Taekwondo Narborough

When many people in Narborough visualize Taekwondo, they imagine young children performing energetic punching and kicking manoeuvres. There is no doubt that the younger and fitter generation are more equipped to cope with the physical demands of this high energy sport, but this isn't to say that people of every age group can't get involved. However, so as to fully enjoy all the complexities of Taekwondo, it helps to be fairly agile and fit.

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 arts specialists in Seoul established some schools known as "kwans", incorporating many different martial arts techniques. Taekwondo, which it eventually became known as, mainly consists of high-kicking manoeuvres, particularly head-height kicks, fast kicking styles and jumping/spinning kicks.

Taekwondo has grown to be extremely popular in Narborough and all around the world, with over sixty million practitioners worldwide. Signing up for a local Narborough Taekwondo club or class is a good way to get involved in this sport which has even been a feature of the Olympic Games ever since the Sydney Games of 2000. Although you might not have any ambitions to be involved in Olympic competition, there is certainly no reason why you cannot become an expert at this exciting martial art and have some fun along the way.

For many people in Narborough, it is the self-defence element of Taekwondo that is the most appealing. And in these times of ever increasing violence, particularly in city and town centres, it's not a surprise that this features on top of people's priority list. In fact one of the main benefits of Taekwondo is learning to defend yourself whilst exercising a degree of self-restraint and having respect for others.

There's a very good likelihood that your eagerly mastered Taekwondo skills will never see the light of day in your everyday life, but it will most certainly give you peace of mind knowing that they are there should you need them.

Your First Narborough Taekwondo Class

If you have never done Taekwondo before you may be a little concerned as to what to expect on your first lesson. The following will give you an idea, but this may vary from school to school. A warm up of fifteen to twenty minutes to loosen your muscles and increase your heart rate, a little technical training which will involve learning some stances, hand attacks, kicks and blocks, an introduction to some forms (Poomse), a few tips on sparring including good timing, movement and targeting attacks, and lastly a warm down with muscle stretching and relaxing.

Everybody who is a member of a Taekwondo club in Narborough or any place else in Britain, is also required to join British Taekwondo, which is the official governing body of the sport. You will be able to get loads of facts about establishing a new club, first aid, coaching courses, events, equality and safeguarding, safe practices, news, clubs and members, coaches and competition referees, and more, by exploring British Taekwondo's website.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

The belt and ranking structure can get quite complicated in Taekwondo because there's no uniform system across the diverse Taekwondo styles. Parallels do exist however, and generally there are two distinct belt groups, denoted as "seniors" (black belts) and "juniors" (colours). The number of ranks in the junior groupings varies over the styles but is generally somewhere between 8 and 12 belts, whilst the senior section usually has 9 belts or dans.

In the UK there are a series of ranks in Taekwondo that are called "Kup". The lowest is 10th Kup and the highest is 1st Kup. The Taekwondo belt order, much like most of the martial arts is portrayed by a range of colours, these colours are 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. Beginners in Narborough starting out in Taekwondo will begin with the White Belt (10th Kup), and proceed through the colours until they attain the 1st Kup (Red With Black Stripe Belt).

Taekwondo students in Narborough are known as "black belt candidates" once they have worked their way through these rankings, and they will then be faced with proceeding through an additional nine ranks (or Dans) if they want to achieve the greatest accolade Taekwondo Black Belt. Hence, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into 3 divisions; Junior, Senior and Black Belts. The Junior group of Taekwondo Belts are; White (Tenth), White With a Yellow Stripe (Ninth), Yellow (Eighth), and Yellow With a Green Stripe (Seventh). The Senior group of Taekwondo Belts are; Green (Sixth), Green With a Blue Stripe (Fifth), Blue (Fourth), Blue With a Red Stripe (Third), Red (Second), and Red With a Black Stripe (First). The Black group of Taekwondo Belts comprise First to Ninth Dan rankings, and demands many years of dedicated training.

Competitions

A standard Taekwondo competition incorporates sparring, patterns (forms) and breaking, where the Olympics is concerned only sparring is included. With that being said there are also a few unique events in certain competitions such as self-defence and team demonstrations. WT competitions are solely soft-contact affairs, while ITF contests permit some hand attacks aimed at the head. There are additionally several multi-discipline tournaments.

Taekwondo Safety Gear

British Taekwondo competitions call for certain safety gear to be worn to safeguard contenders from being injured due to the forceful kicking that takes place. These safety products include: a mouth protector, red or blue trunk armour (hogu), shin pads, a red or blue head guard, hand guards, a groin guard and forearm protectors.

Taekwondo Patterns (Forms)

Forms are a key element of Taekwondo and are important if you're to master this exciting activity. Some basic forms must be grasped at the start and more complex forms have to be mastered so as to move through the various belts. A Taekwondo form is distinguished by a number of facets such as technique, stance and direction.

Benefits to be Gained From Taekwondo

You will probably be interested to understand precisely what kind of benefits may be gained by taking part in Narborough Taekwondo lessons and engaging fully in its practices. You could expect to: Supercharge stamina, agility and flexibility through intense cardiovascular effort, Toughen up your body and mind through accelerated mental discipline and physical co-ordination, Increase feelings of self-esteem by intensifying both mental and physical health, Teach you self-defence by showing you how to recognize occasions in which self-defence may be needed, and allowing you to manipulate these circumstances to your advantage, More discipline and willpower by methodically educating your body and mind in the tactics and doctrines of Taekwondo, Lessen stress by doing deep breathing exercises, Build your confidence by encouraging you to succeed and to seize control of your life.

Conclusion

We can more or less guarantee that if you participate in Taekwondo you'll make more friends, gain more confidence and improve your wellbeing. If that's all that you take away from it, then that is great, and you can call it an achievement! We aren't all looking to be Jade Jones's or Lutalo Muhammad's, but those of you that are, have to begin with the very first step. Good luck with your adventure!