Taekwondo

Owing to its more physical aspects, Taekwondo is perhaps more appropriate for the younger person in the UK and is especially suited to kids as it's fantastic for developing respect for others and self-discipline. Older adults could find it somewhat too demanding unless they're particularly active and fit. However, those folks who persue Taekwondo in the UK at a young age will discover they can easily carry it on into older adulthood. The less nimble of you might think about something gentler like Tai Chi.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently created of the martial arts, with its early beginnings in Korea, South-East Asia in 1945. A number of Korean martial artists in Seoul founded some new schools known as "kwans", merging a number of martial arts practices. Taekwondo, which was ultimately called, mostly entails high-kicking manoeuvres, particularly jumping/spinning kicks, head-height kicks and fast kicking strategies.

Now an Olympic sport, Taekwondo has more than sixty million followers all around the world, and although you may not aspire to be an Olympic Games sportsman, you are still able to join a Taekwondo club or class to master what will no doubt prove to be a rewarding and intriguing pastime.

People in the UK take up Taekwondo for many reasons but it is the self-defence aspect that appeals to most. This is not hard to believe when you take into account the high levels of violence experienced in town and city centres on a daily basis. In fact one of the key principles of Taekwondo is learning to defend yourself whilst exercising self-restraint and a respect for others.

These self-defence techniques may at some point prove useful in your everyday life, although it is much more likely that you will solely be using them within a supervised class setting. Nevertheless it is a reassuring feeling knowing the fact that you'll always be in a position to successfully defend yourself when you need to.

Your First Taekwondo Lesson

If you have never done Taekwondo before, you might be somewhat anxious as to what to expect on your very first lesson. This varies from club to club but will typically comprise all or some of these. A fifteen to twenty minute warm up to increase heart rate and loosen muscles, some technical training involving learning some blocks, stances, hand attacks and kicks, discovering a few forms (or Poomse), a quick introduction to sparring including movement, attack timing and timing, and finally a warm down to relax and stretch weary muscles.

The UK official regulating body of the sport is British Taekwondo and if you want to sign up to Taekwondo class in the UK, you will also be required to register with this organization. By viewing the British Taekwondo website you can obtain info regarding safe practices, safeguarding and equality, news, events, clubs and members, referees and coaching, coaching courses, starting a new Taekwondo club, first aid, and a lot more Taekwondo related issues.

Taekwondo Kicks

One of the key elements of Taekwondo is kicking, here is a small selection of the best known kicking techniques: Side Kick, Axe Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Front Kick, Whip or Hook Kick, Back Kick, Crescent Kick, Push Kick. Blocks: To stop and deflect an inbound attack, blocks (called Makgi) are implemented. They are held in specific positions and use the hand with different areas of the arm. Each form of attack necessitates a particular kind of block, counter-attacking moves can be created by combining a block with another punch or kick. The primary blocks used in Taekwondo include: Low Block, Nine Block, Upper Block, Rising Block, Knife Hand Block, Palm Block, Double Forearm Block, Single Forearm Block and Double Knife Hand Block.

Taekwondo Patterns (Forms)

Forms are a pivotal part of Taekwondo and are important if you are going to master this captivating sporting activity. Several basic "forms" need to be learned at the beginning and more elaborate forms have to be perfected so as to move through the various levels. A Taekwondo form is characterised by various variables such as direction, stance and technique.

Taekwondo Belts (Rank)

In terms of belts, ranking and promotion there isn't actually any real standardisation in Taekwondo, since there are various different styles of Taekwondo each of which has their own unique arrangement. There are however analogies and they generally comprise two groupings of belts "seniors" and "juniors" symbolized by black and coloured belts respectively, . The senior grades generally have nine ranks and the junior, 8 to 12 levels.

Taekwondo Tournaments

There are an array of tournaments and competitions in Taekwondo associated with all the diverse styles. They mainly comprise sparring, breaking and patterns (forms) with very little "hard contact". International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) competitions do not allow disproportionate contact but do allow hand attacks towards the head. World Taekwondo (WT) and Olympic competitions only allow sparring. Multi-style tournaments are also held.

Taekwondo Beginners Classes

As with any sport or activity we've got to begin somewhere, and Taekwondo is exactly the same. Even the the best of the UK Taekwondo masters were complete rookies at one point. So, what can you expect as a total beginner at Taekwondo? A beginners class should give its pupils sufficient coaching to give them the fundamentals and enable them to build self-confidence as they progress. The perfect beginners class ought to be enjoyable as well as instructional, when individuals are enjoying themselves they are much more invested and will learn faster.