Taekwondo Kinver

It needs to be said that Taekwondo can be fairly physically demanding, which could intimidate the older and less agile folks in Kinver from taking this up. To be honest, the most frequent people participating in Taekwondo classes are kids and younger people, but obviously older individuals who are in good physical health can easily participate and get benefits from this activity.

Taekwondo was only developed fairly recently in Korea (1945). In Seoul, a group of Korean martial arts fanatics established some new schools which they named "kwans", practicing a combination of martial arts techniques. Taekwondo, which it eventually became known as, mostly involves kicking manoeuvres, especially head kicks, jumping/spinning kicks and rapid kicking techniques.

Ever since the Sydney Olympic Games in the year 2000, Taekwondo has been an Olympic sport. This has added to its popularity worldwide with some sixty million people routinely taking classes. And it is by joining a Taekwondo class or club that you can start your quest of learning this remarkable martial art.

It seems that the most appealing aspect of Taekwondo is self-defence. This is not surprising when you consider the rising levels of violence seen in town and city centres these days. In fact one of the key principles of Taekwondo is learning to defend yourself whilst exercising self-restraint and a respect for others.

There's a fairly decent chance that your eagerly learned Taekwondo skills will never need to be proved in the outside world, but it will certainly give you self-confidence knowing that they're there should you need them.

Your First Taekwondo Class

If you decide to register for Taekwondo training in Kinver, the very first thing you will be wondering is what is going to occur on the initial class and what precisely will the instructor be expecting of you. Different Taekwondo masters in the Kinver area will develop diverse routines for this first lesson but you can count on doing a 15 minute warm-up to get the blood flowing and loosen your muscles, learn a couple of Poomse (forms, cover some technical training (kicks, stances, hand attacks and blocks), do a small amount of sparring, and finally, a warm-down.

The UK's governing body of the sport is British Taekwondo and if you wish to sign up with a Taekwondo club in Kinver, you will also be required to become a member of this respected organization. You will be able to read about first aid, launching a new club, health and safety, equality and safeguarding, events, news, coaching courses, clubs and members, coaches and competition referees, and more on British Taekwondo's website, or get the latest news on their Twitter or Facebook page.

Taekwondo Forms (Patterns)

Beginners in Taekwondo don't have to fret excessively about forms (patterns, Poomse) in the early days, however they'll have to learn some basic ones to begin with and progress to more challenging forms as they progress through the various belts (grades/dans). A "form" is signified by specific elements of Taekwondo including stance, direction and technique. Learning these techniques is a crucial part of mastering Taekwondo.

The Taekwondo Kicks

Taekwondo is perhaps best known for its nimble-footed kicking, here are some of the fundamental kicks you will learn as a beginner: Side Kick, Back Kick, Crescent Kick, Push Kick, Axe Kick, Front Kick, Whip or Hook Kick, Roundhouse Kick. Blocks: Taekwondo "blocks", that are used to fend off the different attacks, are known as Makgi. Employing the hand and parts of the arm, they're held in particular positions. Each type of attack calls for a particular type of block, counter-attacking movements can be produced by combining a block with a retaliatory punch or kick. The most used blocks include: Double Forearm Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Palm Block, Single Forearm Block, Low Block, Nine Block, Knife Hand Block, Upper Block and Rising Block.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

The ranking and belt structure can get pretty complicated in Taekwondo since there isn't any standard arrangement throughout the various Taekwondo styles. Likenesses do exist however, and typically there are 2 separate belt groupings, represented as "juniors" (colours) and "seniors" (black dans). The number of grades in the junior groupings varies across the disciplines but is commonly somewhere between 8 and 12 belts, while the senior's group generally has nine belts or dans.

In the UK Taekwondo has a series of ranks (belts) that are known as "Kup", these ranks range from 10th (lowest) to 1st (highest). The Taekwondo belt order, like most of the martial arts is indicated by a range of colours, these colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediate belts with stripes, 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. Beginner students of Taekwondo in Kinver will start out with the Tenth Kup (White Belt), and move up through the various coloured belts until they achieve the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (First Kup)

Taekwondo trainees in Kinver are considered to be "black belt candidates" once they've successfully completed this process, and they will then be faced with moving through a further nine ranks (Dans) if they aspire to achieve the consummate accolade Taekwondo Black Belt. So, the bottom line is, there are three principal sections in the Taekwondo belt order, namely Junior Belts, Senior Belts and Black Belts. The Junior Taekwondo Belts are; White (10th), White With Yellow Stripe (9th), Yellow (8th), and Yellow With Green Stripe (7th). The Senior Taekwondo Belts are; 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 a considerable number of years to progress through. (Tags: Taekwondo Black Belts, Taekwondo Rankings Kinver, Taekwondo Belts Kinver, Taekwondo Belt Order).

Safety Gear

British Taekwondo controlled tournaments require specific safety gear to be worn to protect competitors from personal injury due to the powerful kicking that transpires. This safety equipment includes: forearm guards, a mouth protector, hand guards, a red/blue head protector, red or blue trunk armour (hogu), shin pads and a groin protector.

Taekwondo Competitions

Tournaments are an important part of the overall Taekwondo legacy, and all of the diverse styles across the world stage competitions where Taekwondo exponents band together to battle it out. Hard contact is rarely permitted in any of these competitions which mostly incorporate patterns (forms), breaking and sparring. Sparring only is allowed in Olympic and World Taekwondo (WT) tournaments, while certain hand attacks are tolerated in ITF events.

Beginners Taekwondo Kinver

Learners setting out on their Taekwondo adventure in Kinver will first of all register for a beginners class. Beginners classes are great, because there's not any pressure and everything is carried out at a slow, relaxed pace. Learning and having fun are the principal aims to start with and trainees who are having a great time tend to learn much quicker and absorb significantly more of what they are being told. Even Taekwondo masters started off as inexperienced newbies, so take that initial step and you never know where you'll wind up!