Taekwondo Stakeford

When many people in Stakeford visualize Taekwondo, they imagine younger children performing energetic punching and kicking manoeuvres. While the younger generation should find the physical demands of Taekwondo easier to cope with, there's nothing at all to stop people of any age taking part. Being relatively agile and fit is however a requirement of Taekwondo.

The name Taekwondo has only been used since the 1950's, although the discipline started life in Korea in 1945. This combination of various martial arts techniques were practiced in some new schools in Seoul called "kwans", founded by a group of Korean martial artists. This eventually became known as Taekwondo and the main emphasis of the discipline was on kicking manoeuvres, especially jumping/turning kicks, rapid kicking techniques and head-height kicks.

Popular all over the world Taekwondo now has over 60 million practitioners. Now an Olympic sport, Taekwondo is accessible to everyone, and joining a local Stakeford 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 days of ever-increasing violence, it's hardly surprising that folks in locations like Stakeford are signing up for self-defence techniques such as Taekwondo to enable them to feel safer and more secure in their local environment. The self-defence element is one of the key benefits of Taekwondo but it also promotes self-restraint and a deep respect for those around us, which are characteristics that are frequently absent in modern day life.

Your eagerly mastered Taekwondo skills will likely never need to be tested outside of an actual Taekwondo class, however knowing that you've got them will give you peace of mind.

What to Expect From Your First Lesson

For those of you who have never done Taekwondo before, you will no doubt be interested to know what to expect from your first class. Most Taekwondo schools in Stakeford follow a similar pattern, but there may be variations to the following. A warm up of fifteen to twenty minutes to loosen your muscles and increase your heart rate, some technical training which will involve learning some stances, hand attacks, blocking techniques and kicks, some work on forms or patterns, a look at sparring including good timing, movement and targeting attacks, and lastly a warm down to stretch muscles and relax.

The official body regulating Taekwondo in Britain is British Taekwondo and anyone wanting to join a Taekwondo club in Stakeford has to also register with British Taekwondo. You'll be able to find out about beginning a new club, first aid, referees and coaching, coaching courses, safe practices, events, news, equality and safeguarding, clubs and members, and more on British Taekwondo's official website, and find out the latest news stories on their Twitter or Facebook page.

Taekwondo Safety Gear

Safety equipment like blue or red body armour, a red/blue head guard, forearm guards, shin pads, a groin guard, hand guards and a gum shield have to be worn in all competitions supervised by British Taekwondo. Protection from injury is necessary on account of the potent kicking that is an integral part of this sport.

The Eight Basic Taekwondo Kicks

Some of the basic Taekwondo kicks that you will learn to begin with include: Push Kick (Meereo Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi), Whip or Hook Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Side Kick (Yeop Chagi), Back Kick (Dwo Chagi). Blocks: To defend against the various hand attacks and kicks there are an equally diverse selection of blocks (Makgi). Engaging the hand and parts of the arm, they're held in particular positions. Every block can be coupled with a kick or punch to produce a counter-attack, and each is appropriate for a certain type of attack. The key blocks include: Upper Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Double Forearm Block, Nine Block, Low Block, Palm Block, Rising Block, Single Forearm Block and Knife Hand Block.

Taekwondo Forms (Poomse)

Forms are a pivotal element of Taekwondo and are vital if you're going to excel at this captivating sport. Several basic Taekwondo forms need to be grasped from the outset and more complex forms must be perfected so as to move through the various ranks. A Taekwondo form is categorized by various aspects such as direction, technique and stance.

Tournaments

Taekwondo competitions and tournaments are staged internationally in all the diverse styles. There's normally not a lot of hard contact but sparring, patterns and breaking. Olympic and World Taekwondo (WT) tournaments consist only of sparring, in International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) competitions certain hand attacks are allowed to the head. Some other organisations stage multi-discipline tournaments.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

With regards to ranking, belts and promotion there isn't actually any real uniformity in Taekwondo, because there are many different styles of Taekwondo which each have their own unique system. There are however likenesses and they typically comprise a couple of groupings of belts "seniors" and "juniors" represented by black and coloured belts respectively. The senior ranks normally have 9 ranks and the junior, between 8 and 12 ranks.

Ranks (belts) in Taekwondo in the UK are represented by what are referred to as "Kup". The highest rank is First Kup and the lowest (beginners) is Tenth Kup. The Taekwondo belt order, like most of the martial arts is denoted by a number of different colours, these colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediary 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 Stakeford starting out in Taekwondo will commence with the 10th Kup (White Belt), and advance through the coloured belts until they accomplish the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup).

When this training has been successfully completed, Stakeford Taekwondo students become known as "black belt candidates", and they then have to progress through a further 9 Dans if they're to achieve the title of Taekwondo "Black Belt", which is the ultimate accolade in this sport. Therefore, Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt are the three principal groupings in the Taekwondo belt order in the UK. The Junior group of Taekwondo Belts are; White (Tenth), White With a Yellow Stripe (Ninth), Yellow (Eighth), and Yellow With a Green Stripe (Seventh). The Senior division 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 group of Taekwondo Belts comprise First to Ninth Dan rankings, and involves many years of training and dedication. (Tags: Taekwondo Belts Stakeford, Belt Order Taekwondo, Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Promotion Stakeford).