As if the protests about Tibet and other gripes about China weren’t enough, it seems that the Beijing 2008 Olympics have struck again: lumber prices are rising from growing demand for boards for Taekwondo training and insufficient supply. With the looming recession and a housing market already in collapse, this is only adding to the negative forces in the U.S. economy by raising construction costs for homes and furniture.

Taekwondo, along with Judo, are the only martial arts with Asian origins that are Olympic sports. Taekwondo is traditionally Korean and is distinct in its focus on kicking. It was initially developed for infantry to kick calvary soldiers off of their horses, and has slowly evolved into the national sport of Korea. In the past few decades, it has developed a very strong following in the United States, with dojos (schools) in every seedy downtown area imaginable.

In addition to the energetic and powerful forms and sparring, TKD often features board breaking, and sometimes concrete breaking. Usually using pine wood, Taekwondo demos typically have practitioners breaking boards with a variety of kicks and punches. In preparation for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the U.S. Taekwondo Team has been training extremely hard to compete against the best teams of the world in August. Likewise, teams across the world have been training every day for the competition. Marty Mankamyer, a director of the USA Taekwondo organization, said during an interview, “The use of boards is both physical and mental, and is absolutely vital to the comprehensive training of the U.S. team. We train the athletes to believe in their own strength physically and mentally. Breaking boards is a realization of that confidence.”

Unexpectedly, this has caused the costs of lumber, especially pine wood, to rise dramatically, as tens if not hundreds of boards are broken every day during each practice for a team. The prices of pine has subsequently caused the housing market to dwindle further, as construction costs for making homes is rising in sync with the increase of lumber costs. Likewise, manufacturing costs for furniture have gone up. In an already weak economy, this is crippling to Americans that are facing not only diminishing value of their dollars, but more expensive homes, bookshelves, cabinets, and tables. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in an emergency press conference, “Across the world, virtually thousands of boards are destroyed every day for Taekwondo practice. While we recognize the important of practice in martial arts, the rate at which lumber prices are rising is devastating to the economy and the American people.” There is speculation that, in hopes of stemming the problem, economists and policymakers from both Washington and the international community are meeting with World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) directors to explore sustainable and renewable sources of boards.

WTF President Dr. Chungwon Choue, in a memo to Chairman Bernanke, pointed out that, “If it weren’t for the Beijing Olympics, teams would not have to train as much as they are, and this world lumber crisis would not be happening. We must find a solution that will satisfy both the Taekwondo teams of the world and the housing and furniture markets. In the meantime, we must recognize that China and its ambitious Olympics program is to blame for the rise of housing and furniture prices in the world.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 11th, 2008 at 23:16 by Sean Jin and is filed under Entertainment, Humor, National. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.