Taekwondo Wombourne

Since Taekwondo has quite high physical demands, it's perhaps more suited to the younger people of Wombourne. That's not to say that older individuals cannot be involved in this activity, but simply that there may be alternative martial arts that are more appropriate for the less nimble of us. Tai Chi is a perfect example.

Taekwondo is a martial art that mainly involves high-kicking manoeuvres, most notably spinning/jumping kicks, head-height kicks and fast kicking strategies. It started in Seoul, in southern Korea in the 1940's, when a number of martial arts specialists founded schools known as "kwans", which blended various martial arts techniques.

Taekwondo has become very popular in Wombourne and all over the world, with more than 60 million practitioners worldwide. Since the Sydney Games (2000) Taekwondo has been an Olympic sport and if you want to give it a try, joining your local Wombourne Taekwondo club or class is an easy way to get involved. While noone would expect you to reach Olympic standard, you could certainly be one of the best Taekwondo exponents in Wombourne.

For a lot of folks in Wombourne, it is the self-defence aspect of Taekwondo that holds the most appeal. And in these times of increasing violence, especially in city and town centres, it really is no surprise that this sits high on people's priority lists. It is a key element of Taekwondo that you are able to become more confident in your ability to defend yourself while at the same time learning to respect those around you and practice self-restraint.

Although it will instill you with self-confidence being aware that you have these self-defence skills in your locker, the chances are you will never have to test them outside the monitored setting of a dedicated Taekwondo class.

Your First Lesson

If you have never done Taekwondo before you may be a little concerned as to what to expect on your first lesson. The following will give you an example, but this will vary depending on which Wombourne school you attend. A fifteen to twenty minute warm up to loosen muscles and increase heart rate, some technical training comprising some stances, kicks, blocks and hand attacks, learning some forms (or Poomse), a look at sparring including good timing, precise movement and the accurate targeting of attacks, and lastly a warm down to prevent muscle spasms and cramping.

If you wish to join a Taekwondo class in Wombourne, you will also have to register with the sport's governing body, namely British Taekwondo. You can get a lot of information regarding events, safe practices, establishing a new club, first aid, equality and safeguarding, referees and coaching, members and clubs, news, coaching courses, and more, by popping along to the official British Taekwondo website.

Benefits to be Gained From Taekwondo

You'll doubtless be fascinated to understand precisely what type of benefits may be gained by attending Wombourne Taekwondo instruction and partaking 100% in its activities. You could expect to: Build confidence by helping you to succeed and to seize control of your life, Enhance self-esteem and concentration by elevating both mental and physical health, Improve flexibility, agility and stamina by way of extreme cardiovascular exertion, Empower your mind and body by enhanced physical coordination and mental discipline, Develop self-discipline by extensively training your body and mind in the principles and strategies of Taekwondo, Teach self-defence by showing you how to identify occasions in which self-defence may be needed, and empowering you to turn these kinds of circumstances to your advantage, Lower stress and anxiety by doing deep breathing exercises.

Taekwondo Forms (Poomse)

Mastering Taekwondo calls for getting to grips with a number of disciplines and one of the key parts of Taekwondo is its forms (also called Poomse or patterns). These are sequences of technique, stance and direction which have to be mastered in order for pupils to progress through the various dans (belts/grades).

Taekwondo Competitions and Tournaments

A typical Taekwondo competition features patterns, sparring and breaking, where the Olympics is concerned only sparring is involved. That being said there can also be some unique categories in specific tournaments such as team demonstrations and self-defence. World Taekwondo tournaments are purely soft-contact affairs, while International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) contests allow some hand attacks to be aimed at the head. There are in addition a number of multi-discipline competitions.

Taekwondo Safety Equipment

British Taekwondo competitions require certain safety equipment to be worn to safeguard competitors from being injured as a result of the formidable kicking that occurs. These safety items include: a groin guard, blue/red trunk armour, hand protectors, a mouth protector, shin pads, a blue/red head guard and forearm protectors.

In Conclusion

The benefits that you get out of Taekwondo are going to be proportional to what you invest in it (as is true of life in general). Many of you will only wish to meet different people, make new friends and improve your fitness levels, some might wish to progress to tournaments and competitions or possibly even the Olympics. But bear in mind, we cannot all end up being a Jade Jones or a Lutalo Muhammad. 👊