with the multistage airbag and load cells that sense occupant weight and position. In September 2003 the first systems were introduced that turn off the airbag based on both occupant weight and position. But there is still a long way to go.

Tae Kwon Do originated in Korea, supposedly more than 2000 years ago. Of course, it wasn’t called Tae Kwon Do then. a bunch of different fighting styles with different names were united into what we now know as Tae Kwon Do (officially named in 1955) by General Choi Hong Hi. These older styles were developed to be effective in combat, and the modern martial style, Tae Kwon Do, like its predecessors, was intended as a combat style by General Choi Hong Hi, who required that it be taught to the Korean soldiers in training. Tae Kwon Do, in its original form was the equivalent to Krav Manga or any other military self-defense/fighting system that we know today.

Tae Kwon Do is now officially practiced in 120 countries, by more than 20 million people. Anyone who has seen an Olympic Tae Kwon Do match has to be asking himself whether the actions he is witnessing in the ring are in any way connected to any serious fighting style which was the equivalent to Krav Manga or any other military self-defense/fighting system that we know today.

Tae Kwon Do emphasizes kicks thrown from a mobile stance, using the leg’s greater reach and power to disable the opponent from a distance. Tae Kwon Do training also includes a comprehensive system of punching, strikes with the hand, elbow, head, and knee. The Tae Kwon Do Olympic sport, however, is much more restricted. Tae Kwon Do Olympic sport rules limit blows to the foot and closed fore-fist only. No punching above the throat base is allowed, although kicks to the face are legal. Elbow strikes, knee strikes, knife hand strikes, backhand strikes, hammer fist, just to name a few examples, are now allowed. The areas that may be struck are also limited. Legal scoring areas are the mid -section of the trunk, and the front part of the head.

The Tae Kwon Do Olympic rules for awarding points have changed as well. The old phrasing, “Points are awarded when permitted techniques deliver full force, abrupt displacement and trembling shock to the legal scoring areas…” has changed to “Points shall be awarded when permitted techniques are delivered accurately and powerfully to the legal scoring areas…”. The first version took into account the response of the opponent. You had to hit him hard enough to cause abrupt displacement and trembling shock. Not much room for doubt about abrupt displacement and trembling shock. The more recent version of Tae Kwon Do Olympic rules takes the response of the opponent out of the equation. Now you just have to hit accurately and powerfully. Talk about room for doubt.

It seems obvious that working with a set of rules that leave that much to a judges perception would rapidly adopt a technological solution, and that is just what has happened. Now, Tae Kwon Do allows the use of load cell sensors in the competitors pads. These sensors record the placement and strength of the blow and decide whether a point is scored. Olympic Tae Kwon Do rules say: “In the use of electronic scoring trunk protector: Force of impact is measured by the electronic sensor of the protector with the level of force by which points are scored varying by weight division and sex.” Of course, the opponent is still important in that his superior technique could keep you from hitting him, and at the same time allow him to hit you, however, his conditioning, building bone density, muscle layers, and body control, all of which allow him to be good at “taking a punch” are no longer at issue (beyond a certain basic level anyway) . What if it was decided that Tae Kwon Do could be made even more fair by having each fighter pitted against a robot, who would exhibit the same strength and strategy for each fighter? The opponent could be completely eliminated. That would of course eliminate the elements of any fighting sport that most appeals to audiences — unpredictability. Having already eliminated reality, one might wonder if anyone would actually pay to watch such a match.

Golf conditioning along with good golf swing mechanics and the right golf equipment is one of the best ways to prevent golf injuries.

Golf injury researchers have focused on head injuries. Their technique utilized crash dummies with specialized load cells to determine the extent of an injury from a flying golf ball, however, these studies do not address the real risk to golfers.

Actually most common golf injuries occur in the soft tissues: muscles, ligaments, and tendons, and joints of the upper body. So when you plan your conditioning program, consider the areas that are vulnerable to injuries: the elbow, spine, knee, hip and wrist. Leading the list of golf injuries is golfer’s elbow. The best way to avoid golfer’s elbow is to strengthen the forearm muscles and slow the swing so that there will be less shock in the arm when the ball is hit. Here are three exercises to build up your forearm muscles.

1. Squeeze a tennis ball for five minutes.
2. Wrist curls with a lightweight dumbbell. Lower the weight to the end of your fingers, then curl the weight back into your palm, followed by curling up your wrist to lift the weight an inch or two higher. Do 10 reps with each arm.
3. Reverse wrist curls with a lightweight dumbbell. Place your hands in front of you, palm side down. Using your wrist, lift the weight up and down. Hold above your elbow with your other hand in order to limit the motion to your forearm. Do 10 reps with each arm.

The rotational stresses of the golf swing can place considerable pressure on the spine and muscles. Combine this with poor flexibility and limited muscle strength and you have a recipe for lower back injury. Here are two exercises to strengthen lower back muscles.

1. Rowing. Firmly tie the ends of rubber tubing together. Place it around an object that is shoulder height (like a door hinge). Standing with your arms straight out in front of you, grasp the tubing with each hand and slowly pull it toward your chest. Release slowly. Perform three sets of 10.
2. Pull-downs With the rubber tubing still around the door hinge, kneel and hold the tubing over your head. Pull down slowly toward your chest, bending your elbows as you lower your arms. Raise the tubing slowly over your head. Perform three sets of 10.

Make sure your conditioning program includes core strength and flexibility exercises. Core exercises focus on the muscles of the abdominals, back and hips which are the powerhouse and foundation of your golf swing. Core conditioning will make a huge difference in the power you get from your long shots well as improving your endurance so your short game is more precise. Here are four great core exercises:

1. Elbow stand leg lift. Face up. Distribute your weight evenly between your elbows and heels. Keep your torso straight and rigid, and keep your bum up so your body is in a straight line. Straighten your leg with your toe flexed up and raise the leg for a slow count of 10 repetitions, then raise the other.
2. Handstand leg lift. Face up. Distribute your weight evenly between your hands and heels. Keep your torso straight and rigid, and keep your bum up so your body is in a straight line. Keeping your leg straight with your toe flexed up, slowly raise one leg. Do 10 repetitions, then switch legs.
3. Crunch. Lie down on your back, with your knees bent. Lift your torso up off of the ground, make sure that your lower back is entirely off the ground, so that someone could stick their hand underneath your back. Touch the tops of your knees.
4. Back Hyper-Extensions. Lie on your stomach. Extend your legs straight, clasp your hands behind your back. Lift your legs and your torso off of the ground as high as you can simultaneously.

Along with building up strength in your muscles, stretching is equally important. When you get to the golf course do some simple stretching exercises, and then get a bucket of balls and hit a few golf balls on the driving range as a warm up. It not only will help your game, but will make you healthier in the long run.

One of the most popular designs for an industrial robot is the robotic arm. Just like your arm, a robotic arm requires arm segments, joints, a way to move those joints, and a sense of touch.

A typical robotic arm is made up of several metal segments, joined by joints. The computer controls the robotic arm by rotating individual step motors connected to each joint. Sometimes larger arms use hydraulics or pneumatics for joint control. Unlike ordinary motors, step motors move in exact increments. This allows the computer to move the robotic arm very precisely, repeating exactly the same movement over and over again. The industrial robot uses motion sensors to make sure it moves just the right amount.

In order to do different jobs, a robotic arm get a special ‘hand’ for each job. There are many types of special ‘hands’ called ‘end effectors’. One common end effector can grasp and carry different objects. To give a robotic hand a sense of touch, it has built-in load cells that tell the computer how hard the industrial robot is gripping a particular object. This keeps the industrial robot from dropping or crushing whatever it’s carrying. Other end effectors include blowtorches, drills and spray painters. A robotic arm might twist the caps onto peanut butter jars coming down an assembly line or drill holes, or pick up a piece and put it on another piece. An industrial robot can often do this repetitive work more efficiently than human beings because they are so precise. A robot always drills in the exactly the same place, and always tightens bolts with the same amount of force, no matter how many hours it’s been working. Many industrial robots work in auto assembly lines, putting cars together. An industrial robot is very strong, lifting large car pieces easily, and never get tired. Even though an industrial robot is capable of great strength, it is also capable of performing very delicate operations as well. This makes them very useful in the computer industry which requires an incredibly precise hand to put together a tiny microchip.

If your automobile impacts something, often, even if the impact is very light, the airbag detonates with more than 1200 lbs of force at speeds that can exceed 200 mph. This data has been obtained from extensive testing with sophisticated load cell technology. We hear about the results of the deployment of airbags from hospital emergency rooms, from individuals who have been injured, from private companies who work in the automobile safety industry, from automobile manufacturers, and even from the government. Even with such a large group, all saying that airbags are dangerous, the public does not have available to it accurate statistics on airbag injuries and deaths. The number of airbag deaths reported by the National Highway Traffice Safety Administration is far lower than the actual number. The airbag deaths reported are only those from accidents investigated by NHTSA’s Special Crash Investigation Division, and as of 1988 the SCI Division of NHTSA only investigated accidents that included the latest airbag technology. Their justification for this misleading information is that their primary purpose is to help auto manufacturers develop safer airbags. What, you thought the purpose of reporting a death statistic was to inform the public?

Why are airbags so dangerous? To start with, airbag systems were developed for the 5 ft 8 inch 180 lb. male, and they were only tested to be sure they met those specific needs. Unfortunately, this limited airbag testing did not help shorter people, who have to sit closer to the steering wheel than 10 or 12 inches. Nor did the requirements consider children, or those who have medical reasons why they are in danger from the force of an exploding airbag. We can’t totally blame the auto makers either. While the airbag was still in the research and development phase, the automobile industry conducted tests that clearly demonstrated the potential for fatal airbag injuries associated with airbag deployment, and the automobile industry itself concluded that the life-saving airbag could also be life-threatening.

The Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Louisville and the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office have been conducting an on-going study for the past 10 years to identify injuries from airbags deployment. Their study has irrefutably indicated that an automobile occupant in close proximity to a deploying airbag can sustain severe airbag injuries such as traumatic amputation of fingers, hands and forearms, pulverized compound fractures of the forearms and fractures of the upper arms,and even death. These airbag injuries and possible death can occur no matter what the speed of the vehicle is. These airbag injuries occur not only from the rapid forceful deploment of the airbag itself, but from the rigid airbag cover which splits open, or sometimes just blows off when the airbag deploys.

The automobile driver’s side airbag module is located within the center of the automobile steering wheel and is covered by some sort of rigid material–thermoplastic, rigid urethane foam covered with polyvinyl or rigid metal plates covered with foam and vinyl. At the moment of deployment the cover splits along seams intentionally weakened in manufacture and rapidly opens outward to allow the airbag to inflate, averaging between 144 mph and 211 mph.

A survey of 184 automobiles in the model year 1999 revealed that 85% have the horn activation button located in the airbag module cover. Drivers often place their hand on the horn right before an accident, exactly the most dangerous location if their airbag deploys! Passengers have also sustained very severe airbag injuries when they attempted to brace themselves by placing their hand on the dashboard. Today, no warning labels inform the driver or passenger of these risks of airbag injuries from placing hands or forearms on driver or passenger side air bag module covers. As long ago as 1972, Ford Motor Company recommended a warning placard be affixed to the crash pad directly in front of the right front passenger to warn of hazards associated with the airbag.

So far, the airbag systems developed over the last few years have made progress, with the multistage airbag and load cells that sense occupant weight and position. In September 2003 the first systems were introduced that turn off the airbag based on both occupant weight and position. But there is still a long way to go.

Golf is a great way to exercise and have fun. In fact, we laugh about golf off the course too. Remember those cartoons where the golfer yells “fore”, hits the ball in some unanticipated direction, and smacks someone else on the head? In the cartoon it’s funny, but in real life getting hit in the head, or someplace else for that matter, can be fatal.

The most common golf injuries reported to the emergency rooms across the country are from the ball or the club actually impacting the face or head. This finding led to a study by Janda reported in Golf Digest magazine in which an automobile crash dummy took a vacation to the world of golf. The way crash dummies work is that load cells implanted at various places in their wonderfully resiliant bodies tell us how hard they were hit, then a researcher decides if that force hitting that particular area on a human would hurt. Using a golf ball machine to propel the ball, the dummy was hit in the head, chest and arm. Then computer equipment measured the impact to determine the extent of the golf injury. Janda found that most of the time a simulated golf injury could be serious or fatal unless treated properly and quickly. That crash dummy was probably thinking “Duh! if you get hit with a ball or a club in the head, it’s going to hurt! Who’s the dummy here?”

The same articles goes on to quote experts who say most folks who experience a golf inujury ignore their injuries and continue to play. It is important to note that injuries from a golf ball or a club account for only an extremely small part of the golf injuries a player received on a golf course. Most of the time a golf injury is from repeditive strain, and statistics from the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicineshow that 30% of professional golfers continue playing with such injuries and that 70% of golfers at all levels experience back pain which is significant enough to hamper golf performance. They also point out that about 2 million people take up the game of golf each year, and about the same number leave the game, many because of golf injury. These golf injuries are attributed to overuse injuries, repetitive faulty swing mechanics, fitness/conditioning level, forcing the body into positions it cannot naturally achieve, and improperly fitted equipment. Pretty much, if you play golf, chances are real good that you are ignoring a lot of pain. Head injury is not on the list.

The warning is that if you’re having symptoms of a head injury, headaches, blurred vision, double vision, nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, you should be checked out by a doctor because head injuries can smolder over time and can lead to possible death. I’m left wondering how many of those golfers who ignored their possible head injuries were actually throwing up. Doesn’t seem like something that would fit in well with the fashion conscious golf club set.

The article ends with some good information — that some head injuries happen when someone stands too close to a golfer and gets hit with a golf club. Children playing with golf clubs can also cause serious injuries when they swing the club and inadvertently hit a bystander. At this point, the crash test dummy probably got up and went back to his job at the automobile factory because he figured out he was working for people who had serious head injuries, and their problems didn’t have anything to do with golf.

The final warning was “Perhaps the most dangerous thing to do after a golf injury is to head to the clubhouse for a couple of drinks. Alcohol with a head injury can be deadly.” Especially if you are planning on driving home.

In 1998, soccer injuries sent more than 77,500 children and adolescents ages 5 to 14 to hospital emergency rooms. The Consumer Product Safety Commission, over a 13 year time period, identified 18 individuals who have died from soccer injuries: specifically from head injury resulting from impact with the goal post. Kid sized crash dummies are helping analyze a padded system for the goal post which will hopefully aid in the prevention of head injury in soccer. The idea is that a machine accelerates a carriage and a Humanoid head form along the steel track until an impact occurs with an instrumented anvil at the end of the track. A load cell within the anvil is used to measure the force of the impact and determine what head injury that would occur.

Head injuries aren’t the only soccer injuries. The shin is the third most common soccer injury, and injuries to the shin most often occur when players try to kick the ball and instead kick each other. A study performed at the Institute for Preventative Sports Medicine in Ann Arbor, Michigan found that Shin guards significantly reduced soccer injuries by reducing the force delivered by a kick to the leg by 41.2 to 77.1 percent.

Researchers wanted to simulate soccer injuries that result from one person kicking another person with their leg planted. They wanted to make sure their test setup could achieve the impact a healthy, physically active athlete could deliver with a kick. To do this simulation, the researchers used a Hybrid III crash dummy which is similar in size to a ten-year-old child. the Hybrid III dummy measures more factors and more closely mimics whole body responses of humans than other approaches. The researchers fitted the shin guards to the leg with straps in the manner in which a player would typically attach the guard. Then a free swinging pendulum device delivered a force similar to that of a high impact collision during a game to the knee of the dummy. The force of the ‘kick’ was recorded by a load cell in the dummy’s knee, and from this information the researchers were able to determine what soccer injuries were likely to have resulted from the kick.

22 different commercially available shin guards were tested. The study found that all shin guards demonstrated at least a 40 percent reduction in the force delivered with several shin guards reducing the force over 70 percent. The good news is that even the least effective shin guards were able to significantly reduce soccer injuries.

Thanks Crash Dummy Kids. I’m hoping the results of this test will be posted next to the soccer equipment at my local sporting goods store.

Golf is a great way to exercise and have fun. In fact, we laugh about golf off the course too. Remember those cartoons where the golfer yells “fore”, hits the ball in some unanticipated direction, and smacks someone else on the head? In the cartoon it’s funny, but in real life getting hit in the head, or someplace else for that matter, can be fatal.

The most common golf injuries reported to the emergency rooms across the country are from the ball or the club actually impacting the face or head. This finding led to a study by Janda reported in Golf Digest magazine in which an automobile crash dummy took a vacation to the world of golf. The way crash dummies work is that load cells implanted at various places in their wonderfully resiliant bodies tell us how hard they were hit, then a researcher decides if that force hitting that particular area on a human would hurt. Using a golf ball machine to propel the ball, the dummy was hit in the head, chest and arm. Then computer equipment measured the impact to determine the extent of the golf injury. Janda found that most of the time a simulated golf injury could be serious or fatal unless treated properly and quickly. That crash dummy was probably thinking “Duh! if you get hit with a ball or a club in the head, it’s going to hurt! Who’s the dummy here?”

The same articles goes on to quote experts who say most folks who experience a golf inujury ignore their injuries and continue to play. It is important to note that injuries from a golf ball or a club account for only an extremely small part of the golf injuries a player received on a golf course. Most of the time a golf injury is from repeditive strain, and statistics from the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicineshow that 30% of professional golfers continue playing with such injuries and that 70% of golfers at all levels experience back pain which is significant enough to hamper golf performance. They also point out that about 2 million people take up the game of golf each year, and about the same number leave the game, many because of golf injury. These golf injuries are attributed to overuse injuries, repetitive faulty swing mechanics, fitness/conditioning level, forcing the body into positions it cannot naturally achieve, and improperly fitted equipment. Pretty much, if you play golf, chances are real good that you are ignoring a lot of pain. Head injury is not on the list.

The warning is that if you’re having symptoms of a head injury, headaches, blurred vision, double vision, nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, you should be checked out by a doctor because head injuries can smolder over time and can lead to possible death. I’m left wondering how many of those golfers who ignored their possible head injuries were actually throwing up. Doesn’t seem like something that would fit in well with the fashion conscious golf club set.

The article ends with some good information — that some head injuries happen when someone stands too close to a golfer and gets hit with a golf club. Children playing with golf clubs can also cause serious injuries when they swing the club and inadvertently hit a bystander. At this point, the crash test dummy probably got up and went back to his job at the automobile factory because he figured out he was working for people who had serious head injuries, and their problems didn’t have anything to do with golf.

The final warning was “Perhaps the most dangerous thing to do after a golf injury is to head to the clubhouse for a couple of drinks. Alcohol with a head injury can be deadly.” Especially if you are planning on driving home.

A robot is helping stroke victims regain movement in their arms. The robot was created by Jules Dewald, PhD, associate professor of physical therapy and human movement sciences, physical medicine, and rehabilitation and biomedical engineering at Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, and Wim Lam, owner and general manager of Lam Design Management of Orchard Park, NY.

Most people who have suffered a stroke find reaching out very difficult to do unless the arm is fully supported. Up to now to facilitate rehabilitation, stroke victims have used an air bearing device that slides over a large table, but this is a clumsy solution. Lam s company represented a robot called the HapticMASTER from Netherlands-based Moog FCS B.V., and Lam suggested that perhaps the robot could replace a real table with a virtual one to make rehabilitation for stroke victims easier. The idea was to create a virtual world for stroke victims, so that the weight of their arm could be fully eliminated and then gradually reintroduced as their rehabilitation progressed.

A chair created by Biodex Medical Devices,Shirley, NY, provides an adjustable seat that allows individuals to be placed in the correct position with respect to the robot. The combination of the Biodex chair and the HapticMASTER robot created the new ACT3D rehabilitation system.The built-in interface, which supports the hand and forearm, is connected to a gimble, which is attached to a special load cell.

The computer creates a virtual world with objects and responds to a patient’s movements. The robot processes 3-D information, allowing the stroke victim to see his arm and the virtual objects in space.It generates a sensation of contact with physical objects. The video interface Feedback provides a realistic feel to the objects in the virtual environment. Over time, the robot can be set to to allow the patient to control more and more of the weight of his arm, until he can deal with the real weight of the arm as he explores the work space.

The next iteration of the ACT3D, which helps the rehabilitation of hand and finger dexterity, is already in progress.

Tae Kwon Do originated in Korea, supposedly more than 2000 years ago. Of course, it wasn’t called Tae Kwon Do then. a bunch of different fighting styles with different names were united into what we now know as Tae Kwon Do (officially named in 1955) by General Choi Hong Hi. These older styles were developed to be effective in combat, and the modern martial style, Tae Kwon Do, like its predecessors, was intended as a combat style by General Choi Hong Hi, who required that it be taught to the Korean soldiers in training. Tae Kwon Do, in its original form was the equivalent to Krav Manga or any other military self-defense/fighting system that we know today.

Tae Kwon Do is now officially practiced in 120 countries, by more than 20 million people. Anyone who has seen an Olympic Tae Kwon Do match has to be asking himself whether the actions he is witnessing in the ring are in any way connected to any serious fighting style which was the equivalent to Krav Manga or any other military self-defense/fighting system that we know today.

Tae Kwon Do emphasizes kicks thrown from a mobile stance, using the leg’s greater reach and power to disable the opponent from a distance. Tae Kwon Do training also includes a comprehensive system of punching, strikes with the hand, elbow, head, and knee. The Tae Kwon Do Olympic sport, however, is much more restricted. Tae Kwon Do Olympic sport rules limit blows to the foot and closed fore-fist only. No punching above the throat base is allowed, although kicks to the face are legal. Elbow strikes, knee strikes, knife hand strikes, backhand strikes, hammer fist, just to name a few examples, are now allowed. The areas that may be struck are also limited. Legal scoring areas are the mid -section of the trunk, and the front part of the head.

The Tae Kwon Do Olympic rules for awarding points have changed as well. The old phrasing, “Points are awarded when permitted techniques deliver full force, abrupt displacement and trembling shock to the legal scoring areas…” has changed to “Points shall be awarded when permitted techniques are delivered accurately and powerfully to the legal scoring areas…”. The first version took into account the response of the opponent. You had to hit him hard enough to cause abrupt displacement and trembling shock. Not much room for doubt about abrupt displacement and trembling shock. The more recent version of Tae Kwon Do Olympic rules takes the response of the opponent out of the equation. Now you just have to hit accurately and powerfully. Talk about room for doubt.

It seems obvious that working with a set of rules that leave that much to a judges perception would rapidly adopt a technological solution, and that is just what has happened. Now, Tae Kwon Do allows the use of load cell sensors in the competitors pads. These sensors record the placement and strength of the blow and decide whether a point is scored. Olympic Tae Kwon Do rules say: “In the use of electronic scoring trunk protector: Force of impact is measured by the electronic sensor of the protector with the level of force by which points are scored varying by weight division and sex.” Of course, the opponent is still important in that his superior technique could keep you from hitting him, and at the same time allow him to hit you, however, his conditioning, building bone density, muscle layers, and body control, all of which allow him to be good at “taking a punch” are no longer at issue (beyond a certain basic level anyway) . What if it was decided that Tae Kwon Do could be made even more fair by having each fighter pitted against a robot, who would exhibit the same strength and strategy for each fighter? The opponent could be completely eliminated. That would of course eliminate the elements of any fighting sport that most appeals to audiences — unpredictability. Having already eliminated reality, one might wonder if anyone would actually pay to watch such a match.