Taekwondo Dodworth

Taekwondo is generally far more demanding physically than for instance Tai Chi, so unless you're pretty agile and fit you may prefer to partake in something a bit gentler to improve your fitness in Dodworth. Children are definitely the perfect participants for Taekwondo classes in Dodworth, with lots of fast movements taking place and plenty of high kicking.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently developed of the martial arts, with its origins in Korea in 1945. Some innovative new schools called "kwans" were established in Seoul by a group of Korean martial arts lovers, combining a number of various martial arts techniques. The main focus of the discipline was on kicking movements, in particular spinning/jumping kicks, head-height kicks and fast kicking strategies, and it was later given the name; Taekwondo, roughly meaning "the way of the foot and fist". Today Dodworth Taekwondo classes comply with this tradition.

Nowadays an Olympic sport, Taekwondo has over 60 million followers all around the world, and even though you may not have any aspirations to be an Olympic Games athlete, you're still able to sign up for a Taekwondo class or club to learn what will undoubtedly turn out to be a fascinating and fulfilling activity.

In these times of increasing violence, it is little surprise that people in locations like Dodworth are taking up self-defence techniques like Taekwondo to enable them to feel safer and more secure in their local environment. The self-defence aspect is one of the key benefits of Taekwondo but it also encourages self-restraint and a respect for others around us, which are traits that are largely absent in this modern age.

There is a very good likelihood that your newly mastered Taekwondo skills will never have to be proved in your day to day life, but it will undoubtedly give you a secure feeling knowing that they are sitting in the background should you need them.

Your First Dodworth Taekwondo Class

If you have made up your mind to learn Taekwondo and are preparing for your first class, you will be curious as to what will happen. The following will give you a good idea, but this may vary from school to school. A warm up of 15 to 20 minutes to increase your heart rate and loosen your muscles, some technical training such as learning some hand attacks, stances, kicks and blocking techniques, some work on forms or patterns (Poomse in Korean), a few tips on sparring including good timing, movement and targeting attacks, and lastly a warm down to prevent muscle spasms and cramping,

Taekwondo also of course has its own official regulating body, and in Britain it is British Taekwondo. Everyone wishing to sign up with a Taekwondo club in Dodworth have to become registered members of this organisation. You will be able to get plenty of details about members and clubs, first aid, safe practices, coaching courses, news, establishing a new Taekwondo club, coaches and referees, safeguarding and equality, events, and more, by dropping by at British Taekwondo's website.

Taekwondo for Beginners

With any activity or sport we've got to start somewhere, and Taekwondo's no different. Even the best Dodworth Taekwondo exponents were complete beginners at one time. So, what should you expect as a complete novice at Taekwondo? Beginner classes should give their students enough instruction to teach them the basics and allow them to gain confidence as they progress. A perfect beginners class ought to be enjoyable as well as educational, when people are having fun they are a lot more engaged and are going to learn quicker.

Taekwondo Tournaments and Competitions

Taekwondo competitions are held around the world in all of the various styles. There's generally not a lot of hard contact but sparring, breaking and patterns. Olympic and World Taekwondo (WT) tournaments only consist of sparring, in ITF tournaments specified hand attacks are permitted to the head. Some other associations hold multi-discipline competitions.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

The ranking and belt structure can get pretty complicated in Taekwondo because there isn't any standard arrangement across the diverse Taekwondo styles. Analogies can be found however, and usually there are 2 separate belt groupings, signified as "seniors" (black dans) and "juniors" (coloured belts). The number of ranks in the junior group varies across the disciplines but is commonly somewhere between eight and twelve belts, while the senior section generally has nine belts or dans.

In the UK there are a sequence of ranks in Taekwondo that are called "Kup". The lowest (beginners) rank is 10th Kup and the highest is 1st Kup. The Taekwondo belt order, just like the vast majority of the martial arts is indicated by a number of colours, these colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediary 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. Beginners in Dodworth getting started in Taekwondo will begin with the White Belt (10th Kup), and proceed through the coloured belts until they reach the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup).

After successfully completing this challenge, Taekwondo students in Dodworth are known as "black belt candidates" which sees them moving through a further nine ranks (Dans) up until they achieve the ultimate distinction of "Black Belt". Thus, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into 3 divisions; Junior, Senior and Black Belts. The Taekwondo Belts in the Junior division comprise; 10th (White), 9th (White With Yellow Stripe), 8th (Yellow), and 7th (Yellow With Green Stripe). The Taekwondo Belts in the Senior group comprise; 6th (Green), 5th (Green With Blue Stripe), 4th (Blue), 3rd ( Blue With Red Stripe), 2nd (Red), and 1st (Red With Black Stripe). The Taekwondo Belts in the Black group go from 1st to 9th Dan, a qualification process which takes many years.

In Summary

So, what are you looking to get from Taekwondo? Well, that's a good question, and the answer to that will be different for individual people. The majority of participants will just look to improve their fitness levels, gain more confidence and meet new people. We are not all going to scale the dizzy heights of Jade Jones or Lutalo Muhammad, although perhaps you will, who knows?