Taekwondo Penicuik

Taekwondo is generally much more physically demanding than for example Tai Chi, so unless you're pretty agile and fit you might prefer to find something a little bit gentler to improve your fitness in Penicuik. Children are clearly the perfect participants for Taekwondo classes in Penicuik, with lots of fast movements taking place and a great deal of high kicking.

With its origins in 1940's Korea, Taekwondo is obviously one of the more recently formulated of the martial arts and involves mainly kicking moves such as spinning/jumping kicks, rapid kicking styles and head kicks. It began when schools called "kwans" were set up by a group of Korean martial arts specialists in Seoul, South Korea.

With over 60 million practitioners worldwide and quite a few in Penicuik, Taekwondo has become very popular. Joining a local Taekwondo club or class in Penicuik is a good way to get involved with this activity which is now an Olympic sport. While you may not aspire to Olympic competition, there is no reason why you cannot become a master of this exciting martial art and have some fun along the way.

For a lot of folks in Penicuik, it is the self-defence element of Taekwondo that has the most appeal. And in these days of increasing violence, particularly in town and city centres, it really is little surprise that this features high on people's priority lists. It is a primary factor of Taekwondo that you are able to become more confident in your capability to defend yourself while at the same time learning to respect those around you and practice self-restraint.

Your newly learned Taekwondo skills will most likely never have to be put to the test outside of an actual Taekwondo class, however being aware of the fact that you have them will give you peace of mind.

Your First Taekwondo Lesson

If you have booked your first lesson but have never done Taekwondo before, you may be wondering what to expect. This will vary from school to school but will usually involve some or all of the following. A fifteen to twenty minute warm up, some technical training comprising some hand attacks, blocks, stances and kicks, some work on forms or patterns, some tips on sparring including movement, timing and the targeting of attacks, and lastly a warm down to relax and stretch tired muscles.

British Taekwondo is the official regulating body of the sport within Britain, and membership of this organisation is compulsory should you wish to sign up with any Taekwondo class in Penicuik or nearby. You'll be able to read about clubs and members, coaches and referees, equality and safeguarding, beginning a new club, coaching courses, news, events, first aid, health and safety, and more on British Taekwondo's official website, or get the latest news reports on their Twitter or Facebook page.

Beginners Taekwondo Penicuik

It does not matter what you're standing is or who you are in Taekwondo, at one stage you were a complete novice, knowing nothing and fearing failure. We've all started at that point and are only able to improve and learn through practice. Beginner Taekwondo classes in Penicuik are the best place get started on that learning journey and to pick up the fundamentals so you can gain self-confidence and proceed with your exciting Taekwondo experience. Almost all beginner classes are set up to be friendly and fun, delivering a slow introduction to the basic Taekwondo principles and building a solid foundation moving forward.

Taekwondo Belts

In Taekwondo there's really no uniformity in relation to ranking and belts. It is all dependent on what style you happen to be reviewing, because there are such a diversity of Taekwondo styles and rules. They are however, normally split into a couple of groupings "junior (colour) belts and "senior" (black) belts. The colour/junior ranks range from white to red, with anything from eight to twelve rankings, whilst the black/senior belts typically have nine levels.

In the UK Taekwondo has a series of ranks (belts) which are referred to as "Kup", these ranks range from 10th (lowest) to 1st (highest). If you are interested in the Taekwondo belt order, it's as follows, and is indicated by a range of different colours i.e. white, yellow, green, blue and red, with "in-between" 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. Beginner students of Taekwondo in Penicuik will start out with the 10th Kup (White Belt), and advance through the various coloured belts until they reach the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup).

Taekwondo students in Penicuik are known as "black belt candidates" once they've worked their way through these rankings, and they'll then have to proceed through a further nine ranks (Dans) if they wish to achieve the greatest distinction Taekwondo Black Belt. Therefore, putting it simply, there are three primary groups in the Taekwondo belt order, namely Junior Belts, Senior Belts and Black Belts. 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 involves many years of training and dedication.

The Many Benefits of Taekwondo

When you're enrolling in Taekwondo classes in Penicuik you will be hoping to get a few benefits to make the whole enterprise worth the effort. And so let us look at a few of the many positive benefits that you could get by doing and learning Taekwondo. Reduce stress by doing deep breathing exercises, Strengthen your body and mind by increased physical coordination and mental discipline, Improve flexibility, stamina and agility by means of strenuous cardiovascular work-outs, Improve self-esteem and concentration by sharpening both mental and physical health, Develop discipline by exhaustively schooling your body and mind in the tactics and concepts of Taekwondo, Teach self-defence strategies by showing you how to realize situations where self-defence could be required, and empowering you to manipulate such circumstances to your advantage, Boost confidence by encouraging you to take control of your life and succeed.