Equipment and facilities

A taekwondo student typically wears a uniform, often white but sometimes black (or other colors), with a belt tied around the waist. White uniforms are considered the traditional color and are encouraged for use at formal ceremonies such as belt tests and promotions. Colored uniforms are often reserved for special teams (such as demonstration teams or leadership teams) or higher level instructors. There are at least three major styles of dobok, with the most obvious differences being in the style of jacket the cross over front jacket, the V neck jacket (no cross over) typically worn by Kukkiwon WTF practitioners, and the vertical closing front jacket (no cross over) typically worn by ITF practitioners. White uniforms in the Kukkiwon WTF tradition will typically be white throughout the jacket, while ITF style uniforms are trimmed with a black border along the bottom of the jacket.

The belt color and any insignia thereon indicate the students rank. Different clubs and schools use different color schemes for belts. In general, the darker the color, the higher the rank. Taekwondo is traditionally performed in bare feet, although martial arts training shoes may sometimes be worn.

When sparring, padded equipment is worn. In the ITF tradition, typically only the hands and feet are padded. For this reason, ITF sparring often employes only light contact sparring. In the Kukkiwon WTF tradition, full contact sparring is facilitated by the employment of more extensive equipment padded helmets called homyun are always worn, as are padded torso protectors called hogu; feet, shins, groins, hands, and forearms protectors are also worn.