Taekwondo Seaton

It's got to be said that Taekwondo can be very physically challenging, which may discourage the less agile and more elderly folks in Seaton from getting involved. To be honest, the most frequent people participating in Taekwondo classes are kids and the younger generation, but certainly older individuals who're in great physical health can easily participate and get benefits from this activity.

Taekwondo is a martial art that mostly features kicking moves and manoeuvres, in particular head kicks, fast kicking styles and turning/jumping kicks. It began in Seoul, in southern Korea in the 1940's, when a number of martial arts enthusiasts founded schools known as "kwans", which blended a number of martial arts techniques.

Taekwondo now has over 60 million practitioners worldwide and has become very popular in Seaton and throughout the UK. Joining a local Seaton Taekwondo club or class is a good way to get involved in this sport which has even featured in the Olympic Games since the Sydney Games of 2000. There is no reason why you cannot become a master of this exciting martial art, even if you do not aspire to Olympic competition.

For the people of Seaton who want to learn a martial art, a major priority is the element of self-defence. As this is a central concept of Taekwondo, it is easy to appreciate the attraction of this unique sport. With the extra reward of developing self-restraint and having a degree of respect for others, signing up for a local Seaton Taekwondo class would seem to be a no brainer.

While its nice to know they are there when you need them, with any luck you will not ever have the need to use your newly learned Taekwondo skills for defending yourself outside of your local club surroundings.

Your First Lesson

If you haven't tried Taekwondo before you will be a little apprehensive as to what to expect on your first class. Most Taekwondo schools in Seaton follow a similar pattern, but there may be some variation to the following. A fifteen to twenty minute warm up to loosen muscles and increase your heart rate, a bit of technical training covering some stances, blocking techniques, kicks and hand attacks, learning some forms (or Poomse), some ideas on sparring including good timing, movement and targeting attacks, and to round off a warm down with muscle stretching and relaxing.

The official body governing Taekwondo in Great Britain is British Taekwondo and anyone wanting to join a Taekwondo class in Seaton must also register with British Taekwondo. You will be able to get lots of information about safeguarding and equality, clubs and members, first aid, referees and coaching, events, launching a new Taekwondo club, news, safe practices, coaching courses, and more, by popping along to the official British Taekwondo website.

Taekwondo Tournaments and Competitions

A typical Taekwondo tournament incorporates sparring, patterns (forms) and breaking, in the Olympics only sparring is included. That being said there are also some extraordinary categories in specific competitions such as team demonstrations and self-defence. WT (World Taekwondo) contests are solely soft-contact events, while ITF (International Taekwon-Do Federation) contests permit some hand attacks aimed at the head. There are additionally several multi-discipline competitions.

Taekwondo Kicks

Taekwondo is perhaps most recognized for its nimble-footed kicking manoeuvres, here are some of the basic kicks that you'll learn as a novice: Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Side Kick (Yeop Chagi), Whip or Hook Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Push Kick (Meereo Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi). Taekwondo Blocks: To defend against the various kicks and hand attacks there are an equally diverse assortment of blocks (Makgi). They are held in particular positions and enlist the hands with areas of the arm. Certain attacks call for particular blocks, but blocks can also be changed into counter-attacking manoeuvres by combining retaliatory punches or kicks. The principal blocks (makgi) include: Upper Block, Nine Block, Single Forearm Block, Double Forearm Block, Knife Hand Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Palm Block, Low Block and Rising Block.

Taekwondo Safety Gear

Competitions controlled by British Taekwondo policies demand that specific items of protective gear be used, these include things like: blue/red body armour (hogu), a mouth protector, shin guards, a groin protector, a red or blue head protector, hand protectors and forearm protectors. This is crucial on account of the potent kicking movements being practiced.

Taekwondo Belts (Rank)

In Tae kwon do there is really no form of uniformity in relation to grades and belts. It is all subject to what style you're looking at, as there are such a lot of Taekwondo rules and styles. They are however, commonly separated into two groupings "junior (colour) belts and "senior" (black) belts. The junior/colour ranks consist of white to red, with anything from 8 to 12 ranks, while the senior/black belts normally have 9 grades.

In the UK Taekwondo has a series of ranks which are referred to as "Kup", these ranks range from 10th (lowest) to 1st (highest). The Taekwondo belt order, much like the vast majority of the martial arts is indicated 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 Seaton starting out in Taekwondo will commence with the 10th Kup (White Belt), and proceed through the coloured belts until they reach the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup).

After this has been completed, Taekwondo trainees in Seaton are known as "black belt candidates" which entails them moving through a further 9 ranks (Dans) until they eventually achieve the accolade of "Black Belt". So, to put it simply, there are 3 primary divisions in the Taekwondo belt order, that is Junior, Senior and Black Belts. 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 group 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 division of Taekwondo Belts comprise First to Ninth Dan rankings, and involves many years of dedicated training. (Tags: Order of Belts in Taekwondo, Taekwondo Rankings Seaton, Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Belts Seaton).

Taekwondo Beginners Classes

Even the top exponents of Taekwondo in Seaton began their journey as newbies, so there is no shame in being a total beginner at Taekwondo, or in fact any other activity. The purpose of a Taekwondo beginners class is to teach just a few basics, increase self-confidence and build a solid base moving forward. Most importantly of all is that it needs to be fun, trainees having fun will learn faster and be better invested.