Taekwondo Warsash

It must be asserted that Taekwondo can be pretty demanding physically, which may discourage the older and less nimble folks in Warsash from becoming involved. To be truthful, the most frequent participants of Taekwondo classes are kids and the younger generation, but obviously older individuals who're in decent physical health can easily participate and get benefits from this sport.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently established of the martial arts, with its early beginnings in Korea, South-East Asia in 1945. A number of Korean martial artists in Seoul established some schools which they called "kwans", merging various martial arts techniques. Taekwondo, which was ultimately called, primarily consists of kicking manoeuvres, especially head-height kicks, rapid kicking styles and jumping/spinning kicks.

These days an Olympic sport, Taekwondo has more than 60 million practitioners worldwide, and whilst you may not aspire to be an Olympic Games medalist, you are still able to sign up for a Taekwondo club or class to master what will undoubtedly turn out to be a fascinating and worthwhile pastime.

It seems that the most appealing aspect of Taekwondo is self-defence. This is not surprising when you consider the rising levels of violence seen in town and city centres these days. In fact one of the key principles of Taekwondo is learning to defend yourself whilst exercising self-restraint and a respect for others.

There's a very good likelihood that your newly mastered Taekwondo skills will never need to be tested in your everyday life, but it will undoubtedly give you reassurance knowing that they're there should you ever be in need of them.

Your First Warsash Taekwondo Lesson

If you decide to register for Taekwondo training in Warsash, the first thing you'll need to know is what is going to transpire on the initial lesson and what will the instructor expect to see from you. Different Taekwondo masters in the Warsash area will formulate diverse routines for this first lesson but you should be expecting to do a 15 minute warm-up to get the blood coursing and loosen your muscles, learn some basic Poomse (forms, go through some practical training (kicks, stances, hand attacks and blocks), do a bit of sparring, and to finish, a warm-down.

The UK's regulating body of the sport is British Taekwondo and if you want to sign up with a Taekwondo club in Warsash, you will also be required to register with this respected organization. You'll be able to learn about news, clubs and members, safe practices, beginning a new club, safeguarding and equality, coaching courses, events, first aid, coaches and referees, and more on the British Taekwondo website, or get the latest news reports on their Facebook or Twitter page.

Taekwondo Forms (Patterns)

Taekwondo forms (also referred to as patterns or Poomse) are categorized by specific elements like direction, technique and stance. From the outset you are going to learn some of the standard forms, and in order to advance through the various grades (belts) you'll have to master some more advanced ones.

Taekwondo - The Benefits

You will doubtless be fascinated to learn about precisely what type of benefits might be achieved by attending Warsash Taekwondo lessons and engaging 100% in its practices. You could expect to: Increase flexibility, stamina and agility by means of intense cardiovascular effort, Better self-discipline by thoroughly educating your body and mind in the principles and tactics of Taekwondo, Increase self-esteem by heightening both physical and mental fitness, Boost your confidence by helping you to seize control of your life and succeed, Strengthen your body and mind through enhanced mental discipline and physical co-ordination, Teach you self-defence by helping you identify scenarios where self-defence could be needed, and allowing you to manipulate these kinds of scenarios to your advantage, Lessen stress and anxiety with controlled breathing.

Competitions and Tournaments

There are a whole host of competitions in Taekwondo involving all the diverse styles. They mainly consist of sparring, breaking and patterns with little or no hard contact. International Taekwon-Do Federation contests do not allow excessive contact but do permit hand attacks aimed at the head. WT (World Taekwondo) and Olympic competitions allow only sparring. Multi-style competitions also take place.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

In Tae kwon do there is really no uniformity in regards to ranking and belts. It's all depending on what style you happen to be reviewing, since there are such a diversity of Taekwondo rules and styles. However, they are typically split into 2 groups "junior (colour) belts and "senior" (black) belts. The colour/junior ranks range from white to red, with anything from 8 to 12 grades, while the black/senior belts commonly have nine grades.

Rankings in Taekwondo in the UK are represented by what are referred to as "Kup". The top rank is First Kup and the lowest rank is Tenth Kup. If you are curious about the Taekwondo belt order, it is as follows, and is indicated by a range of different colours i.e. white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediate 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. Beginner students of Taekwondo in Warsash will start out with the White Belt (10th Kup), and move up through the various coloured belts until they achieve the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup).

After this has been completed, Taekwondo students in Warsash are considered as "black belt candidates" which involves them proceeding through a further nine ranks (Dans) until they eventually achieve the accolade of "Black Belt" status. Therefore, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into 3 divisions; Junior, Senior and Black Belts. The Junior Taekwondo Belts are; 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 can take a considerable number of years to successfully progress through.

Taekwondo Safety Equipment

In all contests, events and competitions being held under the control of British Taekwondo, safety equipment like hand protectors, a gum shield, shin pads, a groin protector, forearm guards, a red or blue head protector and a red/blue trunk guard (hogu) is mandatory. The kicking tactics which are part of Taekwondo can easily cause harm and this helps to make the sport less dangerous for its competitors.