Taekwondo Leeds

Taekwondo is typically far more physically demanding than for instance Tai Chi, so unless you are pretty nimble and fit you may prefer to find something a bit gentler to improve your fitness in Leeds. Children are clearly an ideal participants for Taekwondo classes in Leeds, with a lot of fast movements taking place and plenty of high kicking.

Taekwondo is a martial art that mostly involves high-kicking manoeuvres and moves, most notably fast kicking styles, turning/jumping kicks and head kicks. It began in Seoul, in southern Korea during the 1940's, when a group of martial arts specialists founded schools known as "kwans", which merged a variety of martial arts techniques.

Since the Sydney Olympic Games in the year 2000, Taekwondo has been a competitive Olympic sport. This has made it even more popular all over the world with some 60 million people actively participating in classes. And it is by enrolling in a Taekwondo class or club that you are able to start your quest of mastering this thrilling activity.

In these days of increasing violence, it's little surprise that people in locations like Leeds are taking up self-defence classes like Taekwondo to enable them to feel safer and more secure in their local environment. The self-defence aspect is one of the primary benefits of Taekwondo but it also encourages self-restraint and a respect for those around us, which are qualities that are largely absent in 21st century living.

With luck, outside your local Taekwondo club environment, you will never need to apply your newly discovered techniques to defend yourself.

Your First Taekwondo Class

For those of you who have never done Taekwondo before, you'll no doubt be curious to know just what to expect from your first lesson. The following will give you an illustration, but this could vary depending on which Leeds school you attend. A warm up of 15-20 minutes to loosen your muscles and increase your heart rate, a bit of technical training which will involve learning some stances, hand attacks, blocking techniques and kicks, learning some forms (or Poomse), a few ideas on sparring including good timing, precise movement and the accurate targeting of attacks, and to finish off a warm down to stretch tired muscles and relax.

Any person wishing to join a Taekwondo club in Leeds must also become a member of British Taekwondo which is the regulating body of the sport in the UK. You can find a lot of details of coaching courses, clubs and members, news, equality and safeguarding, establishing a new club, referees and coaching, safe practices, first aid, events, and more, by visiting British Taekwondo's official website.

Leeds Taekwondo for Beginners

It matters not who you are or what you're ranking is in Taekwondo, at some point you were a complete novice, fearing failure and knowing absolutely nothing. We have all started at that point and are only able to learn and develop with practice. Beginner Taekwondo classes in Leeds are the place to begin that learning journey and to acquire the fundamentals so you can build self-confidence and proceed with your exciting Taekwondo quest. Almost all beginner classes are geared up to be fun and friendly, delivering a slow introduction to the basic Taekwondo values and developing a solid foundation moving forward.

The Benefits of Taekwondo

You will undoubtedly be fascinated to discover precisely what sort of benefits might be obtained by taking part in Leeds Taekwondo classes and engaging fully in its activities. You may expect to: Grow in your confidence by encouraging you to succeed and to take control of your life, Help with self-defence strategies by showing you how to identify occasions in which self-defence may be required, and enabling you to control such scenarios in your favour, Reduces anxiety by doing deep breathing exercises, Better discipline and willpower by thoroughly training your mind and body in the doctrines and tactics of Taekwondo, Enhance concentration and self-esteem by elevating your physical and mental powers, Supercharge agility, flexibility and stamina by way of intensive cardiovascular work-outs, Empower your body and mind by means of accelerated physical coordination and mental discipline.

The Main Taekwondo Kicks

One of the principal parts of Taekwondo is kicking, here is a small selection of the best known kicking moves: Whip or Hook Kick, Back Kick, Side Kick, Front Kick, Push Kick, Axe Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Crescent Kick. Taekwondo Blocks: To stop and avert an inbound attack, "blocks" (called Makgi) are implemented. Held in specific positions, they use the hand and sections of the arm. Every "block" can be merged with a punch or kick to produce a counter-attacking manoeuvre, and each is appropriate for a specific attack. The most used "blocks" include: Double Forearm Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Rising Block, Knife Hand Block, Nine Block, Low Block, Single Forearm Block, Upper Block and Palm Block.

Taekwondo Belts

In terms of promotion, ranking and belts there's not actually any real uniformity in Taekwondo, as there are various different styles of Taekwondo which each have their own unique system. There are however parallels and they generally consist of a couple of groupings 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 ranks.

Ranks (belts) in Taekwondo in the UK are depicted by what are called "Kup". The top rank is 1st Kup and the lowest rank (beginners) is 10th Kup. As with many of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is denoted by a number of different colours, so 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. The 10th Kup (White Belt) is what Taekwondo novices in Leeds will start out with, they will then advance through the different colours, finally achieving the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup), which can take about 3-4 years of dedicated training.

When this training has been successfully completed, Leeds Taekwondo students are referred to as "black belt candidates", and they then have to progress through a further 9 Dans (ranks) if they are to achieve the title of Taekwondo "Black Belt", which of course is the consummate distinction. So, the bottom line is, there are 3 primary divisions in the Taekwondo belt order, that is Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt. The Taekwondo Belts in the Junior division comprise; 10th (White), 9th (White With Yellow Stripe), 8th (Yellow), and 7th (Yellow With Green Stripe). The Taekwondo Belts in the Senior division 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 go from 1st to 9th Dan, a process that will take many years. (Tags: Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Black Belts, Taekwondo Belts Leeds, Taekwondo Ranks Leeds).