Taekwondo Stamp Faux Pas!

It is probably one of the most infamous pictures of Taekwondo ever, and certainly of the last Olympics held in 2008 in Beijing; that of Cuba's Angel Matos lashing out and injuring a referee after being disqualified from his bronze medal bout at the Beijing Olympics, for which he and his coach received a lifetime ban from the sport. So how has a strikingly similar image appeared on a Royal mail stamp to celebrate Great Britain's 2012 Olympics... Totally Tae kwon Do investigates!

In July 2010, Royal Mail commissioned a set of stamps in order to celebrate the 2012 Olympics being hosted by Great Britain and a strikingly similar pose has appeared on the stamp to celebrate the Olympic event of Taekwondo.

Following an email from a concerned reader, on how the stamp may reflect on British Taekwondo once viewed by the millions who may visit the event in 2012, we decided to follow up and gather opinions from those involved.

We contacted the illustrator James Fryer, who was commissioned to produce the stamp; the BTCB who approved and authorized it; as well as Royal Mail themselves.

Mr Fryers response was that "the illustration was produced using many sketches, from a huge amount of reference, including hundreds of photos which probably did include the photo in question (when you Google Taekwondo, in the images section, this photo appears many times)."

While we have to agree this could well be the case, meaning that amongst hundreds of pictures of Olympic taekwondo, that particular one could have been included inadvertently, more so if Mr Fryer is a non-Taekwondo person so may not know of the incident and took it as simply another Taekwondo picture. We did ask Mr Fryer if he did Taekwondo or not, but he didn't reply!

However, whether Mr Fryer knew the context of the picture or not, it still seems to resemble the stamp image considerably as, even though there are differences in the initial picture and the stamp illustration, for example; the picture has been reversed, the hogu has changed to the other Olympic colour of red and the head and left arm have been changed, it would seem that it may be the smaller details that really give it away (the devil is in the details as they say).

Looking at the two pictures closely they have a number of identical or strikingly similar details such as the taping on the attacking foot, the way the two ends of the belt hang in mid flow, the ties at the back of the body armour, the shading on the trousers near the attacking foot, creases on the dobok, even the strip of yellow matting in the background and the outer side of the ring and that's not to mention the angle of the attacking leg!

To be fair, Mr Fryer does say "So the black belt straps look like they have been used in my illustration as do the colours of the background matting. But to say 'it appears to be based on one particular image' would be wrong."

So it may not be 'based' on a particular image, but it does seem to use a large portion of the image in question and whether intentional or not, could be contrived as paying homage to Angel Matos and the notorious 'incident' - or do you think this isn't the case?

Though Mr Fryer may not have recognized the photo when making his illustration and inadvertently included a (fairly large) portion of it in his illustration, the stamp had to be authorized and approved by the BTCD (British Taekwondo Control Board) before 'going to print'. We contacted the BTCB for their view and opinion, as we found it hard to believe that they did not pick up on this like we have, as even if it is just co-incidence, having a stamp that 'may' denote one of, if not 'the' worst incident in Taekwondo history as a representation of Great Britain and its Olympic Taekwondo movement, cannot be a very pleasing thing - especially for the Swedish as it was their referee, Chakir Chelbat, that was on the receiving end, and viewing a stamp like this, if they make the same connection our readers did, would be like a second kick in the face for them (excuse the pun)!

So why did no-one recognize it? The BTCB didn't reply to our emails, despite emailing four high ranking members including the Chairman, the National Olympic Committee Officer and the Secretary General !

We did however received a response from Royal Mail's press officer Ruth Barker. This came very quickly, via the telephone, just a short while after we email them for their views. On the phone where Ms. Barker reiterated what Mr Fryer said, pointing out it was an illustration and as such, not based on any particular picture. She then she proceeded to browse Google's numerous Taekwondo images and concluded that it could have been based on any number of pictures while agreeing she was no 'Taekwondo expert'. We did the same and to be honest we couldn't find any that matched so well, despite browsing hundreds of pictures!

Royal Mails official response was "This is absolutely not the case, Our Olympic and paralympic stamps use illustrations to reflect key elements of the sports portrayed and not one particular event or match."

Royal Mail concluded that no one has yet brought this issue to them and I agreed that I wouldn't of known about it had it not been brought to my attention, but then I'm not into stamps, hadn't seen this stamp on an letters I've received and don't follow WTF Taekwondo as closely as millions around the world do!

However, just to be thorough and fair I emailed both pictures around some of the respected writers of this magazine from around the world and, without giving details, I asked if they felt the stamp illustration was based on the other picture (which I didn't name) and in a follow up email asked if they recognized the incident. Here are their responses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mickey Lozano (WTF student, Totally TKD cover designer and professional graphic artist from Spain): "Oh yeah! The image is way similar!", I asked if he recognized the picture and he said "Yes... that Cuban guy took a rather juicy 'face chirugi' to his foot! Look at the hooking teeth technique of the referee! This is what gives bad name to our martial art. a few rotten apples."

Master Doug Cook (renowned KKW stylist, instructor and author from the USA) said "It's damn close for sure. The stamp issue is clearly celebrating the "sport" of taekwondo. Too bad. There is so much more value in the traditional martial art of the same. Perhaps a side kick without hogu would be better....". Upon asking if he recognized the photo he said "The photo on the right oddly (???) resembles Cuba's Angel Matos assaulting a referee at the Olympics."

Master Earl Weiss (ITF instructor and Writer from the USA) said "I think the image on the left "Is Based on" the image on the right. Certain similarities such as how the belt lays, creases and folds in the pant legs, dangling straps from the back of the Hogu and angle of the leg are remarkably similar. Arm positions are different as is the addition of the headgear." When asked if he recognised the pictures he replied "At first I was going to say no. Then I thought perhaps that is the one where the competitor was mad at the judge and kicked the judge. Is that it?" -and remember Master Weiss is ITF, not even WTF and he recognised it!

Ira Hoffman (WTF 4th degree and writer from the USA) said "Although the gross details of the illustration differ from those in the picture, the subtle details (the background colors, the position of the athelete's body against the background, and especially the position and shape of the belt and white tie from the chest protector) appear to be the same. I consider it unlikely that two random images of real athletes independently executing high round-house kicks would show the belt and chest protector ties in identical positions. I would conclude the illustration appears to be based on the photo."

Richard Conceicao (WTF instructor and writer from the USA) said "Well, I love puzzles. Even though I am scientific enough to know that "relationship never implies cause", I am a sucker for conspiracy theories as well. The right image appears to be of the Cuban contestant who clocked the ref at the Olympic games, albeit reversed (most have kicker on left). If it is indeed the basis for the stamp, I have to grant the artist a wonderfully sly sense of humor. The technician in me wants to see the position of the kickers support leg which is cut off. " - answering my second question before even asking it!

As a final test, we overlaid the photograph over the stamp illustration and it becomes pretty clear, we think, that the illustration has a heavy basis on the original picture.

We are happy to accept what the illustrator Mr Fryer said and agree that the 'whole' image isn't just a copy of the photo, as well as Royal Mails opinion that the stamp is not supposed to represent a particular event or match, though the lack of response from the BTCB is disappointing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original image, overlaid on the stamp illustration

So what do you, our readers think?

Do you agree or disagree? Many of our esteemed writers feel that the image (mainly) used in the illustration is representative of the Angel Matos incident at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, one of the lowest points in Taekwondo history, irrespective of how it came to be, though Royal Mail disagrees!

What are your thoughts? Was it a simple faux pas that someone down the line should have recognized, as our readers and writers did or is someone, somewhere smiling slyly knowing this has slipped the net? Could it taint Britain's Olympics in 2012 and GB Taekwondo? Or do you think the two images are totally unrelated altogether?

A special thread has been created on the Totally Tae Kwon Do forum for you to give your views and opinions. The forum is linked at www.totallytkd.com.