The purpose of the present study was to assess the exact conditions under which cerebral concussions occur in full-contact taekwondo competition. Injury data were collected by project staff and tournament medical personnel with simple check-off forms that describe the athlete and nature, site, circumstances and severity of the injury. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine the difference in injury rate between men and women. The men (7.04/1,000 athlete-exposures) sustained more cerebral concussions than the women (2.42/1,000 athlete-exposures) (p < 0.001). The dominant injury mechanism in both the males and females was receiving a blow (6.46/1,000 athlete-exposures and 2.42/1,000 athlete-exposures for the men and women, respectively).