Taekwondo Martock

It has to be said that Taekwondo can be very physically demanding, which may put off the older and less agile folks in Martock from getting involved. To be completely fair, the most common people participating in Taekwondo classes are kids and younger people, but of course older individuals who're in great physical health can easily get involved and get benefits from this sport.

Based primarily around high-kicking manoeuvres and moves like head-height kicks, rapid kicking techniques and spinning/jumping kicks, Taekwondo was created from the practices of various diverse martial arts, by a number of Seoul martial arts specialists in new schools known as "Kwans" in the nineteen forties and fifties. These "Kwans" were given the names Changmu Kwan, Chungdo Kwan, Mooduk Kwan, Jido Kwan and Songmu Kwan.

Nowadays an Olympic sport, Taekwondo has over sixty million practitioners worldwide, and although you might not have any ambitions to be an Olympic Games athlete, you're still able to register for a Taekwondo club or class to master what will no doubt turn out to be a fascinating and fulfilling pastime.

A key element of Taekwondo is self-defence, and undoubtedly this is one of the primary reasons that people in Martock sign up to classes and engage with the sport. There has been a disturbing escalation of violent conduct in recent years and this is particularly rife in town and city centres throughout Somerset and the United Kingdom in general. The good thing about Taekwondo though, is that it also promotes self-discipline and respect for others, not such widespread characteristics in Martock nowadays.

Your eagerly mastered Taekwondo skills will likely never have to be put to the test outside of an organized Taekwondo class, however being aware that you've got them will instill you with confidence.

Your First Taekwondo Class

If you have made up your mind to learn Taekwondo and are heading to your first lesson, you will be wondering what will happen. This may vary depending on which Martock school you go to, but will usually involve the following. An initial warm up lasting fifteen to twenty minutes, a bit of technical training which will involve learning some kicks, hand attacks, stances and blocking techniques, learning some forms (or Poomse), a look at sparring including good timing, movement and targeting attacks, and lastly a warm down to relax and stretch tired muscles.

Everyone who is a registered member of a Taekwondo club in Martock or anywhere else in the UK, is also required to join British Taekwondo, which is the official regulating body of the sport. You will be able to get lots of details of coaching courses, establishing a new club, first aid, news, members and clubs, events, equality and safeguarding, referees and coaching, safe practices, and more, by checking out British Taekwondo's website.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

In Tae kwon do there is really no uniformity in regards to grades and belts. It all depends on what style you happen to be looking at, as there are so many different Taekwondo rules and styles. They are however, commonly separated into 2 groups "junior" or "colour" belts and "senior" or "black" belts. The junior/colour ranks consist of white to red, with anything from eight to twelve ranks, whilst the senior/black belts normally have nine ranks.

In the UK Taekwondo has a set of ranks (belts) that are referred to as "Kup", these ranks go from Tenth (lowest) to First (highest). As is the case with most of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is portrayed by a number of colours, so that the ranks are easily identified. 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 White Belt (10th Kup) is what Taekwondo rookies in Martock will start out with, they'll then advance through the colours, finally earning the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup), which can take approximately 3-4 years of lessons and training.

Taekwondo trainees in Martock are considered to be "black belt candidates" once they have succeeded with this challenge, and they will then have to move through a further 9 ranks (called Dans) if they wish to achieve the greatest accolade of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. So, putting it simply, there are 3 principal groups in the Taekwondo belt order, namely Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt. The Junior Taekwondo Belts comprise; White (10th), White With Yellow Stripe (9th), Yellow (8th), and Yellow With Green Stripe (7th). The Senior Taekwondo Belts comprise; 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 can take many years to progress through. (Tags: Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Promotion Martock, Belt Order Taekwondo, Taekwondo Belts Martock).

Taekwondo Kicks

There are a lot of different kicking movements that are used when practicing Taekwondo. Listed here are a sample of the best known: Roundhouse Kick, Back Kick, Push Kick, Axe Kick, Crescent Kick, Side Kick, Front Kick, Whip or Hook Kick. Taekwondo Blocks: To stop and deflect an inbound Taekwondo attack, blocks (called Makgi) are implemented. They're held in various positions and use the hands with parts of the arm. Certain attacks require particular blocks, but "blocks" can also be changed into counter-attacks by linking reciprocal punches or kicks. The most important "blocks" (makgi) include: Knife Hand Block, Single Forearm Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Double Forearm Block, Palm Block, Upper Block, Nine Block, Rising Block and Low Block.

Taekwondo Safety Equipment

British Taekwondo matches call for certain safety gear to be worn to safeguard contenders from being injured as a result of the vigorous kicking that occurs. This safety gear includes: a gum shield, a groin protector, forearm protectors, a blue or red head guard, shin guards, red or blue body armour (hogu) and hand guards.

Tournaments and Competitions

A regular Taekwondo tournament includes breaking, patterns and sparring, where the Olympics is concerned only sparring is involved. That being said there may also be some unique categories in particular competitions such as self-defence and team demonstrations. WT (World Taekwondo) tournaments are purely soft-contact affairs, while International Taekwon-Do Federation competitions permit some hand attacks towards the head. There are in addition a number of multi-discipline contests.

Final Thoughts

We can practically guarantee that if you participate in Taekwondo you are going to improve your fitness, make new friends and gain more confidence. If that is all that you get out of it, then that is amazing, you can call it an achievement! We're not all looking to be Jade Jones's or Lutalo Muhammad's, but those of you that are, have to begin with that initial step. Good luck on your journey!