Taekwondo Hornchurch

Due to its more physical aspects, Taekwondo is maybe more suited to the younger person in Hornchurch and is particularly suitable for kids as it is wonderful for developing respect for others and self-discipline. Older adults may find it somewhat too demanding unless they're particularly fit and active. Even so, those folks who persue Taekwondo in Hornchurch at a young age will find that they can easily continue with it when they're older. The less agile of you might think about something softer like Tai Chi.

With its beginnings in 1940's Korea, South-East Asia, Taekwondo is obviously one of the more recently created of the martial arts and involves mostly high-kicking moves such as spinning/jumping kicks, fast kicking styles and head-height kicks. It started when schools known as "kwans" were founded by a bunch of Korean martial arts specialists in Seoul, South Korea.

The total number of Taekwondo practitioners worldwide, now exceeds 60 million. Joining a local Taekwondo club or class in Hornchurch is a good way to get involved with this activity which is now an Olympic sport. While the chances of you getting to Olympic standard are pretty slim, there is no reason at all why you cannot master this thrilling martial art.

For many people in Hornchurch, it is the self-defence element of Taekwondo which has the most appeal. And in these days of increased violence, particularly in town and city centres, it's little surprise that this sits high on people's priority lists. It is a primary element of Taekwondo that you're able to gain more confidence in your capability to defend yourself while at the same time learning to respect other people and learn self-restraint.

There's a fairly decent chance that your eagerly learned Taekwondo skills will never need to be proven in your day to day life, but it will certainly give you reassurance knowing that they are sitting in the background should you ever be in need of them.

Your First Hornchurch Taekwondo Class

Different Taekwondo clubs in and around Hornchurch will have different ideas about what enrollees should be covering on their initial lesson, however to give you a perception of what you should expect most initial Taekwondo lessons will involve a warm-up, a bit of sparring, learning patterns (Poomse), an overview of blocks, hand attacks, kicks and stances (technical training) and a warm-down to stretch weary muscles and return the body to a state of harmony.

If you would like to join a Taekwondo class in Hornchurch, you'll also have to become a member of the sport's official governing body, namely British Taekwondo. You will be able to get loads of information regarding starting a new Taekwondo club, safe practices, equality and safeguarding, first aid, coaching courses, events, members and clubs, news, coaches and referees, and more, by viewing the official British Taekwondo website.

Beginners Classes

Even the finest exponents of Taekwondo in Hornchurch began their journey as novices, so there is no disgrace in being a beginner at Taekwondo, or any other activity for that matter. The purpose of a Taekwondo beginners class is to teach a few basics, raise confidence and build a solid base moving forward. Most importantly of all is that it needs to be enjoyable, students having a good time are going to learn faster and be better committed.

Taekwondo Patterns (Forms)

Beginners in Taekwondo do not need to fret excessively about forms (patterns, Poomse) in the early days, however they will have to get to grips with some important ones for starters and move forward to more challenging "forms" as they move through the various belts (dans/grades). A "form" is indicated by specified areas of Taekwondo including direction, stance and technique. Getting to grips with such techniques is a key part of mastering Taekwondo.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

In Taekwondo there's really no uniformity in regards to belts and ranking. It is all dependent upon what style you are reviewing, since there are such a diversity of Taekwondo styles and rules. They are however, usually split into a couple of groupings "junior (colour) belts and "senior" (black) belts. The colour/junior ranks range from white to red, with from 8 to 12 ranks, while the senior/black belts typically have nine grades.

In the UK there are a sequence of ranks (belts) in Taekwondo which are called "Kup". The lowest rank is 10th Kup and the highest is 1st Kup. As with most of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is indicated by a range of colours, so that the ranks are easily identified. These colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with transitional belts with stripes in-between, namely - 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. Beginner students of Taekwondo in Hornchurch will commence with the 10th Kup (White Belt), and move up through the various coloured belts until they earn the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup).

Taekwondo trainees in Hornchurch become "black belt candidates" after they've succeeded with this challenge, and they will then be faced with progressing through another nine ranks (called Dans) if they want to achieve the greatest accolade of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. Therefore, Junior, Senior and Black Belt are the 3 main groups in the Taekwondo belt order in the UK. The Junior Taekwondo Belts comprise; White (10th), White With Yellow Stripe (9th), Yellow (8th), and Yellow With Green Stripe (7th). The Senior Taekwondo Belts comprise; 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 can take a number of years to progress through.

Safety Gear

Matches governed by British Taekwondo policies require various items of protective gear to be used, these include things like: a red or blue head protector, forearm guards, a gum shield, hand protectors, shin guards, blue or red body armour and a groin guard. This is crucial on account of the potent kicking actions being employed.

Taekwondo Kicks

Taekwondo is famous for its impressive kicks, listed here are the important ones: Axe Kick, Front Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Side Kick, Push Kick, Crescent Kick, Back Kick, Whip or Hook Kick. Taekwondo Blocks: To stop and avert an inbound Taekwondo attack, blocks (called Makgi) are used. Using the hands and sections of the arm, they're held in particular positions. Certain attacks require particular "blocks", but "blocks" can also be turned into counter-attacking movements by linking retaliatory punches or kicks. The most used blocks used in Taekwondo include: Single Forearm Block, Double Forearm Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Knife Hand Block, Low Block, Nine Block, Palm Block, Rising Block and Upper Block.