Taekwondo Northleach

It has to be asserted that Taekwondo can be quite challenging physically, which might discourage the older and less nimble people in Northleach from taking this up. To be fair, the most frequent people participating in Taekwondo classes are kids and the younger generation, but of course older people who're in good physical condition can easily be involved and benefit considerably from this activity.

The sport was first practiced in Korea in around 1945, though the name Taekwondo was not used until the 1950's. Some new schools called "kwans", combining various martial arts techniques were established in Seoul by a group of Korean martial arts fanatics. Kicking manoeuvres, especially turning/jumping kicks, head-height kicks and rapid kicking techniques are the main emphasis of Taekwondo, as it eventually became known.Today Northleach Taekwondo classes follow this tradition.

Taekwondo has become really popular in Northleach and all across the globe, with over 60 million participants worldwide. Getting started with a local Northleach Taekwondo class or club is a good way to become involved with this activity which has even featured in the Olympic Games since the Sydney Games of 2000. Although you might not aspire to Olympic competition, there is no reason why you should not become an expert at this enjoyable martial art and have some fun along the way.

For a lot of people in Northleach, it is the self-defence aspect of Taekwondo which holds the most appeal. And in these days of ever increasing violence, especially in town and city centres, it really is no surprise that this sits high on people's priority lists. It is a key element of Taekwondo that you're able to become more confident in your capacity to defend yourself and at the same time learn to respect other people and practice self-restraint.

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

Your First Taekwondo Lesson

Different Taekwondo schools in and around Northleach will have different viewpoints on what pupils should cover on their very first class, but to give you a perception of what you can expect most initial Taekwondo classes will include a warm-up, a bit of sparring, learning simple Poomse (forms), a brief introduction to stances, hand attacks, kicks and blocks (practical training) and a final warm-down to stretch tired muscles and get the body back to a state of balance.

British Taekwondo is the official regulating body of the sport within Britain, and membership of this organisation is mandatory if you wish to sign up with any Taekwondo class in Northleach or nearby. You will be able to find a lot of details of safeguarding and equality, first aid, news, starting a new Taekwondo club, coaches and referees, coaching courses, events, safe practices, members and clubs, and more, by popping along to British Taekwondo's official website.

Taekwondo Competitions and Tournaments

There are a whole host of tournaments and competitions in Taekwondo involving all the diverse styles. They largely involve sparring, breaking and patterns (forms) with hardly any hard contact. ITF tournaments don't permit too much contact but do allow hand attacks to the head. WT (World Taekwondo) and Olympic competitions allow only sparring. Multi-style contests also take place.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

In Tae kwon do there's not really any uniformity in regards to ranking and belts. It all hinges on which style you happen to be looking at, as there are so many different Taekwondo styles and rules. They are however, generally separated into 2 groups "junior (colour) belts and "senior" (black) belts. The junior/colour rankings range from white to red, with anything from 8 to 12 rankings, whilst the senior/black belts normally have nine grades.

Rankings in Taekwondo in the UK are symbolized by what are called "Kup". The highest rank is 1st Kup and the lowest rank (beginners) is 10th Kup. The Taekwondo belt order, like the vast majority of the martial arts is indicated by a range of different colours, these colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediary 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 Northleach will start out with the White Belt (Tenth Kup), and progress through the different colours until they accomplish the First Kup (Red With Black Stripe Belt)

After successfully completing this challenge, Taekwondo trainees in Northleach become "black belt candidates" which requires them to proceed through another 9 ranks (Dans) right up until they eventually achieve the distinction of "Black Belt". Thus, the Taekwondo belt order can be put into 3 sections; Junior Belts, Senior Belts and Black Belts. The Taekwondo Belts in the Junior division are; 10th (White), 9th (White With Yellow Stripe), 8th (Yellow), and 7th (Yellow With Green Stripe). The Taekwondo Belts in the Senior division 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 range from 1st to 9th Dan, a qualification process which takes a considerable number of years.

Taekwondo Kicks

Kicks play a major role in the art of Taekwondo, here are a small selection of the best known ones ones: Side Kick, Back Kick, Front Kick, Push Kick, Whip or Hook Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Crescent Kick, Axe Kick. Blocks: Taekwondo "blocks", which are used to repulse the different attacks, are known as Makgi. Employing the hands and parts of the arm, they are held in diverse positions. Each "block" can be combined with a punch or kick to produce a counter-attacking manoeuvre, and each "block" is meant for a specific attack. The main blocks (makgi) include: Nine Block, Upper Block, Knife Hand Block, Low Block, Palm Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Rising Block, Double Forearm Block and Single Forearm Block.

Taekwondo Patterns (Forms)

Mastering Tae kwon do calls for getting to grips with many techniques and one of the key elements of Taekwondo is its forms (also called patterns or Poomse). These are types of technique, direction and stance which must be mastered in order for students to progress through the different dans (grades/belts).

Safety Equipment

Matches governed by British Taekwondo rules demand that specific pieces of protective gear be used, these include things like: shin pads, a red/blue body protector (hogu), a mouth guard, hand protectors, a blue/red head protector, a groin protector and forearm guards. This is vital due to the forceful kicking actions being practiced.

Summary

What you get out of Taekwondo are going to be proportional to what you put into it (as is true of life in general). The majority of you will just want to meet different people, make new friends and improve your fitness, some might aspire to take part in competitions or tournaments or maybe even the Olympic Games. But remember, we cannot all end up being a Jade Jones or a Lutalo Muhammad. 👊