Taekwondo Kingsbury

As Taekwondo has fairly high physical demands, it's possibly more suitable for the younger generation in Kingsbury. That isn't to say that elderly people cannot participate in this popular activity, but just that there might be alternative martial arts that are more appropriate for the less nimble among us. Tai Chi would be a perfect illustration.

Based largely around high-kicking moves and manoeuvres like jumping/spinning kicks, rapid kicking methods and head kicks, Taekwondo was devised from the techniques of various martial arts, by a group of Seoul martial arts experts in new schools known as "Kwans" during the nineteen forties and fifties. These "Kwans" had the names Changmu Kwan, Jido Kwan, Chungdo Kwan, Mooduk Kwan and Songmu Kwan.

Ever since the Sydney Olympic Games in the year 2000, Taekwondo has been a competitive Olympic sport. This has made it even more popular around the world with some sixty million people regularly taking part in classes. And it is by enrolling in a Taekwondo class or club that you can commence your adventure of mastering this fascinating martial art.

Although there's much to be gained by practicing Taekwondo, it is the self-defence element that most Kingsbury people find appealing. This isn't hard to believe when you think about the high levels of violence experienced in city and town centres day after day. Being able to defend yourself is a key principle of Taekwondo, but this is balanced by respecting others and exercising self-restraint.

While it will instill you with self-confidence being aware that you have those self-defence skills tucked away inside you, the likelihood is you will never need to use them outside the controlled setting of an organized Taekwondo class.

Your First Kingsbury Taekwondo Class

If you have never done Taekwondo before, you may be curious to find out what is going to happen on your first lesson. This may vary from school to school but will generally involve some or all of the following. A warm up of 15-20 minutes to loosen stiff muscles and increase your heart rate, a little technical training including learning some blocking techniques, kicks, stances and hand attacks, an introduction to some forms (Poomse), a few ideas on sparring including movement, timing and attack targeting, and finally a warm down to stretch muscles and relax.

The body regulating Taekwondo in Britain is British Taekwondo and anybody wanting to join a Taekwondo club in Kingsbury has to also register with British Taekwondo. By checking out British Taekwondo's official website you will be able to discover information regarding beginning a new Taekwondo club, safe practices, news, first aid, equality and safeguarding, coaching courses, coaches and competition referees, events, clubs and members, and a lot more Taekwondo related issues.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

The belt and ranking system can get very complicated in Taekwondo as there is no standard arrangement across the various Taekwondo disciplines. Parallels can be found however, and generally there are 2 distinct belt groupings, signified as "juniors" (colours) and "seniors" (black dans). The number of grades in the junior section varies across the disciplines but is usually between eight and twelve belts, while the senior section usually has 9 dans or belts.

In the UK Taekwondo has a sequence of ranks which are referred to as "Kup", these ranks range from 10th (lowest) to 1st (highest). As with many of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is portrayed by a number of different colours, so that the ranks can be easily recognised. 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. Beginner students of Taekwondo in Kingsbury will commence with the White Belt (10th Kup), and move up through the different colours until they achieve the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup).

After succeeding with this challenge, Taekwondo students in Kingsbury are considered as "black belt candidates" which involves them moving through another 9 ranks (Dans) right up until they achieve the ultimate accolade of "Black Belt". Hence, the Taekwondo belt order can be put into 3 groups; Junior, Senior and Black Belt. The Junior division Taekwondo Belts comprise; 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 group of Taekwondo Belts comprise First to Ninth Dan rankings, and demands many years of dedication. (Tags: Taekwondo Ranks Kingsbury, Order of Belts in Taekwondo, Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Belts Kingsbury).

Safety Gear

Contests regulated by British Taekwondo policies demand that specific pieces of protective equipment be used, these include: red/blue trunk armour (hogu), a mouth guard, hand guards, a red or blue head protector, shin protectors, forearm protectors and a groin protector. This is a must because of the forceful kicking actions being practiced.

Taekwondo for Beginners

Even the top exponents of Taekwondo in Kingsbury began their journey as novices, so there is no shame in being a beginner at Taekwondo, or for that matter any other activity. The purpose of a Taekwondo beginner class is to teach just a few basics, raise self-confidence and develop a solid foundation for the future. Most important of all is that it should be fun, students having a good time are going to learn faster and be more engaged.

Taekwondo Forms (Poomse)

Taekwondo forms (also called patterns or Poomse) are characterised by certain aspects such as direction, technique and stance. From the start you will get to grips with a few of the important forms, and so as to move through the grades (belts) you will need to learn some more technical ones.

Taekwondo Competitions and Tournaments

A regular Taekwondo tournament features patterns (forms), breaking and sparring, as far as the Olympics is concerned only sparring is involved. That said there are also some unique events in particular competitions such as team demonstrations and self-defence. WT contests are solely soft-contact affairs, while International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) contests permit some hand attacks to the head. There are additionally a few multi-discipline tournaments.