Taekwondo Penarth

When most people in Penarth visualize Taekwondo, they imagine young kids performing energetic punching and kicking manoeuvres. Keeping up with the physical demands of the sport might be easier for the younger generation, but this doesn't mean that people of every age group can take part in, and enjoy the many benefits of this activity. You will however get more enjoyment out of Taekwondo if you are relatively fit and agile.

With its early beginnings in 1940's Korea, South-East Asia, Taekwondo is certainly one of the more recently created of the martial arts and entails mainly kicking movements such as jumping/spinning kicks, head kicks and rapid kicking techniques. It started when schools called "kwans" were set up by a group of Korean martial arts specialists in Seoul, South Korea.

Taekwondo has grown to be really popular in Penarth and all over the world, with more than sixty million participants worldwide. Joining a local Penarth Taekwondo class or club is a good way to get involved with this activity which has even been a part of the Olympic Games ever since the Sydney Games in 2000. Whilst you might not aspire to Olympic competition, there is certainly no reason why you cannot become a master of this enjoyable martial art and have some fun in the process.

For a lot of folks in Penarth, it is the self-defence element of Taekwondo that has the most appeal. And in these times of increasing violence, especially in city and town centres, it's little surprise that this sits high up on people's priority lists. It is a primary element of Taekwondo that you're able to become more confident in your capability to defend yourself and at the same time learn to respect others and practice self-restraint.

Such self-defence techniques may at some point prove useful in your day to day life, though it's more likely that you will solely be using them within a monitored class environment. Nevertheless it's a reassuring feeling knowing the fact that you'll always be in a position to defend yourself when you need to.

Your First Taekwondo Class

If you have decided to learn Taekwondo and are heading to your first class, you will be wondering what will happen. This can vary depending on which Penarth school you attend, but will generally involve the following. A 15 to 20 minute warm up to increase your heart rate and loosen your muscles, a little technical training involving learning some blocks, kicks, stances and hand attacks, learning the first patterns or forms, a look at sparring including good movement, timing and attack targeting, and finally a warm down to stretch muscles and relax.

Everyone who's a member of a Taekwondo club in Penarth or any place else in the UK, is also required to join British Taekwondo, which is the regulating body of the sport. You can get lots of information on safe practices, launching a new club, clubs and members, coaching courses, first aid, news, referees and coaching, events, safeguarding and equality, and more, by checking out British Taekwondo's official website.

Benefits to be Gained From Taekwondo

The benefits which can be gained by participating in Taekwondo classes in Penarth are many and varied, amongst the most noteworthy are: Reduced anxiety and stress with controlled breathing, More self-discipline by exhaustively training your body and mind in the techniques and doctrines of Taekwondo, Improve self-esteem by elevating both mental and physical fitness, Turbocharge stamina, flexibility and agility by way of extreme cardiovascular work-outs, Toughen up your mind and body by way of accelerated mental discipline and physical co-ordination, Beef up your confidence by inspiring you to succeed and to take control of your life, Learn self-defence tactics by helping you to recognize occasions where self-defence might be necessary, and enabling you to control these types of situations to your advantage.

Taekwondo Tournaments

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

Penarth Taekwondo for Beginners

With any sport or activity we've got to begin someplace, and Taekwondo is exactly the same. Even the best Penarth Taekwondo exponents were total beginners at one point. So, exactly what can you expect as a total beginner at Taekwondo? A beginners class should give its enrollees enough coaching to teach them the fundamentals and enable them to develop self-confidence as they move forward. The perfect beginners class must be enjoyable as well as instructional, when people are having fun they're far more invested and will learn quicker.

Taekwondo Safety Gear

British Taekwondo tournaments require certain safety gear to be worn to protect contenders from injury due to the vigorous kicking that takes place. These safety solutions include: forearm guards, hand guards, red or blue body armour, shin protectors, a groin protector, a red/blue head protector and a gum shield.

In Summary

Precisely what you get from Taekwondo will be proportional to what you put into it (as is true of life in general). Most of you will just want to make new friends, improve your fitness levels and meet different people, some might want to move on to tournaments and competitions or perhaps even the Olympic Games. But bear in mind, we can't all be a Jade Jones or a Lutalo Muhammad. 👊