The dark underbelly of competitive Taekwondo surfaces in this revealing episode as coaches Juan Moreno, Fred Borchardt, and TJ Proe dissect the technical disaster that unfolded at the recent Grand Prix Challenge in Charlotte. What began as a standard tournament quickly descended into chaos when the DADO Gen 3 electronic scoring system malfunctioned spectacularly, with officials secretly adjusting sensitivity levels midway through the competition.

Through firsthand accounts, the coaches expose how morning matches yielded only 16 total points across all rings, while afternoon sessions suddenly exploded with scores in the 30s and 40s. Athletes who fought early faced completely different conditions than those who competed later, fundamentally compromising the integrity of the entire event. The magnets in the new Gen 3 socks proved so powerful they would attract each other even in storage bags—a telling sign of a system gone terribly wrong. As one coach states bluntly, “We’re on Generation 3 and it’s gotten worse and worse and worse.”

Beyond the technical failures, the discussion ventures into troubling territory regarding organizational leadership, selective rule enforcement, and the puzzling decision by officials to declare front hand punches non-scoring techniques despite allowing them to determine match outcomes. The episode isn’t all criticism, though, as the coaches highlight impressive performances from CJ Nickolas and other athletes who managed to adapt and excel despite the flawed environment. The conversation concludes with hope-inspiring details about a collaborative international training camp that demonstrates what’s possible when coaches and athletes focus on shared knowledge rather than politics.

Whether you’re a competitor, coach, parent, or fan of combat sports, this episode provides crucial insight into the challenges facing modern Taekwondo. Listen now to understand why the sport’s technological growing pains threaten its competitive integrity, and how the community might chart a path forward.