Taekwondo Downend

Taekwondo is generally far more physically demanding than for example Tai Chi, so unless you're pretty fit and agile you might prefer to find something a little bit gentler to boost your fitness in Downend. Children are clearly an ideal participants for Taekwondo classes in Downend, with lots of fast paced movements going on and plenty of high kicking.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently formulated of the martial arts, with its early beginnings in Korea, South-East Asia in 1945. A number of Korean martial arts specialists in Seoul founded some schools which they called "kwans", merging various martial arts practices. Taekwondo, which was eventually called, mainly entails kicking manoeuvres, especially head kicks, turning/jumping kicks and rapid kicking strategies.

Taekwondo has grown to be extremely popular in Downend and all over the world, with more than sixty million practitioners worldwide. Joining a local Downend Taekwondo class or club is a good way to become involved in this activity which has even been a feature of the Olympic Games since the Sydney Games of 2000. Although you might not have any ambitions to get involved in Olympic competition, there's certainly no reason why you shouldn't become a master of this remarkable martial art and have some fun in the process.

A key element of Taekwondo is self-defence, and naturally this is one of the primary reasons that people in Downend join classes and take up the sport. There's been a worrying escalation of violent practices over the last few years and this is particularly widespread in city and town centres around Gloucestershire and the United Kingdom as a whole. The beauty of Taekwondo though, is that it also teaches self-discipline and a deep respect for other people, not such common qualities in Downend nowadays.

While it will give you peace of mind being aware that you have those self-defence skills tucked away inside you, the odds are you'll never be required to use them outside the controlled atmosphere of an organised Taekwondo class.

Your First Downend Taekwondo Lesson

If you have never done Taekwondo before, you might be somewhat apprehensive as to what should be expected on your very first lesson. This will be different from club to club but will typically comprise some or all of these. A 15-20 minute warm up to loosen up muscles and increase heart rate, a little technical training involving learning some blocking techniques, hand attacks, stances and kicks, discovering some Poomse (forms), an introduction to sparring which will include the timing of attacks, movement and timing, and finally a warm down to stretch and relax tired muscles.

British Taekwondo is the regulating body of the sport within the United Kingdom, and membership of this organization is compulsory if you wish to sign up with any Taekwondo club in Downend or nearby. You'll be able to learn about safeguarding and equality, beginning a new Taekwondo club, referees and coaching, members and clubs, news, events, coaching courses, health and safety, first aid, and more on the British Taekwondo website, and find the latest news reports on their Facebook or Twitter page.

Downend Taekwondo for Beginners

Learners starting out on their Taekwondo experience in Downend will initially enroll in a beginners class. Beginners classes are fantastic, as there are no rigid demands and everything is carried out at a slow and relaxed pace. Having fun while learning is the key objective at first and students who are enjoying themselves tend to learn much faster and digest considerably more of what they are being taught. Even Taekwondo masters started off as naive novices, so take that first step and you never know where you will end up!

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

In Taekwondo there's really no standardization when it comes to belts and ranking. It's all depending on what style you happen to be considering, as there are so many different Taekwondo styles. However, they are typically separated into two groups "junior (colour) belts and "senior" (black) belts. The junior/colour ranks range from white to red, with from 8 to 12 levels, while the senior/black belts generally have 9 rankings.

In the UK there are a set of ranks (belts) in Taekwondo that are called "Kup". The lowest is Tenth Kup and the highest is First Kup. As is the case with many of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is indicated by a number of colours, so the ranks can be easily identified. These colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with transitional belts with stripes in-between, 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 of Taekwondo in Downend will start out with the 10th Kup (White Belt), and move up through the various coloured belts until they accomplish the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup).

Taekwondo students in Downend become known as "black belt candidates" after they have successfully completed this process, and they'll then be faced with progressing through another 9 ranks (Dans) if they aspire to achieve the ultimate distinction of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. Hence, the Taekwondo belt order can be put into 3 groupings; Junior, Senior and Black Belt. The Taekwondo Belts in the Junior group are; 10th (White), 9th (White With Yellow Stripe), 8th (Yellow), and 7th (Yellow With Green Stripe). The Taekwondo Belts in the Senior group are; 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 range from 1st to 9th Dan, a process that will take many years.

Taekwondo Competitions and Tournaments

A typical Taekwondo tournament includes breaking, patterns (forms) and sparring, as far as the Olympics is concerned only sparring is involved. Having said that there may also be a few extraordinary events in particular tournaments such as self-defence and team demonstrations. WT (World Taekwondo) tournaments are purely soft-contact events, while ITF contests permit some hand attacks aimed at the head. There are also a number of multi-discipline competitions.

Taekwondo Forms (Patterns)

Taekwondo forms (also known as patterns or Poomse) are characterized by certain facets like stance, technique and direction. From the beginning you will be taught some of the standard forms, and so as to advance through the various grades (belts) you will have to learn some more complicated ones.