Taekwondo Ardrossan

It should be asserted that Taekwondo can be pretty challenging physically, which can unnerve the older and less agile folks in Ardrossan from taking this up. To be completely honest, the most frequent participants of Taekwondo classes are kids and the younger generation, but unquestionably older people who're in great physical condition can easily take part and benefit from this activity.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently created of the martial arts, with its root beginnings in Korea, South-East Asia in 1945. A group of Korean martial artists in Seoul established some schools which they called "kwans", combining a number of martial arts techniques. Taekwondo, which was ultimately called, mostly consists of kicking manoeuvres, especially spinning/jumping kicks, head kicks and fast kicking strategies.

With over sixty million people engaged in Taekwondo sessions all around the globe, this has definitely become a popular and beneficial pastime, and if you really master the sport you might even one day be eligible for the Olympic Games, of which it's been a part since the 2000 Sydney Games.

For many people in Ardrossan, it is the self-defence aspect of Taekwondo that has the most appeal. This is not surprising when you consider the rising levels of violence seen in town and city centres these days. In fact one of the key principles of Taekwondo is learning to defend yourself whilst exercising self-restraint and a respect for others.

While it is a great experience to practice and master these self-defence skills in the protected environment of your local Ardrossan Taekwondo club, with any luck you won't ever have the need to use them in the world outside.

What to Expect From Your First Class

If Taekwondo is not an activity that you have ever done previously, you will probably be curious about what you should be expecting from your initial class should you decide to join. Different Taekwondo schools in Ardrossan have varying ideas about this but in brief; you will take part in a fifteen to twenty minute warm-up, you'll do a bit of technical training, you will learn some forms, you are going to practice sparring techniques and last but not least you will do a warm-down to help your body get back into a state of relaxation.

The governing official body for Taekwondo in Britain is British Taekwondo and anybody wishing to join a Taekwondo club in Ardrossan must also register with British Taekwondo. You can find loads of information about news, safeguarding and equality, events, coaches and tournament referees, health and safety, establishing a new club, clubs and members, first aid, coaching courses, and more, by viewing British Taekwondo's official website.

Taekwondo Tournaments and Competitions

A standard Taekwondo competition incorporates patterns, sparring and breaking, in the Olympics only sparring is involved. That said there may also be a few extraordinary events in certain tournaments such as self-defence and team demonstrations. WT (World Taekwondo) competitions are solely soft-contact affairs, while International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) competitions allow some hand attacks towards the head. There are also several multi-discipline competitions.

Taekwondo Safety Equipment

Safety equipment such as hand guards, red/blue trunk armour (hogu), forearm protectors, a mouth protector, shin guards, a groin guard and a blue/red head protector have to be used in all contests supervised by British Taekwondo. Protection from injury is important owing to the vigorous kicking that's an integral part of this sport.

Taekwondo Belts (Rank)

In Taekwondo there's not really any kind of uniformity in relation to belts and ranking. It all depends on what style you are considering, as there are such a lot of Taekwondo styles. They are however, typically split into two groups "junior" or "colour" belts and "senior" or "black" belts. The colour/junior ranks consist of white to red, with anything from eight to twelve levels, whilst the senior/black belts normally have nine rankings.

In the UK there are a series of ranks in Taekwondo which are referred to as "Kup". The lowest is Tenth Kup and the highest rank is First Kup. As is the case with most of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is indicated by a range of colours, so the ranks can be easily recognised. These colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with transitional belts with stripes in-between, 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 newbies in Ardrossan will commence with, they can then advance through the colours, eventually attaining the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup), after about three to four years.

Taekwondo trainees in Ardrossan are called "black belt candidates" after they've succeeded with this challenge, and they'll then have to move through a further nine ranks (Dans) if they aim to achieve the consummate accolade of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. So, Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt are the 3 main sections in the Taekwondo belt order. The Junior division Taekwondo Belts comprise; White (Tenth), White With a Yellow Stripe (Ninth), Yellow (Eighth), and Yellow With a Green Stripe (Seventh). The Senior division 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 division of Taekwondo Belts comprise First to Ninth Dan rankings, and will involve many years of dedicated training.