KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — When Vietnamese competitor Nguyen Thanh Hien Linh entered her very first virtual taekwondo match in Singapore in 2024, she was completely lost.
“I was just kicking into the air,” the 21-year-old recalled. Even with her background as an elite national taekwondo champion, she found herself at a total disadvantage in the virtual arena — with no understanding of the strategy, the skills required, or how the technology even functioned.
Fast forward two years, and Nguyen has claimed a gold medal at a virtual taekwondo competition held in Malaysia, joining a rapidly expanding community of athletes embracing this gamified combat sport throughout Southeast Asia.
What was once an unfamiliar experiment has evolved into a structured competitive discipline. Co-developed by World Taekwondo and Singapore-based technology firm Refract Technologies, the sport merges virtual reality with traditional taekwondo techniques to attract younger, tech-oriented athletes.
Competitors put on VR headsets that place them inside a digital three-dimensional arena, while motion-tracking sensors are attached to their spine, thighs, and shins. Players use their actual body movements to control digital avatars in noncontact virtual bouts, where well-timed and rapid strikes chip away at an opponent’s virtual health bar.
One major difference from conventional taekwondo: competitors are no longer separated by age, weight, or gender. In the virtual arena, everyone competes on the same digital playing field.
The sport was featured at Singapore’s Olympic Esports Week in 2023 and held its inaugural World Championships in Singapore in 2024. This year, it is set to make its debut at the Asian Games in Japan, and it is expected to be included in the 2027 Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia.
At last month’s competition in Malaysia, athletes and coaches spoke about how the sport is changing the way people think about both martial arts and gaming.
Singapore national athlete Brian Peh, 46, said he had no interest in gaming but decided to enter the 2024 championship alongside his son simply out of curiosity. Both walked away with gold medals and have since taken part in numerous local and regional events.
Peh now teaches virtual taekwondo to students at his dojang, or training hall. “I always tell parents: your kids love games. Do you want them using their hands to play, or using their legs?” he said. “When they put on the headset and start to fight, wow, their energy is so high. They can play and play and they love it.”
Cambodian coach Vandy Yiv noted that more children and their parents in his country are becoming interested in the sport largely because of the low risk of physical injury. He said that at a local tournament held earlier this year, participation in the virtual taekwondo division actually outnumbered those competing in traditional segments.
Many people initially assumed it was simply a video game, but quickly discovered it was a physically exhausting sport. “Your whole body is moving. There is action, but no injury,” Vandy said. He expressed hope that virtual taekwondo could one day become an Olympic medal event.
Some athletes described feeling disoriented at first, experiencing dizziness before getting used to the virtual environment. Younger players, however, were often immediately drawn in by the game-like experience. Matches are fast and intense, with each bout lasting only one minute and requiring constant offensive pressure.
For Nguyen, turning things around required understanding that virtual taekwondo demands much more than just throwing kicks. “You have to guess first where your opponent is and move” before they do, she explained.
Although matches take place in an immersive digital setting, coaches emphasize that physical conditioning is just as important as technical skill. Athletes still perform front kicks, turning kicks, and spinning techniques, with the edge going to those who can execute moves most quickly rather than most powerfully.
“So our training is first stamina, muscle endurance, flexibility. Then we go toward the skills, the strategies, how to fight,” said Malaysian coach Henry Lee during a recent club training session. “Strength … is about how fast your leg can lift and strike. Speed becomes your power.”
Lee, who is also an elite national taekwondo athlete, said he looks for players who have both a strong physical build and good “game sense” — the capacity to read movement and react instantly inside the virtual environment.
One of his students, 12-year-old Victoria Siow, said the biggest challenge is judging distances she cannot physically see. “You have to work on your mind — when to kick, how far to move,” she said during a training session. “It feels like a game and like a dream at the same time.”
For 45-year-old Raja Mardiah Idris, who trains at the same club and is a member of a state royal family, virtual taekwondo has opened competitive doors that traditional full-contact sparring no longer could. She said the sport allows older athletes and women to compete safely and on equal terms. Her young daughter has also taken up the sport as a healthy alternative to screen time.
“When you wear the VR, everybody is the same,” Raja said. “You win through your technique, your strategy and your fitness.”
Raja said she plans to step away from full-contact sparring to concentrate on virtual taekwondo. She trains regularly and hopes to represent Malaysia at the SEA Games next year.
Malaysia’s national virtual taekwondo coach Tony Lee acknowledged that the sport is still in its early stages. Equipment costs are high and access may be limited in some parts of the region, but he said growing enthusiasm will push clubs to invest. Malaysia has already established national programs and coaching certification courses. “Virtual taekwondo is our future because young people like gaming,” he said.
