Taekwondo Stratford-upon-Avon

Owing to its rather more physical aspects, Taekwondo is possibly more suited to the younger generation in Stratford-upon-Avon and is particularly suited to kids as it is great for developing respect for others and self-discipline. More elderly people could find it a bit too strenuous unless they are especially active and fit. Even so, those folks who take up Taekwondo in Stratford-upon-Avon at a young age will find that they can easily continue with it when they're older. The less nimble of you might consider something softer like Tai Chi.

With its root beginnings in 1940's Korea, South-East Asia, Taekwondo is certainly one of the more recently created of the martial arts and consists of primarily kicking moves such as head kicks, jumping/turning kicks and fast kicking methods. It began when schools known as "kwans" were founded by a bunch of Korean martial artists in Seoul, South Korea.

Ever since the Sydney Olympic Games in the year 2000, Taekwondo has been an Olympic sport. This has made it even more popular worldwide with some 60 million people regularly participating in classes. And it's by signing up to a Taekwondo class or club that you can commence your quest of mastering this thrilling martial art.

A key aspect of Taekwondo is self-defence, and obviously this is one of the principal reasons that people in Stratford-upon-Avon sign up to classes and get involved in the sport. There has been a disturbing escalation of violent practices in recent times and this is especially rampant in town and city centres throughout Warwickshire and the British Isles as a whole. The fantastic thing about Taekwondo though, is that it also encourages self-discipline and a deep respect for others, not such familiar qualities in Stratford-upon-Avon nowadays.

While it is a great experience to practice and master these self-defence techniques in the controlled environment of your local Stratford-upon-Avon Taekwondo club, with any luck you will not ever have the need to use them in the outside world.

Your First Class

If you make your mind up to register for Taekwondo training in Stratford-upon-Avon, the first thing you will be wondering is what is going to transpire on the first class and what exactly will the teacher expect to see from you. Different Taekwondo masters in Stratford-upon-Avon will compile differing routines for this initial introductory lesson but you can expect to do a 15 minute warm-up to get the blood flowing and loosen your muscles, learn several forms (Poomse), go through some practical training (blocking techniques, stances, hand attacks and kicks), do a certain amount of sparring, and last but not least, warm-down.

British Taekwondo is the governing 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 Stratford-upon-Avon or nearby. You'll be able to read about referees and coaching, events, starting a new club, safeguarding and equality, health and safety, news, first aid, members and clubs, coaching courses, and more on British Taekwondo's website, or find the latest news on their Twitter or Facebook page.

Taekwondo - The Benefits

The benefits that can be achieved by taking part in Taekwondo classes in Stratford-upon-Avon are numerous, amongst the most significant are: Improve self-esteem by intensifying both mental and physical health, Beef up confidence by helping you to succeed and to seize control of your life, Better discipline by exhaustively training your body and mind in the principles and techniques of Taekwondo, Reduce anxiety and stress with controlled breathing, Learn self-defence tactics by showing you how to recognise circumstances where self-defence could be required, and empowering you to turn these scenarios in your favour, Toughen up your mind and body by means of accelerated physical coordination and mental discipline, Increase flexibility, agility and stamina through extreme cardiovascular effort.

Taekwondo Belts

In Tae kwon do there's not really any kind of standardization with regards to belts and grades. It's all determined by which style you're looking at, because there are such a lot of Taekwondo styles. However, they're normally split into two groupings "junior" or "colour" belts and "senior" or "black" belts. The junior/colour ranks consist of white to red, with from 8 to 12 levels, whilst the black/senior belts typically have nine levels.

Rankings in Taekwondo in the UK are depicted by what are called "Kup". The top rank is First Kup and the lowest (beginners) is Tenth Kup. As is the case with many of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is denoted by a range of different colours, so that the ranks are easily recognised. These colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with transitional belts with stripes in-between, 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. Beginner students of Taekwondo in Stratford-upon-Avon will begin with the Tenth Kup (White Belt), and advance through the various coloured belts until they accomplish the Red With Black Stripe Belt (First Kup)

After this training regime has been accomplished, Stratford-upon-Avon Taekwondo trainees are referred to as "black belt candidates", and they then need to progress through a further nine ranks or Dans if they're to become a Taekwondo "Black Belt", which of course is the consummate accolade. Therefore, the Taekwondo belt order can be put into 3 groupings; Junior Belts, Senior Belts and Black Belts. The Taekwondo Belts in the Junior group comprise; 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 process that will take a number of years. (Tags: Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Promotion Stratford-upon-Avon, Taekwondo Belts Stratford-upon-Avon, Belt Order Taekwondo).

Taekwondo Competitions

There are a multitude of tournaments in Taekwondo associated with all the diverse styles. They mostly comprise patterns (forms), breaking and sparring with not much "hard contact". ITF tournaments don't permit too much contact but sometimes allow hand attacks towards the head. WT and Olympic contests allow only sparring. Multi-style competitions are also held.

Summary

We can't all be like Jade Jones or Lutalo Muhammad, and I guess that we wouldn't all want to be. Taekwondo is not solely about National Championships and Olympic medals. The majority of of us are content to make new friends, improve our fitness and meet different people, and that's how it should be. However, as with many things in life, what you get out of it will be determined by what you put into it. Good luck!