Taekwondo Newmarket

Taekwondo is generally a lot more demanding physically than for example Tai Chi, so unless you're pretty nimble and fit you may prefer to find something a little bit gentler to boost your fitness levels in Newmarket. Younger children are certainly the perfect participants for Taekwondo classes in Newmarket, with lots of fast paced movements taking place and plenty of high kicking.

Based mostly around high-kicking manoeuvres and moves like rapid kicking styles, head-height kicks and spinning/jumping kicks, Taekwondo was devised from the techniques of various diverse martial arts, by a group of Seoul martial arts specialists in new schools known as "Kwans" in the 1940's and 1950's. These "Kwans" were given the names Changmu Kwan, Jido Kwan, Chungdo Kwan, Songmu Kwan and Mooduk Kwan.

Popular across the world Taekwondo now has over 60 million students. Joining a local Taekwondo class or club in Newmarket is a good way to get involved with this activity which is now an Olympic sport. There's no reason why you cannot reach a high standard in this thrilling sport, even if you've got no desire to compete in the Olympics.

For the people of Newmarket who would like to learn a martial art, a major priority is the aspect of self-defence. Considering that this is a central concept of Taekwondo, it isn't difficult to appreciate the appeal of this particular sport. With the extra benefit of learning self-restraint and having a degree of respect for others, registering for a local Newmarket Taekwondo class would seem to be an easy decision.

Your newly learned Taekwondo skills will more than likely never need to be tried and tested outside of a dedicated Taekwondo class, however being aware of the fact that you've got them will give you peace of mind.

What to Expect From Your First Class

For those of you who've never done Taekwondo before, you'll no doubt be curious to know just what to expect from your first lesson. The following will give you an overview, but this could vary from school to school. A warm up of fifteen to twenty minutes to loosen stiff muscles and increase heart rate, a little technical training such as learning some blocks, kicks, stances and hand attacks, learning some Poomse (or forms), some ideas on sparring including good movement, timing and attack targeting, and lastly a warm down to prevent muscle spasms and cramping,

If you wish to sign up to a Taekwondo class in Newmarket, you'll also have to become a member of the sport's regulating body, namely British Taekwondo. By viewing the British Taekwondo website you will be able to obtain information on news, coaches and competition referees, events, first aid, equality and safeguarding, clubs and members, coaching courses, beginning a new Taekwondo club, health and safety, and a lot more Taekwondo related issues.

Taekwondo Safety Gear

Matches regulated by British Taekwondo guidelines require various pieces of protective equipment to be used, these include: a blue or red head protector, hand protectors, a blue/red body guard (hogu), shin protectors, a groin guard, forearm protectors and a gum shield. This is important owing to the powerful kicking movements being employed.

Taekwondo Belts

In the art of taekwondo there is not really any uniformity when it comes to belts and ranking. It all depends on which style you happen to be considering, because there are such a diversity of Taekwondo styles. They are however, normally split into 2 groups "junior (colour) belts and "senior" (black) belts. The colour/junior rankings range from white to red, with from 8 to 12 levels, while the senior/black belts usually have 9 levels.

In the UK there are a series of ranks in Taekwondo that are referred to as "Kup". The lowest is Tenth Kup and the highest is First Kup. If you are curious about the Taekwondo belt order, it is as follows, and is portrayed by a number of different colours i.e. white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediary belts with stripes, 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 Newmarket will commence with the White Belt (10th Kup), and advance through the various coloured belts until they achieve the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup).

When this training has been completed, Newmarket Taekwondo trainees become known as "black belt candidates", and they then need to progress through a further 9 Dans (ranks) if they are to achieve the title of Taekwondo "Black Belt", which is the consummate accolade. Therefore, Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt are the 3 main divisions in the Taekwondo belt order in the UK. The Junior division Taekwondo Belts comprise; White (Tenth), White With a Yellow Stripe (Ninth), Yellow (Eighth), and Yellow With a Green Stripe (Seventh). The Senior group of Taekwondo Belts are; Green (Sixth), Green With a Blue Stripe (Fifth), Blue (Fourth), Blue With a Red Stripe (Third), Red (Second), and Red With a Black Stripe (First). The Black group of Taekwondo Belts comprise First to Ninth Dan rankings, and demands many years of dedication.

The Taekwondo Kicks

Taekwondo is perhaps best known for its fast-moving kicking, here are some of the basic kicks that you'll learn as a beginner: Push Kick, Whip or Hook Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Back Kick, Front Kick, Side Kick, Axe Kick, Crescent Kick. Blocks: To defend against and stop an inbound attack, blocks (called Makgi) are used. Held in particular positions, they employ the hands and areas of the arm. Each kind of attack necessitates a particular type of block, counter-attacking moves can be created by combining a block with a retaliatory kick or punch. The main blocks used in Taekwondo include: Low Block, Palm Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Nine Block, Double Forearm Block, Upper Block, Rising Block, Single Forearm Block and Knife Hand Block.

Taekwondo Tournaments and Competitions

Tournaments are an important part of the overall Taekwondo legacy, and all of the different styles across the world stage competitions and tournaments where Taekwondo masters gather together to compete. Hard contact is hardly ever permitted in any of these competitions which mostly comprise breaking, sparring and patterns (forms). Sparring only is allowed in Olympic and WT tournaments, whilst some hand attacks are tolerated in ITF events.

Taekwondo Forms (Poomse)

Newcomers just starting out Taekwondo do not need to worry too much about forms (patterns, Poomse) in the early days, but they'll have to acquaint themselves with some standard ones to start with and progress to more challenging forms as they progress through the belts (dans/grades). A form is denoted by specific areas of Taekwondo including direction, technique and stance. Getting to grips with these sequences is a key part of mastering Taekwondo.