Taekwondo Manchester

Taekwondo is typically much more physically demanding than for example Tai Chi, so unless you're pretty agile and fit you might prefer to partake in something a little bit gentler to boost your fitness levels in Manchester. Younger children are clearly an ideal participants for Taekwondo classes in Manchester, with a lot of fast movements taking place and plenty of high kicking.

With its early beginnings in 1940's Korea, South-East Asia, Taekwondo is obviously one of the more recently formulated of the martial arts and entails mainly kicking moves such as head kicks, jumping/turning kicks and rapid kicking strategies. It started when schools called "kwans" were founded by a group of Korean martial artists in Seoul, South Korea.

The total number of Taekwondo practitioners worldwide, now exceeds sixty million. Now an Olympic sport, Taekwondo is accessible to anyone, and heading along to your local Manchester Taekwondo class or club is the most effective way to get yourself involved. While noone would seriously expect you to get to Olympic standard, you can certainly be one of the best Taekwondo exponents in Manchester.

It seems that the most appealing aspect of Taekwondo is self-defence. You should not be surprised by this, when you take into account the high incidence of violence seen in today's town and city centres. Learning to defend yourself while at the same time applying self-restraint and a respect for others is a key benefit of Taekwondo.

Your eagerly learned Taekwondo skills will most likely never have to be proven outside of a dedicated Taekwondo class, however being aware that you've got them will instill you with confidence.

Your First Manchester Taekwondo Lesson

If you have never had a go at Taekwondo previously, you may be somewhat apprehensive as to what to expect on your very first lesson. This will be different from school to school but will normally involve some or all of these. A 15-20 minute warm up to loosen muscles and increase the heart rate, some practical training involving learning some stances, kicks, blocks and hand attacks, studying a few forms (or Poomse), an overview of sparring including the timing of attacks, timing and movement, and finally a warm down to stretch and relax weary muscles.

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

Taekwondo Forms

Newcomers just starting out Taekwondo don't need to stress excessively about forms (patterns, Poomse) at the outset, but they'll have to familiarise themselves with some basic ones to start with and progress to more complicated "forms" as they move through the various belts (grades/dans). A "form" is denoted by particular areas of Taekwondo including stance, technique and direction. Learning such sequences is a crucial part of mastering Taekwondo.

Some Taekwondo Kicks

Some of the best known Taekwondo kicks that you'll learn to begin with include: Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Push Kick (Meereo Chagi), Hook or Whip Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Side Kick (Yeop Chagi). Blocks: To defend against the numerous hand attacks and kicks there are an equally diverse assortment of "blocks" (Makgi). Held in specific positions, they use the hands and different areas of the arm. Every block can be coupled with a punch or kick to establish a counter-attack, and each block is meant for a specific attack. The main Taekwondo blocks include: Nine Block, Rising Block, Palm Block, Low Block, Double Forearm Block, Knife Hand Block, Single Forearm Block, Upper Block and Double Knife Hand Block.

Beginners Classes

With any sport or activity we need to begin someplace, and Taekwondo's exactly the same. Even the foremost Manchester Taekwondo exponents were total novices at one point. So, what should you expect as a total novice at Taekwondo? A beginners class should give its enrollees sufficient instruction to give them the basic principles and enable them to gain self-confidence as they move forward. The perfect beginners class must be enjoyable as well as educational, when folks are enjoying themselves they are far more engrossed and are going to learn much faster.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

In Taekwondo there's really no form of standardization in relation to grades and belts. It is all depending on which style you're considering, as there are such a lot of Taekwondo styles. However, they're commonly separated into two groupings "junior" or "colour" belts and "senior" or "black" belts. The colour/junior rankings range from white to red, with from eight to twelve ranks, while the black/senior belts usually have nine ranks.

In the UK there are a set of ranks in Taekwondo that are generally known as "Kup". The lowest rank is Tenth Kup and the highest is First Kup. As is the case with many of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is portrayed by a range 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. Beginners of Taekwondo in Manchester will start out with the White Belt (Tenth Kup), and move up through the various colours until they reach the First Kup (Red With Black Stripe Belt)

After this training has been completed, Manchester Taekwondo trainees become "black belt candidates", and they then have to earn an additional nine ranks or Dans if they're to become a Taekwondo "Black Belt", which is the supreme accolade in this sport. Therefore, Junior, Senior and Black Belt are the 3 main classifications in the Taekwondo belt order. 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 involves many years of dedication and training. (Tags: Order of Belts in Taekwondo, Taekwondo Rankings Manchester, Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Belts Manchester).