Taekwondo West Kingsdown

Taekwondo is generally a lot more physically demanding than for instance Tai Chi, so unless you're pretty agile and fit you might prefer to partake in something a little gentler to boost your fitness levels in West Kingsdown. Younger children are definitely the perfect participants for Taekwondo classes in West Kingsdown, with a lot of fast movements taking place and a great deal of high kicking.

Taekwondo started in Korea in 1945. A group of Korean martial arts fanatics in Seoul established some new schools called "kwans", where they practiced a combination of martial arts techniques. Kicking manoeuvres, especially rapid kicking methods, jumping/spinning kicks and head kicks are the main emphasis of Taekwondo, as it eventually became known.

Taekwondo has become very popular in West Kingsdown and all around the world, with over 60 million practitioners worldwide. Joining a local Taekwondo club or class in West Kingsdown is a good way to get involved with this activity which is now an Olympic sport. There is no reason why you cannot reach a high standard in this thrilling sport, even if you have no desire to compete in the Olympics.

People in West Kingsdown take up Taekwondo for numerous purposes but it is the self-defence element that appeals to most. You shouldn't be surprised by this, when you take into account the high incidence of violence seen in today's town and city centres. The ability to defend yourself while still exercising self-restraint and a respect for others is one of the primary principles of Taekwondo.

Your eagerly learned Taekwondo skills will likely never have to be tried and tested outside the regulated environment of an actual Taekwondo class, however being aware of the fact that you've got them will instill you with confidence.

Your First Taekwondo Class

If you have never dome Taekwondo before, you may be interested to know exactly what is likely to happen on your first lesson. This will vary from school to school but will usually involve some or all of the following. A fifteen to twenty minute warm up to loosen muscles and increase heart rate, a little technical training covering some hand attacks, stances, kicks and blocks, learning some Poomse (or forms), a few ideas on sparring including timing, movement and the targeting of attacks, and lastly a warm down with muscle stretching and relaxing.

British Taekwondo is the official regulating body of the sport within the UK, and membership of this organization is mandatory if you wish to join any Taekwondo club in West Kingsdown or nearby. You can find out about news, coaches and referees, equality and safeguarding, events, coaching courses, health and safety, launching a new Taekwondo club, first aid, members and clubs, and more on the British Taekwondo website, or find the latest Taekwondo news on their Facebook or Twitter page.

Taekwondo Forms

Novices just beginning their journey in Taekwondo do not need to fret excessively about forms (Poomse, patterns) at the outset, but they will get to grips with some basic ones to start with and progress to more complicated "forms" as they move through the belts (grades/dans). A "form" is signified by certain areas of Taekwondo including technique, direction and stance. Learning such techniques is a vital part of perfecting Taekwondo.

Taekwondo Belts

In terms of ranking, promotion and belts there is not actually any real standardization in Taekwondo, as there are a number of styles of Taekwondo which each have their own unique arrangement. There are however similarities and they normally comprise a couple of groupings of belts "juniors" and "seniors" symbolized by coloured and black belts respectively. The senior grades usually have 9 tiers and the junior, eight to twelve levels.

Rankings in Taekwondo in the UK are depicted by what are known 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 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 West Kingsdown will commence with, they can then move up through the colours, eventually attaining the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup), which will take approximately three to four years.

After this training has been successfully completed, West Kingsdown Taekwondo trainees advance to "black belt candidates", and they then need to earn a further nine ranks if they are to achieve the title of Taekwondo "Black Belt", which is the ultimate accolade. Thus, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into 3 divisions; Junior Belts, Senior Belts and Black Belts. 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 takes many years to successfully progress through.

The Many Benefits of Taekwondo

You will undoubtedly be fascinated to learn about exactly what type of benefits might be gained by attending West Kingsdown Taekwondo lessons and engaging 100% in its practices. You could expect that you will: Empower your body and mind by way of improved mental discipline and physical co-ordination, Lower anxiety using advanced breath control, Supercharge agility, flexibility and stamina by means of intense cardiovascular effort, More discipline and willpower by comprehensively schooling your body and mind in the strategies and doctrines of Taekwondo, Increase self-esteem by heightening both physical and mental fitness, Help with self-defence by helping you to recognise scenarios where self-defence may be needed, and allowing you to turn these circumstances in your favour, Boost your confidence by encouraging you to seize control of your life and succeed.

To Summarize

We can pretty much guarantee that if you take up Taekwondo you will make more friends, gain self-confidence and improve your fitness. If that is all you get out of it, then all well and good, and you can call it a success! We aren't all aiming to be Jade Jones's or Lutalo Muhammad's, but those of you who are, still need to start with that initial step. Good luck with your journey!