Taekwondo Tavistock

Since Taekwondo has quite high physical demands, it's perhaps more suited to the younger people of Tavistock. That isn't to say that elderly people can't take part in this kind of activity, but simply that there could be other martial arts that are more suitable for the less nimble among us. Tai Chi would be a perfect illustration.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently established of the martial arts, with its root beginnings in Korea, South-East Asia in 1945. A number of Korean martial arts specialists in Seoul founded some new schools which they called "kwans", incorporating a variety of martial arts practices. Taekwondo, which it ultimately became known as, mostly entails kicking manoeuvres, especially fast kicking styles, head-height kicks and jumping/spinning kicks.

With more than sixty million fitness enthusiasts engaged in Taekwondo instruction all around the globe, this has definitely become an extremely popular pastime, and if you really master this sport you might even one day be eligible for the Olympic Games, of which it's been a part since the Sydney Games in the year 2000.

For the men, women and children of Tavistock who like the idea of learning a martial art, a major priority is the aspect of self-defence. Considering that this is a pivotal principle of Taekwondo, it isn't difficult to see the appeal of this unique sport. With the extra reward of developing self-restraint and having a degree of respect for others, registering for a local Tavistock Taekwondo class seems to be a no brainer.

With luck, outside your local Taekwondo club environment, you won't ever need to try out your newly acquired skills to defend yourself.

Your First Tavistock Taekwondo Lesson

If you have decided to learn Taekwondo and are heading to your first class, you'll be curious as to what will happen. The majority of Taekwondo schools in Tavistock follow a similar routine, but there may be variations to the following. A warm up of fifteen to twenty minutes to loosen your muscles and increase heart rate, a little technical training covering some kicks, hand attacks, blocking techniques and stances, an introduction to some forms (Poomse), some ideas on sparring including good movement, timing and attack targeting, and to round off a warm down with muscle stretching and relaxing to prevent spasms and cramping.

Everybody who is a registered member of a Taekwondo class in Tavistock or any place else in Great Britain, is also required to join British Taekwondo, which is the governing body of the sport. By heading to British Taekwondo's official website you can obtain information about events, safe practices, beginning a new Taekwondo club, safeguarding and equality, first aid, coaching courses, coaches and competition referees, news, members and clubs, and lots more Taekwondo related facts.

The Benefits of Taekwondo

You'll probably be interested to find out about exactly what sort of benefits could be gained by attending Tavistock Taekwondo lessons and engaging 100% in its activities. You can expect that you will: Augment agility, flexibility and stamina by means of intensive cardiovascular exertion, Lessen stress and anxiety using advanced breath control, Empower your body and mind thru accelerated mental discipline and physical co-ordination, Teach you self-defence by showing you how to recognise circumstances where self-defence could be required, and enabling you to turn such circumstances in your favour, Develop discipline by extensively educating your body and mind in the techniques and doctrines of Taekwondo, Boost confidence by pushing you to take control of your life and succeed, Improve your self-esteem by maximizing both mental and physical health.

Tournaments and Competitions

There are an array of tournaments in Taekwondo associated with all the different styles. They mainly involve patterns (forms), breaking and sparring with very little "hard contact". ITF competitions do not permit substantial contact but do allow hand attacks aimed at the head. World Taekwondo and Olympic contests only allow sparring. Multi-style contests also take place.

Taekwondo Kicks

One of the main features of Taekwondo is kicking, listed here is a small selection of the most widely used kicks: Side Kick (Yeop Chagi), Push Kick (Meereo Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Whip or Hook Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi), Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi). Blocks: To defend against and stop an incoming attack, blocks (called Makgi) are implemented. They're held in various positions and use the hand with different sections of the arm. Certain attacks require specified "blocks", but blocks can also be changed into counter-attacking moves by combining retaliatory kicks or punches. The most used "blocks" (makgi) in Taekwondo include: Single Forearm Block, Rising Block, Nine Block, Upper Block, Palm Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Double Forearm Block, Knife Hand Block and Low Block.

Safety Equipment

Safety gear like shin protectors, forearm guards, hand guards, a gum shield, red or blue trunk armour, a groin protector and a red or blue head protector must be worn in all tournaments overseen by British Taekwondo. Protection from injuries is crucial due to the vigorous kicks which are part and parcel of this activity.

Taekwondo for Beginners

As with any sport or activity we have to begin someplace, and Taekwondo's no different. Even the best Tavistock Taekwondo masters were complete newbies at one time. So, what should you be expecting as a total beginner at Taekwondo? Beginner classes should give their enrollees ample training to give them the basics and allow them to develop self-confidence as they progress. The ideal beginners class must be enjoyable as well as instructional, when people are having fun they are a lot more committed and are going to learn quicker.

Taekwondo Belts

In relation to ranking, promotion and belts there's not actually any standardization in Taekwondo, since there are various styles of Taekwondo which each have their own arrangement in place. There are however parallels and they generally comprise 2 groups of belts "seniors" and "juniors" represented by black and coloured belts respectively. The senior levels usually have nine levels and the junior, between 8 and 12 ranks.

In the UK Taekwondo has a series of ranks that are known as "Kup", these ranks go from 10th (lowest) to 1st (highest). If you're curious about the Taekwondo belt order, it's as follows, and is portrayed by a number of 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. Students in Tavistock getting started in Taekwondo will commence with the White Belt (10th Kup), and move up through the colours until they reach the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup).

After succeeding with this challenge, Taekwondo trainees in Tavistock are known as "black belt candidates" which requires them to move through another nine ranks (Dans) up until they eventually achieve the accolade of "Black Belt". Therefore, the bottom line is, there are 3 principal divisions in the Taekwondo belt order, that is Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt. The Junior Taekwondo Belts comprise; 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 many years to successfully progress through. (Tags: Taekwondo Black Belts, Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Belts Tavistock, Taekwondo Promotion Tavistock).

Taekwondo Patterns (Forms)

Beginners in Taekwondo do not have to worry excessively about forms (Poomse, patterns) initially, but they will get to grips with some basic ones for starters and move forward to more complicated "forms" as they progress up the various belts (grades/dans). A form is denoted by specific aspects of Taekwondo including stance, technique and direction. Getting to grips with such techniques is a vital part of mastering Taekwondo.

In Conclusion

We can pretty confidently guarantee that if you take up Taekwondo you are going to gain more confidence, improve your wellbeing and make more friends. If that's all that you get out of it, then all well and good, you can call it an achievement! We aren't all aiming to be Jade Jones's or Lutalo Muhammad's, but those of you that are, need to begin with that first step. Good luck with your adventure!