Taekwondo Birchwood

Taekwondo is generally far more physically demanding than for example Tai Chi, so unless you are pretty nimble and fit you might prefer to find something a little gentler to boost your fitness in Birchwood. Younger children are definitely an ideal participants for Taekwondo classes in Birchwood, with lots of fast movements going on and plenty of high kicking.

With its early beginnings in 1940's Korea, Taekwondo is certainly one of the more recently introduced of the martial arts and involves mainly high-kicking movements such as jumping/turning kicks, rapid kicking methods and head kicks. It began when schools known as "kwans" were established by a group of Korean martial arts specialists in Seoul, South Korea.

With more than 60 million individuals taking part in Taekwondo classes all over the world, this has certainly become an extremely popular activity, and if you become really expert at the sport you might possibly one day be eligible for the Olympic Games, of which it has been an integral part since the Sydney Games in the year 2000.

A key element of Taekwondo is self-defence, and naturally this is one of the primary reasons that people in Birchwood sign up to classes and get involved in the sport. There's been a troubling increase in violent practices in recent times and this is particularly prevalent in town and city centres around Cheshire and Britain as a whole. The fantastic thing about Taekwondo though, is that it also encourages self-discipline and respect for other people, not such widespread characteristics in Birchwood nowadays.

Such self-defence techniques may in due course come in handy in your everyday life, although it's more likely that you'll only be testing them within a controlled class setting. Nevertheless it is a reassuring feeling knowing the fact that you will always be able to successfully defend yourself when you need to.

Your First Taekwondo Class

Different Taekwondo clubs in Birchwood will have different ideas about what students should cover on their initial class, but to give you an understanding of what you should expect most first Taekwondo classes will include things like a warm-up, a bit of sparring, learning basic patterns (Poomse), an overview of stances, hand attacks, kicks and blocking techniques (practical training) and a warm-down to stretch weary muscles and get the body back to a state of relaxation.

The United Kingdom official regulating body of the sport is British Taekwondo and if you want to sign up to Taekwondo class in Birchwood, you'll also be required to register with this respected organization. You can learn about news, safeguarding and equality, establishing a new Taekwondo club, health and safety, members and clubs, coaching courses, coaches and referees, events, first aid, and more on British Taekwondo's website, or get the latest news on their Facebook or Twitter page.

Taekwondo Safety Gear

Competitions governed by British Taekwondo rules demand that certain pieces of protective equipment be used, these include things like: a groin protector, forearm protectors, shin protectors, a gum shield, hand protectors, a red or blue head guard and a red/blue body protector (hogu). This is necessary owing to the powerful kicking actions being employed.

The Popular Taekwondo Kicks

Kicking manoeuvres play a leading role in the art of Taekwondo, here are a selection of the more basic ones: Push Kick (Meereo Chagi), Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Side Kick (Yeop Chagi), Hook or Whip Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi). Blocks: To stop and defend against an incoming attack, blocks (called Makgi) are employed. Held in particular positions, they involve the hands and areas of the arm. Every "block" can be coupled with a kick or punch to create a counter-attack, and each "block" is meant for a specific attack. The most important Taekwondo "blocks" (makgi) include: Palm Block, Nine Block, Knife Hand Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Upper Block, Rising Block, Single Forearm Block, Double Forearm Block and Low Block.

Taekwondo Forms

Folks just starting their journey in Taekwondo don't need to fret excessively about forms (Poomse, patterns) in the early days, but they will learn some basic ones for starters and progress to more elaborate "forms" as they move up the various belts (dans/grades). A "form" is signified by specified areas of Taekwondo including direction, stance and technique. Getting to grips with such sequences is a vital part of mastering Taekwondo.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

The ranking and belt system can get rather confusing in Taekwondo as there's no standardized arrangement throughout the different Taekwondo disciplines. Similarities can be found however, and generally there are 2 separate belt groups, represented as "seniors" (black belts) and "juniors" (colours). The number of ranks in the junior groupings varies across the disciplines but is generally between 8 and 12 belts, whilst the senior group generally has nine dans or belts.

In the UK Taekwondo has a series of ranks which are known as "Kup", these ranks range from 10th (lowest) to 1st (highest). If you are curious about the Taekwondo belt order, it's as follows, and is indicated by a number of different colours i.e. white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediate 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 Birchwood will begin with the White Belt (10th Kup), and move up through the colours until they reach the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup).

Taekwondo students in Birchwood are known as "black belt candidates" once they have worked their way through these rankings, and they'll then have to move through a further nine ranks (called Dans) if they want to achieve the supreme distinction of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. Thus, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into three divisions; Junior, Senior and Black Belts. 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 progress through. (Tags: Taekwondo Belt Order, Order of Belts in Taekwondo, Taekwondo Belts Birchwood, Taekwondo Promotion Birchwood).

Competitions and Tournaments

Taekwondo competitions and tournaments are staged all over the world in all the diverse styles. There's generally not a whole lot of hard contact but breaking, sparring and patterns (forms). Olympic and World Taekwondo (WT) contests consist only of sparring, in International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) competitions certain hand attacks are allowed to the head. Some other organizations hold multi-discipline competitions.

Birchwood Taekwondo for Beginners

Students starting out on their Taekwondo experience in Birchwood will first of all sign up for a beginners class. Beginners classes are fabulous, because there is not any pressure and everything is done at a slow, relaxed pace. Learning and having fun are the primary goals to start with and students who are having a great time are inclined to learn much faster and digest more of what they are being taught. Even Taekwondo masters started out as clueless newbies, so take that first step and who knows where you'll wind up!