Taekwondo Baildon

It's got to be said that Taekwondo can be pretty challenging physically, which might discourage the less agile and more elderly people in Baildon from taking this up. To be fair, the most common people participating in Taekwondo classes are kids and younger people, but certainly older individuals who are in decent physical health can easily participate and benefit from this activity.

The discipline was developed in Korea in 1945, though it was not given the name Taekwondo until the 1950's. Some new schools called "kwans" were established in Seoul by a group of Korean martial arts fanatics, combining a number of various martial arts techniques. This eventually became known as Taekwondo and the main emphasis of the discipline was on kicking manoeuvres, especially rapid kicking techniques, jumping/turning kicks and head-height kicks.Today Baildon Taekwondo classes follow this tradition.

Taekwondo has become really popular in Baildon and all around the world, with more than sixty million students worldwide. Joining a local Baildon Taekwondo club or class is an easy way to get involved in this sport which has even been in the Olympic Games since the Sydney Games of 2000. Whilst nobody would expect you to reach Olympic standard, you can certainly be one of the best Taekwondo exponents in Baildon.

Of all the many benefits of learning this sport, it is the self-defence element of Taekwondo that the people of Baildon find most alluring. And in these days of increased violence, especially in city and town centres, it is not surprising that this sits at the top of people's priority list. Learning to defend yourself whilst respecting others and exercising self-restraint is a key principle of Taekwondo.

Although it will give you peace of mind being aware that you have such self-defence skills tucked away inside you, the likelihood is you will never have to use them outside the monitored setting of an organised Taekwondo class.

What to Expect From Your First Class

If you have never done Taekwondo before you may be a little concerned as to what to expect on your first lesson. There may be variations to the following, depending on which Baildon Taekwondo school you attend, but you can roughly expect; A warm up of fifteen to twenty minutes to increase heart rate and loosen your muscles, some technical training such as learning some blocks, kicks, stances and hand attacks, some work on forms or patterns, a look at sparring including good movement, timing and attack targeting, and lastly a warm down to stretch tired muscles and relax.

The official body regulating Taekwondo in the United Kingdom is British Taekwondo and any individual wishing to join a Taekwondo club in Baildon has to also register with British Taekwondo. You can find loads of details about news, equality and safeguarding, health and safety, coaches and tournament referees, starting a new club, first aid, events, coaching courses, members and clubs, and more, by visiting British Taekwondo's official website.

Taekwondo Forms

Beginners in Taekwondo don't have to stress too much about forms (patterns, Poomse) initially, however they will get to grips with some standard ones for starters and progress to more challenging "forms" as they progress up the belts (dans/grades). A form is indicated by particular aspects of Taekwondo including stance, technique and direction. Learning these sequences is a vital part of perfecting Taekwondo.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

In the art of taekwondo there is really no form of standardization in relation to grades and belts. It is all subject to which style you are considering, since there are such a diversity of Taekwondo styles and rules. However, they're generally split into 2 groupings "junior (colour) belts and "senior" (black) belts. The colour/junior rankings consist of white to red, with anything from 8 to 12 ranks, while the senior/black belts usually have nine ranks.

Rankings in Taekwondo in the UK are represented by what are called "Kup". The highest rank is First Kup and the lowest rank (beginners) is Tenth Kup. If you are eager to know the Taekwondo belt order, it is as follows, and is indicated by a range of different colours i.e. white, yellow, green, blue and red, with "in-between" 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. Beginner students of Taekwondo in Baildon will begin with the White Belt (Tenth Kup), and progress through the colours until they achieve the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (First Kup)

Taekwondo trainees in Baildon are known as "black belt candidates" after they have successfully completed this process, and they will then be faced with proceeding through yet another nine ranks (Dans) if they wish to achieve the greatest distinction of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. Therefore, the bottom line is, there are three main groups in the Taekwondo belt order, namely Junior Belts, Senior Belts and Black Belts. The Junior Taekwondo Belts comprise; 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 will take a considerable number of years to progress through.

Some Taekwondo Kicks

There are quite a few different Taekwondo kicks, listed here are just a few of them: Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Push Kick (Meereo Chagi), Hook or Whip Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi), Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Side Kick (Yeop Chagi). Blocks: To divert and stop an inbound attack, "blocks" (called Makgi) are employed. Held in diverse positions, they involve the hand and different sections of the arm. Each block can be combined with a kick or punch to produce a counter-attacking manoeuvre, and each is meant for a particular attack. The primary blocks include: Nine Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Low Block, Palm Block, Rising Block, Single Forearm Block, Knife Hand Block, Double Forearm Block and Upper Block.

Summary

So, what do you want from Taekwondo? Well, that's a great question, and the answer to that will be different for individual people. The majority of participants will simply look to improve their fitness levels, gain more self-confidence and meet new people. We are definitely not all going to scale the dizzy heights of Jade Jones or Lutalo Muhammad, although perhaps you will, who knows? 👊