Taekwondo Eynsham

Taekwondo is typically a lot more physically demanding than for example Tai Chi, so unless you are pretty fit and agile you may prefer to partake in something a little bit gentler to improve your fitness levels in Eynsham. Children are clearly an ideal participants for Taekwondo classes in Eynsham, with lots of fast paced movements taking place and a great deal of high kicking.

Taekwondo is a martial art that mostly consists of kicking manoeuvres and moves, most notably fast kicking methods, head kicks and spinning/jumping kicks. It started in Seoul, in southern Korea during the 1940's, when a number of martial arts enthusiasts established schools called "kwans", which mixed together various martial arts practices.

Popular globally Taekwondo now has over 60 million enthusiasts. Now an Olympic sport, Taekwondo is accessible to everybody, and signing up for a local Eynsham Taekwondo club or class is the easiest way to get yourself involved. Whilst the odds of you getting to Olympic standard are quite slim, there isn't any reason at all why you can't master this exciting martial art.

Although there is much to be gained by practicing Taekwondo, it's the self-defence aspect that most Eynsham people find appealing. You should not be surprised by this, when you bear in mind the high incidence of violence seen in today's city and town centres. Being able to defend yourself is a key factor of Taekwondo, but this is balanced by learning self-restraint and a respect for others.

There is a fairly decent chance that your eagerly learned Taekwondo skills will never need to be used in the outside world, but it will undoubtedly give you a secure feeling knowing that they are sitting in the background should you ever need them.

Your First Lesson

Different Taekwondo clubs in the Eynsham area will have different ideas about what pupils should be covering on their very first class, however to give you an understanding of what you can expect most initial Taekwondo classes will incorporate a warm-up, a bit of sparring, learning Poomse (forms), an overview of stances, blocking techniques, hand attacks and kicks (technical training) and a warm-down to relax tired muscles and get the body back to a state of harmony.

Taekwondo of course also has its own regulating body, and in the UK it is British Taekwondo. Everybody wishing to join a Taekwondo club in Eynsham must become members of this organisation. You will be able to get plenty of facts about coaching courses, coaches and competition referees, equality and safeguarding, clubs and members, events, health and safety, news, first aid, establishing a new club, and more, by visiting British Taekwondo's official website.

Taekwondo Kicks

Taekwondo is probably best known for its acrobatic kicking, here are just a few of the fundamental kicks you will learn as a beginner: Crescent Kick, Axe Kick, Push Kick, Front Kick, Hook or Whip Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Back Kick, Side Kick. Taekwondo Blocks: To fend off the many hand attacks and kicks there are a similarly diverse array of "blocks". Employing the hand and areas of the arm, they are held in diverse positions. Each form of attack necessitates a specific type of block, counter-attacks can be produced by integrating a block with another kick or punch. The main "blocks" in Taekwondo include: Rising Block, Upper Block, Low Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Palm Block, Knife Hand Block, Nine Block, Single Forearm Block and Double Forearm Block.

Taekwondo Belts (Rank)

In terms of promotion, ranking and belts there isn't actually any standardization in Taekwondo, since there are a number of styles of Taekwondo which each have their own specific system. There are however similarities and they normally comprise 2 groups of belts "seniors" and "juniors" represented by black and coloured belts respectively. The senior ranks typically have 9 ranks and the junior, 8 to 12 tiers.

In the UK there are a sequence of ranks in Taekwondo that are known as "Kup". The lowest is 10th Kup and the highest is 1st Kup. The Taekwondo belt order, much like many of the martial arts is portrayed by a range 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. Beginner students of Taekwondo in Eynsham will begin with the White Belt (10th Kup), and progress through the colours until they earn the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup).

When this training regime has been successfully completed, Eynsham Taekwondo students become "black belt candidates", and they then have to progress through a further nine ranks if they are to achieve the Taekwondo "Black Belt", which is the ultimate accolade in this sport. Therefore, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into three sections; Junior, Senior and Black Belts. The Junior division Taekwondo Belts are; White (Tenth), White With a Yellow Stripe (Ninth), Yellow (Eighth), and Yellow With a Green Stripe (Seventh). The Senior division of Taekwondo Belts are; Green (Sixth), Green With a Blue Stripe (Fifth), Blue (Fourth), Blue With a Red Stripe (Third), Red (Second), and Red With a Black Stripe (First). The Black division of Taekwondo Belts comprise First to Ninth Dan rankings, and demands many years of dedication and training. (Tags: Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Belts Eynsham, Belt Order Taekwondo, Taekwondo Rankings Eynsham).

Taekwondo Forms (Poomse)

Perfecting Tae kwon do will involve learning many techniques and one of the pivotal parts of Taekwondo is its forms (also called Poomse or patterns). These are types of stance, technique and direction which must be memorized in order for students to move through the various dans (belts/grades).

Safety Equipment

Safety gear such as a blue/red head guard, hand guards, forearm protectors, shin protectors, a blue or red trunk guard (hogu), a gum shield and a groin protector have to be worn in all tournaments regulated by British Taekwondo. Protection from injury is required on account of the formidable kicking that's an integral part of this sport.

Taekwondo Tournaments

A regular Taekwondo competition includes patterns (forms), sparring and breaking, as far as the Olympics is concerned only sparring is involved. Having said that there can also be a few extraordinary events in certain tournaments such as team demonstrations and self-defence. World Taekwondo tournaments are solely soft-contact events, whilst International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) competitions allow some hand attacks to the head. There are also a few multi-discipline competitions.

In Conclusion

We can practically guarantee that if you participate in Taekwondo you are going to make new friends, improve your fitness and gain self-confidence. If that is all that you take away from it, then all well and good, and you can call it a success! We're not all striving to be Jade Jones's or Lutalo Muhammad's, but those of you who are, need to start with the initial step. Good luck with your journey! 👊