Taekwondo Carterton

Since Taekwondo has fairly high physical demands, it's possibly more suited to the younger generation in Carterton. That is not to say that older individuals can't take part in this popular activity, but just that there could be alternative martial arts that are more appropriate for the less agile of us. Tai Chi is a perfect illustration.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently introduced of the martial arts, with its beginnings in Korea in 1945. A group of Korean martial arts lovers in Seoul founded some exciting new schools called "kwans", where they practiced a combination of martial arts techniques. In Taekwondo the emphasis is on kicking, especially head-height kicks, fast kicking styles and jumping/spinning kicks. Now Carterton Taekwondo classes adhere to this tradition.

With more than 60 million people participating in Taekwondo sessions all around the globe, this has unquestionably become an extremely popular pastime, and if you really master the martial art you might even one day qualify for the Olympic Games, of which it's been an integral part ever since the Sydney Games in the year 2000.

For many folks in Carterton, it's the self-defence element of Taekwondo which holds the most appeal. And in these times of ever increasing violence, particularly in town and city centres, it's little surprise that this aspect features high up on people's priority lists. It is a primary factor of Taekwondo that you're able to gain more confidence in your capacity to defend yourself while at the same time learning to respect those around you and learn self-restraint.

These self-defence techniques may in due course prove to be useful in your day to day life, although it is much more likely that you will only be using them within a regulated class environment. However it is a wonderful feeling knowing the fact that you'll always be in a position to defend yourself when you have to.

Your First Carterton Taekwondo Class

If you have made up your mind to learn Taekwondo and are heading to your first lesson, you will be wondering what will happen. This may vary depending on which Carterton school you go to, but will usually involve the following. A warm up of fifteen to twenty minutes to increase your heart rate and reduce stiffness in the muscles, a bit of technical training covering some kicks, hand attacks, stances and blocks, learning your the basic forms or patterns, a look at sparring including movement, timing and attack targeting, and lastly a warm down with muscle stretching and relaxing.

Taekwondo also of course has got its own regulating body, and in the UK it is British Taekwondo. Anybody wishing enroll with a Taekwondo club in Carterton must become a registered member of this organisation. You can get lots of information about coaching courses, health and safety, launching a new Taekwondo club, coaches and referees, events, equality and safeguarding, news, first aid, clubs and members, and more, by checking out the official British Taekwondo website.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

When it comes to ranking, promotion and belts there's not actually any real standardization in Taekwondo, as there are various different styles of Taekwondo each of which has their own system in place. There are however similarities and they generally consist of a couple of groupings of belts "juniors" and "seniors" symbolized by coloured and black belts respectively. The senior levels usually have 9 grades and the junior, 8 to 12 tiers.

Rankings in Taekwondo in the UK are depicted by what are called "Kup". The top rank is First Kup and the lowest rank (beginners) is Tenth Kup. If you are eager to know the Taekwondo belt order, it is as follows, and is denoted by a range of different colours i.e. white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediate belts with stripes, specifically white with a yellow stripe, yellow with a green stripe, green with a blue stripe, blue with a red stripe and red with a black stripe. The White Belt (10th Kup) is what Taekwondo novices in Carterton will start out with, they will then move up through the different coloured belts, eventually attaining the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup), after around three to four years.

When this training has been accomplished, Carterton Taekwondo trainees become known as "black belt candidates", and they then have to earn a further nine Dans (ranks) if they're to achieve the title of Taekwondo "Black Belt", which of course is the consummate distinction. Therefore, Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt are the three primary divisions in the Taekwondo belt order in the UK. The Junior Taekwondo Belts are; White (10th), White With Yellow Stripe (9th), Yellow (8th), and Yellow With Green Stripe (7th). The Senior Taekwondo Belts are; Green (6th), Green With Blue Stripe (5th), Blue (4th), Blue With Red Stripe (3rd), Red (2nd) and Red With Black Stripe (1st). The Black Taekwondo Belts go from 1st to 9th Dan which takes a number of years to progress through.

Taekwondo Forms (Patterns)

Mastering Tae kwon do will involve getting to grips with many techniques and one of the key elements of Taekwondo is its forms (also known as Poomse or patterns). These are sequences of direction, stance and technique which need to be memorized in order for pupils to progress through the various dans (belts/grades).

Conclusion

We can pretty much guarantee that if you participate in Taekwondo you will make more friends, gain self-confidence and improve your levels of fitness. If that is all that you get out of it, then all well and good, and you can call it a success! We're not all looking to be Jade Jones's or Lutalo Muhammad's, but those of you that are, still need to start with the initial step. Good luck on your adventure!