Taekwondo Horley

Taekwondo is typically far more physically demanding than for instance Tai Chi, so unless you're pretty agile and fit you might prefer to partake in something a little bit gentler to boost your fitness levels in Horley. Younger children are clearly the perfect participants for Taekwondo classes in Horley, with lots of fast paced movements going on and a great deal of high kicking.

Taekwondo was only developed fairly recently in Korea (1945). A group of Korean martial arts fanatics in Seoul established some new schools called "kwans", where they practiced a combination of martial arts techniques. The emphasis of Taekwondo, as it eventually became known, is on kicking manoeuvres, especially rapid kicking styles, head-height kicks and jumping/spinning kicks.

Now an Olympic sport, Taekwondo has more than 60 million followers all around the world, and whilst you may not have any ambitions to be an Olympic Games sportsman, you're still able to sign up for a Taekwondo club or class to master what will no doubt turn out to be a worthwhile and fascinating pastime.

For a lot of people in Horley, it is the self-defence aspect of Taekwondo that has the most appeal. And in these days of increased violence, especially in city and town centres, it's no surprise that this aspect sits high up on people's list of priorities. It is a primary element of Taekwondo that you can become confident in your capacity to defend yourself and at the same time learn to respect other people and learn self-restraint.

While its nice to know they're there when you need them, with luck you'll never be required to use your newly acquired Taekwondo skills for defending yourself outside of your local club environment.

What to Expect From Your First Lesson

If you decide to register for a Taekwondo class in Horley, the first thing you'll need to know is what will transpire on the very first lesson and precisely what will the tutor be expecting of you. Different Taekwondo masters in Horley will compile diverse routines for this first lesson but you can expect to do a fifteen to twenty minute warm-up to loosen your muscles and get the blood coursing, learn some simple forms (Poomse), go through some technical training (stances, blocks, hand attacks and kicks), do a small amount of sparring, and last of all, warm-down.

If you wish to sign up to a Taekwondo club in Horley, you'll also have to register with the sport's governing body, namely British Taekwondo. You can get plenty of details about members and clubs, safe practices, launching a new club, equality and safeguarding, events, coaching courses, first aid, news, referees and coaching, and more, by going to British Taekwondo's website.

Taekwondo - The Benefits

There are needless to say, a lot of benefits to be had from practicing Taekwondo, and listed here are just a selection of the ones which may be interesting for you: Build up your confidence by inspiring you to seize control of your life and succeed, Reduced anxiety with controlled breathing, Empower your mind and body by enhanced mental discipline and physical co-ordination, Help with self-defence by training you to realize situations where self-defence might be needed, and allowing you to control such situations in your favour, Supercharge agility, flexibility and stamina by way of intensive cardiovascular work-outs, More discipline by comprehensively training your body and mind in the techniques and concepts of Taekwondo, Improve self-esteem by intensifying your physical and mental fitness.

Taekwondo Kicks

Some of the basic Taekwondo kicks that you will learn initially include: Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Side Kick (Yeop Chagi), Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Hook or Whip Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Push Kick (Meereo Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi). Taekwondo Blocks: To fend off the various kicks and hand attacks there are a similarly diverse selection of blocks. They're held in various positions and use the hand with different areas of the arm. Each form of attack calls for a specific kind of block, counter-attacks can be created by combining a block with a retaliatory punch or kick. The principal "blocks" include: Single Forearm Block, Palm Block, Upper Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Nine Block, Knife Hand Block, Rising Block, Low Block and Double Forearm Block.

Competitions and Tournaments

A regular Taekwondo tournament features sparring, patterns and breaking, in the Olympics only sparring is involved. With that being said there can also be some unique categories in certain tournaments such as self-defence and team demonstrations. WT contests are strictly soft-contact affairs, whilst ITF tournaments allow some hand attacks towards the head. There are also several multi-discipline tournaments.

Beginners Taekwondo Horley

With any sport or activity we've got to start somewhere, and Taekwondo's no different. Even the best Horley Taekwondo masters were complete novices at one point. So, what should you be expecting as a total beginner at Taekwondo? A beginners class should give its students sufficient coaching to give them the fundamentals and enable them to develop confidence as they progress. An ideal beginners class needs to be fun as well as educational, when individuals are having fun they're a lot more engrossed and will learn much faster.

Taekwondo Safety Gear

In all contests, tournaments and events taking place under the supervision of British Taekwondo, safety gear such as a blue/red trunk protector (hogu), shin pads, a groin protector, hand guards, forearm guards, a gum shield and a blue or red head protector is obligatory. The kicking movements used in Taekwondo can cause harm and these measures help make the sport much safer for its competitors.

Summary

Precisely what you get from Taekwondo are going to be proportional to what you invest in it (as is the case with life on the whole). The majority of you will merely wish to make new friends, improve your fitness levels and meet different people, some may want to move on to competitions or tournaments or maybe even the Olympic Games. But remember, we can't all be a Jade Jones or a Lutalo Muhammad. 👊