Taekwondo Stonehaven

On account of its more physical aspects, Taekwondo is maybe more suitable for the younger person in Stonehaven and is particularly suited to kids because it is wonderful for developing self-discipline and respect for others. More elderly individuals could find it somewhat too strenuous unless they're particularly active and fit. However, those who take up Taekwondo in Stonehaven from a young age will find that they can easily continue with it when they're older. The less agile of you could consider participating in something softer like Tai Chi.

Taekwondo is a martial art that mostly consists of high-kicking manoeuvres and moves, most notably head-height kicks, jumping/spinning kicks and rapid kicking strategies. It started in Seoul, in southern Korea in the 1940's, when a group of martial arts enthusiasts established schools called "kwans", which combined various martial arts practices.

Since the Sydney Olympic Games in the year 2000, Taekwondo has been an Olympic sport. This has made it even more popular around the world with some sixty million people or more routinely attending classes. And it's by enrolling in a Taekwondo class or club that you are able to start your adventure of learning this exciting art.

For a lot of people in Stonehaven, it is the self-defence element of Taekwondo that has the most appeal. And in these times of increased violence, especially in town and city centres, it is little surprise that this aspect features high on people's priority lists. It is a primary factor of Taekwondo that you're able to gain more confidence in your capacity to defend yourself while at the same time learning to respect other people and learn self-restraint.

Whilst it will instill you with self-confidence knowing that you have such self-defence skills in your locker, the likelihood is you'll never need to test them outside of an organised Taekwondo class.

Your First Class

If you have booked your first lesson but have never done Taekwondo before, you may be wondering what to expect. There may be variations to the following, depending on which Stonehaven Taekwondo school you attend, but you can roughly expect; A fifteen to twenty minute warm up, a little technical training which will involve learning some stances, kicks, blocking techniques and hand attacks, learning some Poomse (or forms), a look at sparring including good movement, timing and attack targeting, and lastly a warm down to stretch tired muscles and relax.

British Taekwondo is the official regulating body of the sport within the United Kingdom, and membership of this organisation is compulsory should you wish to join any Taekwondo club in Stonehaven or nearby. You can find out about coaches and tournament referees, starting a new Taekwondo club, first aid, clubs and members, coaching courses, equality and safeguarding, events, health and safety, news, and more on British Taekwondo's official website, and find out the latest Taekwondo news on their Facebook or Twitter page.

The Many Benefits of Taekwondo

You'll no doubt be intrigued to learn about precisely what sort of benefits may be achieved by attending Stonehaven Taekwondo lessons and participating fully in its activities. You can expect that you will: Teach self-defence techniques by showing you how to understand situations in which self-defence may be necessary, and allowing you to manipulate these situations to your advantage, Beef up confidence by inspiring you to succeed and to take control of your life, Toughen up your body and mind through enhanced physical coordination and mental discipline, Lessen stress using advanced breath control, Increase flexibility, agility and stamina by means of intensive cardiovascular exertion, More self-discipline by extensively schooling your body and mind in the strategies and concepts of Taekwondo, Enhance self-esteem and concentration by heightening your mental and physical fitness.

Taekwondo Belts

In regards to promotion, ranking and belts there is not actually any uniformity in Taekwondo, since there are various different styles of Taekwondo each of which has their own unique arrangement. There are however similarities and they usually comprise two groups of belts "juniors" and "seniors" represented by coloured and black belts respectively. The senior levels usually have nine tiers and the junior, between 8 and 12 levels.

Rankings in Taekwondo in the UK are depicted by what are called "Kup". The top rank is First Kup and the lowest rank is Tenth Kup. As is the case with most of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is denoted by a number of colours, so the ranks can be easily recognised. These colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with transitional belts with stripes in-between, 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. Students in Stonehaven starting out in Taekwondo will begin with the 10th Kup (White Belt), and advance through the coloured belts until they reach the 1st Kup (Red With Black Stripe Belt).

After this training has been completed, Stonehaven Taekwondo students become "black belt candidates", and they then need to earn an additional 9 ranks or Dans if they're to achieve the Taekwondo "Black Belt", which is the supreme distinction. Therefore, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into three sections; Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt. The Junior Taekwondo Belts comprise; White (10th), White With Yellow Stripe (9th), Yellow (8th), and Yellow With Green Stripe (7th). The Senior Taekwondo Belts are; Green (6th), Green With Blue Stripe (5th), Blue (4th), Blue With Red Stripe (3rd), Red (2nd) and Red With Black Stripe (1st). The Black Taekwondo Belts go from 1st to 9th Dan which takes a considerable number of years to successfully progress through.

Stonehaven Taekwondo for Beginners

It matters not what you're ranking is or who you are in Taekwondo, at some time you were a complete novice, knowing nothing and fearing failure. We have all started like this and can only learn and improve with practice. Beginner Taekwondo classes in Stonehaven are the right place get started on that learning process and to acquire the basics so you can gain confidence and proceed with your exciting Taekwondo adventure. Almost all beginner classes are created to be friendly and fun, offering a slow introduction to the basic Taekwondo values and developing a firm base moving forward.

Tournaments and Competitions

Tournaments are an important aspect of the overall Taekwondo experience, and all the various styles across the globe hold contests where Taekwondo masters come together to compete. Hard contact is rarely permitted in any of these tournaments which mainly incorporate breaking, patterns and sparring. Sparring only is permitted in Olympic and WT (World Taekwondo) tournaments, while specified hand attacks are permitted in International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) events.

To Summarize

The benefits that you get out of Taekwondo will be proportional to what you invest in it (as is true of life in general). Most of you will purely wish to make new friends, improve your fitness levels and meet different people, some might want to move on to tournaments and competitions or perhaps even the Olympics. But bear in mind, we can't all be a Jade Jones or a Lutalo Muhammad.