Taekwondo Selston

When discussing Taekwondo, most people in Selston assume that this is a pursuit for young kids. The fact is though, that people of every age group are able to take part in this sport despite its high physical demands. Being relatively agile and fit does however help you to enjoy all the complexities of Taekwondo.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently formulated of the martial arts, with its beginnings in Korea in 1945. A number of Korean martial artists in Seoul founded some new schools which they called "kwans", merging many different martial arts techniques. Taekwondo, which was ultimately called, mostly consists of kicking manoeuvres, especially head kicks, spinning/jumping kicks and fast kicking techniques.

With over 60 million practitioners worldwide and quite a few in Selston, Taekwondo has become very popular. Now an Olympic sport, Taekwondo is accessible to everyone, and joining a local Selston Taekwondo club or class is the best way to get yourself involved. While reaching Olympic standard may be aiming a bit high, there is no reason why you cannot become a Taekwondo master.

In these modern times of escalating violence, it is no surprise that folks in locations like Selston are enrolling in self-defence techniques like Taekwondo to help them to feel safer in their local environment. The self-defence aspect is one of the primary benefits of Taekwondo but it also encourages self-restraint and a respect for other folks, which are traits that are frequently lacking in this modern age.

While it is good to practice and master these self-defence skills in the protected environment of your local Selston Taekwondo club, with any luck you will never need to use them in the wider world.

Your First Lesson

If you make your mind up to register for Taekwondo training in Selston, the very first thing you'll want to know is what will occur on the very first lesson and what exactly will the instructor expect to see from you. Different Taekwondo masters in Selston will compile diverse routines for this first introductory lesson but you can expect to do a fifteen to twenty minute warm-up to loosen your muscles and get the blood coursing, learn a few Poomse (forms, cover some practical training (kicks, hand attacks, stances and blocks), do a certain amount of sparring, and last of all, a warm-down.

British Taekwondo is the regulating body of the sport within the British Isles, and membership of this organisation is mandatory if you wish to sign up with any Taekwondo club in Selston or nearby. By visiting British Taekwondo's website you can read details on safe practices, first aid, events, launching a new club, referees and coaching, coaching courses, safeguarding and equality, clubs and members, news, and a lot more Taekwondo related issues.

Safety Equipment

British Taekwondo matches call for certain safety gear to be worn to safeguard contenders from being injured as a result of the potent kicking that occurs. This safety equipment includes: forearm protectors, hand protectors, a mouth guard, a groin guard, blue/red body armour, shin pads and a blue or red head guard.

Taekwondo Forms (Poomse)

Folks just starting out Taekwondo don't have to stress excessively about forms (Poomse, patterns) in the early days, however they'll learn some basic ones to begin with and progress to more complicated "forms" as they progress up the various belts (dans/grades). A form is denoted by certain areas of Taekwondo including stance, direction and technique. Getting to grips with these techniques is a crucial part of perfecting Taekwondo.

Taekwondo Competitions and Tournaments

There are an array of tournaments and competitions in Taekwondo involving all the various styles. They mostly consist of breaking, sparring and patterns with hardly any "hard contact". International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) contests do not permit disproportionate contact but may allow hand attacks to be aimed at the head. World Taekwondo (WT) and Olympic contests allow only sparring. Multi-style contests also take place.

Taekwondo Belts (Rank)

The belt and ranking system can get rather confusing in Taekwondo because there's no recognised structure throughout the various Taekwondo disciplines. Likenesses can be found however, and generally there are 2 separate belt groups, denoted as "juniors" (colours) and "seniors" (black dans). The number of ranks in the junior group varies across the disciplines but is typically somewhere between eight and twelve belts, while the senior's group generally has nine dans or belts.

In the UK Taekwondo has a sequence of ranks that are known as "Kup", these ranks go from 10th (lowest) to 1st (highest). The Taekwondo belt order, similar to many of the martial arts is indicated by a number 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. The White Belt (10th Kup) is what Taekwondo rookies in Selston will start out with, they can then progress through the different coloured belts, finally achieving the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup), after about three to four years of lessons and training.

Taekwondo students in Selston are called "black belt candidates" after they have worked their way through these rankings, and they will then be faced with proceeding through another 9 ranks (Dans) if they aspire to achieve the greatest accolade Taekwondo Black Belt. So, the bottom line is, there are three principal sections in the Taekwondo belt order, that is Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt. The Taekwondo Belts in the Junior group are; 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 range from 1st to 9th Dan, a process which will take a considerable number of years. (Tags: Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Promotion Selston, Order of Belts in Taekwondo, Taekwondo Belts Selston).

Benefits to be Gained From Taekwondo

You will probably be interested to understand precisely what kind of benefits might be achieved by attending Selston Taekwondo lessons and engaging 100% in its practices. You could expect to: Build confidence by motivating you to take control of your life and succeed, Reduce stress by doing deep breathing exercises, Increase flexibility, agility and stamina by means of intensive cardiovascular effort, Improve self-esteem by raising your mental and physical powers, Strengthen your mind and body by improved mental discipline and physical co-ordination, More discipline and willpower by methodically schooling your body and mind in the strategies and principles of Taekwondo, Teach you self-defence by coaching you to recognize occasions where self-defence may be necessary, and empowering you to turn these circumstances to your advantage.

Conclusion

We can pretty much guarantee that if you take up Taekwondo you'll improve your fitness levels, make more friends and gain self-confidence. If that's all you get out of it, then all well and good, and you can call it an achievement! We aren't all striving to be Jade Jones's or Lutalo Muhammad's, but those of you that are, still need to start with the initial step. Good luck with your adventure! 👊