Taekwondo Thornton Cleveleys

Taekwondo is typically far more physically demanding than for example Tai Chi, so unless you are pretty fit and agile you might prefer to partake in something a bit gentler to improve your fitness levels in Thornton Cleveleys. Children are certainly the perfect participants for Taekwondo classes in Thornton Cleveleys, with a lot of fast movements going on and a great deal of high kicking.

The sport was first practiced in Korea in around 1945, though the name Taekwondo was not used until the 1950's. In Seoul, a group of Korean martial arts fanatics established some new schools which they named "kwans", practicing a combination of martial arts techniques. In Taekwondo the emphasis is on kicking, especially rapid kicking methods, jumping/spinning kicks and head-height kicks.

With more than sixty million people participating in Taekwondo classes all over the world, this has certainly become an extremely popular pastime, and if you become really expert at this sport you may possibly one day qualify for the Olympic Games, of which it's been a part ever since the Sydney Games in the year 2000.

A key element of Taekwondo is self-defence, and not surprisingly this is one of the principal reasons that folks in Thornton Cleveleys get involved in classes and engage with the sport. There has been a disturbing escalation of violent practices in recent years and this is particularly prevalent in town and city centres around Lancashire and the country as a whole. The beauty of Taekwondo though, is that it also promotes self-discipline and respect for other people, not such common qualities in Thornton Cleveleys these days.

Although you'll take a lot of trouble mastering these essential self-defence skills, with a bit of luck you will not ever need to apply them except within your local Taekwondo club environment.

Your First Thornton Cleveleys Taekwondo Class

If you decide on registering for a Taekwondo class in Thornton Cleveleys, the very first thing you'll be wondering is what is going to occur on the very first lesson and just what will the trainer be expecting of you. Different Taekwondo masters in Thornton Cleveleys will contrive diverse routines for this initial lesson but you can count on doing a 20 minute warm-up to loosen your muscles and get the blood circulating, learn a few Poomse (forms, go through some practical training (blocks, stances, hand attacks and kicks), do a small amount of sparring, and lastly, a warm-down.

Taekwondo of course also has got its own regulating body, and in the United Kingdom it is British Taekwondo. Everyone wishing to join a Taekwondo club in Thornton Cleveleys must become registered members of this organisation. You can find a lot of details on health and safety, news, clubs and members, starting a new club, first aid, equality and safeguarding, events, coaching courses, referees and coaching, and more, by exploring the British Taekwondo website.

Beginners Classes

Even the best exponents of Taekwondo in Thornton Cleveleys set out as rookies, therefore there is no disgrace in being a total beginner at Tae kwon do, or for that matter any other activity. The purpose of a Taekwondo beginners class is to teach just a few basics, improve confidence and develop a solid foundation for the future. Most importantly of all is that it should be fun, students having a great time are going to learn faster and be better engaged.

Benefits to be Gained From Taekwondo

You'll no doubt be interested to find out about exactly what sort of benefits may be achieved by attending Thornton Cleveleys Taekwondo classes and participating fully in its practices. You can expect to: Empower your body and mind by improved mental discipline and physical co-ordination, Improve feelings of self-esteem by sharpening both mental and physical powers, Reduces stress using advanced breath control, Boost your confidence by inspiring you to seize control of your life and succeed, More discipline and willpower by exhaustively schooling your mind and body in the tactics and doctrines of Taekwondo, Improve flexibility, stamina and agility through intensive cardiovascular effort, Learn self-defence tactics by helping you to identify scenarios where self-defence might be needed, and empowering you to manipulate these types of scenarios to your advantage.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

When it comes to ranking, promotion and belts there's not actually any real standardization in Taekwondo, because there are various styles of Taekwondo which each have their own system in place. There are however analogies and they usually consist of two groupings of belts "seniors" and "juniors" symbolized by black and coloured belts respectively. The senior ranks generally have 9 tiers and the junior, eight to twelve ranks.

In the UK Taekwondo has a sequence of ranks which are known as "Kup", these ranks go from 10th (lowest) to 1st (highest). As is the case with many of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is denoted by a range of different colours, so the ranks are easily recognised. These colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with transitional belts with stripes in-between, 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 of Taekwondo in Thornton Cleveleys will start out with the White Belt (10th Kup), and advance through the various coloured belts until they reach the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup).

After this training regime has been accomplished, Thornton Cleveleys Taekwondo trainees become known as "black belt candidates", and they then have to progress through an additional nine Dans (ranks) if they are to become a Taekwondo "Black Belt", which is the ultimate accolade in this sport. Therefore, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into three sections; Junior Belts, Senior Belts 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 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 many years to successfully progress through. (Tags: Taekwondo Belts Thornton Cleveleys, Taekwondo Rankings Thornton Cleveleys, Taekwondo Belt Order, Belt Order Taekwondo).

The Eight Basic Taekwondo Kicks

Some of the basic Taekwondo kicking moves you will learn initially include: Push Kick, Back Kick, Whip or Hook Kick, Crescent Kick, Side Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Front Kick, Axe Kick. Taekwondo Blocks: To stop and defend against an inbound attack, "blocks" (known as Makgi) are employed. They are held in various positions and engage the hands with parts of the arm. Each block can be coupled with a kick or punch to produce a counter-attacking movement, and each is meant for a specific attack. The key blocks include: Palm Block, Double Forearm Block, Upper Block, Knife Hand Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Low Block, Nine Block, Rising Block and Single Forearm Block.

Taekwondo Safety Equipment

Safety gear such as a mouth protector, shin pads, a red/blue head protector, a blue/red body guard (hogu), forearm protectors, a groin protector and hand protectors have to be worn in all contests overseen by British Taekwondo. Protection from injury is important on account of the formidable kicking which is an integral element of this activity.