Taekwondo Matlock

Taekwondo is generally a lot more physically demanding than for example Tai Chi, so unless you are pretty fit and nimble you may prefer to find something a little gentler to boost your fitness in Matlock. Children are certainly the perfect participants for Taekwondo classes in Matlock, with a lot of fast movements taking place and a great deal of high kicking.

The sport was first practiced in Korea in around 1945, though the name Taekwondo was not used until the 1950's. A group of Korean martial artists in Seoul established some schools known as "kwans", combining various martial arts techniques. This later became known as Taekwondo and the primary emphasis of the discipline was on kicking manoeuvres, in particular rapid kicking styles, head kicks and jumping/spinning kicks. These days Matlock Taekwondo classes comply with this tradition.

Taekwondo has grown to become really popular in Matlock and around the globe, with over 60 million practitioners worldwide. Registering with a local Matlock Taekwondo class or club is a great way to get involved in this sporting activity which has even been a part of the Olympic Games since the Sydney Games of 2000. Though you may not have any ambitions to be involved in Olympic competition, there's no reason why you cannot become a master of this exciting martial art and have some fun along the way.

While there is much to be gained by doing Taekwondo, it is the self-defence aspect that most Matlock people are interested in. This is not hard to believe when you take into account the high levels of violence experienced in town and city centres on a daily basis. In fact one of the key principles of Taekwondo is learning to defend yourself whilst exercising self-restraint and a respect for others.

Although it will instill you with confidence being aware that you have these self-defence skills tucked away inside you, the likelihood is you'll never have to use them outside of an organised Taekwondo class.

What to Expect From Your First Class

Different Taekwondo schools in and around Matlock will have different guidelines for what learners should cover on their very first lesson, but to give you an understanding of what to expect most first Taekwondo lessons will involve a warm-up, some sparring, learning forms (Poomse), an overview of stances, kicks, hand attacks and blocks (technical training) and a warm-down to relax weary muscles and get the body back to a state of balance.

The governing official body for Taekwondo in the British Isles is British Taekwondo and anyone wishing to join a Taekwondo club in Matlock has to also register with British Taekwondo. You'll be able to find out about clubs and members, first aid, health and safety, news, coaching courses, starting a new Taekwondo club, equality and safeguarding, coaches and competition referees, events, and more on British Taekwondo's website, and get the latest Taekwondo news on their Twitter or Facebook page.

The Benefits of Taekwondo

You'll probably be intrigued to learn about precisely what kind of benefits may be obtained by taking part in Matlock Taekwondo training and engaging 100% in its activities. You may expect that you will: Develop discipline and willpower by methodically educating your body and mind in the doctrines and techniques of Taekwondo, Increase self-esteem by maximizing your physical and mental fitness, Help with self-defence by helping you understand circumstances where self-defence might be needed, and allowing you to manipulate these scenarios in your favour, Reduce anxiety and stress using advanced breath control, Strengthen your body and mind thru improved mental discipline and physical co-ordination, Improve agility, flexibility and stamina by way of strenuous cardiovascular exertion, Build up confidence by inspiring you to succeed and to seize control of your life.

Competitions

A regular Taekwondo competition features patterns (forms), sparring and breaking, as far as the Olympics is concerned only sparring is included. With that being said there can also be a few unique categories in particular competitions such as self-defence and team demonstrations. WT tournaments are solely soft-contact affairs, whilst International Taekwon-Do Federation tournaments permit some hand attacks to the head. There are also a number of multi-discipline tournaments.

Beginners Classes

With any sport or activity we need to begin somewhere, and Taekwondo's exactly the same. Even the foremost Matlock Taekwondo exponents were complete rookies at one point. So, what can you expect as a total beginner at Taekwondo? Beginner classes should give their enrollees enough training to give them the basic principles and enable them to gain self-confidence as they progress. A perfect beginners class ought to be enjoyable as well as instructional, when students are enjoying themselves they're more committed and are going to learn quicker.

Taekwondo Forms (Patterns)

Taekwondo forms (also referred to as Poomse or patterns) are distinguished by certain facets like direction, stance and technique. From the start of your Taekwondo experience you'll get to grips with a few of the basic forms, and so as to advance through the various grades (belts) you'll need to master some more complicated ones.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

In Tae kwon do there is not really any form of standardisation when it comes to ranking and belts. It all depends upon which style you are considering, since there are such a lot of Taekwondo rules and styles. They are however, typically separated into a couple of groups "junior" or "colour" belts and "senior" or "black" belts. The junior/colour ranks range from white to red, with from eight to twelve grades, while the senior/black belts generally have nine rankings.

Ranks (belts) in Taekwondo in the UK are represented by what are known as "Kup". The highest rank is 1st Kup and the lowest rank (beginners) is 10th Kup. The Taekwondo belt order, much like most of the martial arts is portrayed by a number of colours, these colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediate belts with stripes, 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. Students in Matlock starting out in Taekwondo will commence with the 10th Kup (White Belt), and proceed through the colours until they reach the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup).

After this has been completed, Taekwondo trainees in Matlock are considered as "black belt candidates" which involves them proceeding through an additional 9 ranks (Dans) until they eventually achieve the distinction of "Black Belt". So, to put it simply, there are 3 principal groupings 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 group comprise; 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 qualification process that will take a considerable number of years. (Tags: Belt Order Taekwondo, Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Belts Matlock, Taekwondo Rankings Matlock).