Taekwondo Tadcaster

Due to its more physical aspects, Taekwondo is maybe more suited to the younger generation in Tadcaster and is especially appropriate for children as it's terrific for developing self-discipline and respect for others. Older adults might find it somewhat too tough unless they are particularly active and fit. People in Tadcaster who take up Taekwondo when they may be young find it easy to continue when they become older. Something a bit less strenuous like Tai Chi might be more suitable for the less agile of you.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently developed of the martial arts, with its root beginnings in Korea in 1945. A number of Korean martial artists in Seoul established some new schools known as "kwans", merging many different martial arts practices. Taekwondo, which was ultimately called, mostly entails kicking manoeuvres, especially jumping/spinning kicks, head-height kicks and fast kicking methods.

Taekwondo has become very popular in Tadcaster and all around the world, with over 60 million practitioners worldwide. This sport has even featured in the Olympic Games since 2000, and if you want to get involved, joining a local Tadcaster Taekwondo club or class is a good place to start. While the chances of you getting to Olympic standard are pretty slim, there is no reason at all why you cannot master this thrilling martial art.

The thing about Taekwondo that appears to most appeal to people in Tadcaster is the self-defence element of it. And its no great surprise that this is high on people's list of priorities when you take into account the rising incidence of violence seen these days in city and town centres throughout the UK. It is a key factor of Taekwondo that you can become confident in your ability to defend yourself and at the same time respect others and exercise self-restraint.

Even though you will spend a lot of time mastering these vital self-defence techniques, with a bit of luck you'll never need to apply them except within your local Taekwondo club environment.

Your First Class

Different Taekwondo schools in Tadcaster will have different viewpoints on what pupils should cover on their initial lesson, however to give you a concept of what to expect most initial Taekwondo lessons will include a warm-up, a bit of sparring, learning basic Poomse (forms), a quick introduction to hand attacks, kicks, blocks and stances (practical training) and a warm-down to relax weary muscles and return the body to a state of relaxation.

British Taekwondo is the official governing body of the sport within Great Britain, and membership of this organization is mandatory if you wish to join any Taekwondo class in Tadcaster or nearby. You can read about first aid, events, coaches and referees, clubs and members, coaching courses, safeguarding and equality, starting a new Taekwondo club, news, safe practices, and more on British Taekwondo's website, and find the latest news on their Twitter or Facebook page.

The Main Taekwondo Kicks

Taekwondo is probably most recognized for its spectacular kicks, listed here are a handful of the standard kicks you'll learn as a novice: Side Kick, Front Kick, Axe Kick, Push Kick, Crescent Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Hook or Whip Kick, Back Kick. Blocks: To repulse the numerous hand attacks and kicks there are a similarly diverse array of blocks (Makgi). They're held in specific positions and engage the hand with areas of the arm. Each form of attack necessitates a specific sort of block, counter-attacks can be created by combining a block with another kick or punch. The key Taekwondo blocks (makgi) include: Low Block, Upper Block, Nine Block, Single Forearm Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Double Forearm Block, Palm Block, Rising Block and Knife Hand Block.

Taekwondo Tournaments and Competitions

A standard Taekwondo competition incorporates sparring, breaking and patterns (forms), as far as the Olympics is concerned only sparring is involved. Having said that there may also be a few extraordinary categories in particular competitions such as team demonstrations and self-defence. WT contests are solely soft-contact affairs, while International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) tournaments allow some hand attacks to the head. There are also several multi-discipline contests.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

In terms of promotion, ranking and belts there is not actually any real standardisation in Taekwondo, as there are various styles of Taekwondo which each have their own arrangement in place. There are however analogies and they typically comprise a couple of groupings of belts "seniors" and "juniors" symbolized by black and coloured belts respectively. The senior rankings usually have 9 grades and the junior, between 8 and 12 levels.

In the UK there are a set of ranks (belts) in Taekwondo that are referred to as "Kup". The lowest (beginners) rank is 10th Kup and the highest is 1st Kup. If you are interested in the Taekwondo belt order, it is as follows, and is portrayed by a number of different colours i.e. 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 novices in Tadcaster will start out with, they can then move up through the different coloured belts, eventually achieving the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup), which will probably take approximately three to four years of training and lessons.

Taekwondo trainees in Tadcaster are considered as "black belt candidates" after they've worked their way through these rankings, and they'll then be faced with moving through yet another nine ranks (or Dans) if they aspire to achieve the ultimate distinction of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. Therefore, putting it simply, there are 3 primary sections in the Taekwondo belt order, that is Junior, Senior 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 comprise; 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 can take a considerable number of years to successfully progress through. (Tags: Taekwondo Belts Tadcaster, Taekwondo Black Belts, Taekwondo Promotion Tadcaster, Taekwondo Belt Order).

Conclusion

So, what do you want from doing Taekwondo? Well, that's a great question, and the answer to that will vary for different people. The majority of participants will simply look to meet new people, gain more self-confidence and improve their levels of fitness. We're certainly not all going to scale the dizzy heights of Jade Jones or Lutalo Muhammad, although maybe you will, who knows?