Taekwondo Droitwich

It needs to be said that Taekwondo can be fairly challenging physically, which might put off the older and less nimble people in Droitwich from becoming involved. To be truthful, the most frequent people participating in Taekwondo classes are children and the younger generation, but unquestionably older people who're in great physical health can easily take part and get benefits from this activity.

Taekwondo is a martial art that mainly features kicking manoeuvres, most notably fast kicking styles, jumping/turning kicks and head kicks. It began in Seoul, in southern Korea in the 1940's, when a group of martial arts enthusiasts founded schools called "kwans", which combined a number of martial arts techniques.

Taekwondo is popular with the people of Droitwich and with over 60 million others worldwide. Joining a local Droitwich Taekwondo club or class is a good way to get involved in this sport which has even featured in the Olympic Games since the Sydney Games of 2000. There is no reason why you cannot reach a high standard in this thrilling sport, even if you have no desire to compete in the Olympics.

For a lot of folks in Droitwich, it is the self-defence aspect of Taekwondo which holds the most appeal. And in these times of increased violence, especially in town and city centres, it's little surprise that this aspect sits high up on people's priority lists. It is a primary factor of Taekwondo that you're able to become more confident in your ability to defend yourself and at the same time learn to respect other people and learn self-restraint.

Although it will give you peace of mind knowing that you have these self-defence skills in your locker, the chances are you will never have to test them outside of a dedicated Taekwondo class.

Your First Lesson

If Taekwondo is not a sport that you have ever tried previously, you will likely be wondering what you should expect from your first class should you decide to sign up. Different Taekwondo schools in the Droitwich area have different ideas about this but in brief; you will take part in a fifteen to twenty minute warm-up, you will do some technical training, you'll learn some forms (patterns), you'll practice sparring methods and finally you will warm-down to get your body back into a state of relaxation once more.

British Taekwondo is the official regulating body of the sport within the British Isles, and membership of this organisation is mandatory if you want to sign up with any Taekwondo club in Droitwich or nearby. You can get a lot of details on members and clubs, launching a new Taekwondo club, first aid, equality and safeguarding, news, coaching courses, events, referees and coaching, health and safety, and more, by heading to British Taekwondo's official website.

The Benefits of Taekwondo

You'll probably be intrigued to find out about precisely what sort of benefits could be obtained by taking part in Droitwich Taekwondo sessions and participating 100% in its practices. You could expect that you will: Supercharge agility, stamina and flexibility by means of extreme cardiovascular exertion, Reduced stress with controlled breathing, Beef up confidence by pushing you to succeed and to take control of your life, Enhance your self-esteem by heightening your mental and physical health, Help with self-defence tactics by helping you identify occasions in which self-defence could be required, and allowing you to turn these situations to your advantage, Toughen up your mind and body by means of accelerated mental discipline and physical co-ordination, Develop discipline and willpower by methodically educating your mind and body in the doctrines and strategies of Taekwondo.

Taekwondo for Beginners

Learners setting out on their Taekwondo experience in Droitwich will first of all sign up for a beginners class. Beginners classes are great, because there is not any pressure and things are carried out at a slow, relaxed pace. Having fun whilst learning is the primary goal initially and students who are having a great time tend to learn a lot quicker and digest significantly more of what they are being taught. Even Taekwondo masters started off as naive novices, so take that very first step and you never know where you'll end up!

Tournaments

Contests are an important element of the Taekwondo experience, and all the various styles across the globe hold tournaments where Taekwondo masters gather together to compete. Hard contact is rarely allowed in any of these competitions which mostly comprise breaking, patterns and sparring. Sparring only is allowed in Olympic and WT (World Taekwondo) tournaments, while specified hand attacks are permitted in International Taekwon-Do Federation events.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

The ranking and belt structure can get a bit complicated in Taekwondo as there is no uniform system throughout the diverse Taekwondo disciplines. Parallels do exist though, and typically there are 2 separate belt groupings, denoted as "juniors" (colours) and "seniors" (black dans). The number of levels in the junior groupings varies across the disciplines but is typically somewhere between eight and twelve belts, while the senior's group normally has nine belts or dans.

In the UK Taekwondo has a set of ranks that are known as "Kup", these ranks go from Tenth (lowest) to First (highest). As is the case with most of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is portrayed by a range of colours, so the ranks are easily identified. These colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with transitional belts with stripes in-between, 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. Beginners in Droitwich starting out in Taekwondo will commence with the 10th Kup (White Belt), and advance through the coloured belts until they attain the 1st Kup (Red Belt With a Black Stripe).

Taekwondo trainees in Droitwich are considered as "black belt candidates" once they've succeeded with this challenge, and they'll then have to proceed through another 9 ranks (called Dans) if they want to achieve the greatest distinction of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. Thus, the Taekwondo belt order can be put into 3 groupings; Junior Belts, Senior Belts 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 comprise; 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.

Taekwondo Forms (Poomse)

Forms are a pivotal part of Taekwondo and are crucial if you are to excel at this fascinating martial art. A few basic forms need to be learned at the beginning and more challenging forms will have to be perfected so as to move through the various levels. A Taekwondo form is characterised by various variables such as technique, stance and direction.

Conclusion

What you get from Taekwondo are going to be directly related to what you put into it (as applies with life on the whole). The majority of you will merely want to make new friends, improve your fitness levels and meet different people, some might aspire to take part in competitions or tournaments or maybe even the Olympics. But remember, we can't all end up being a Jade Jones or a Lutalo Muhammad. 👊