Taekwondo Birmingham

As Taekwondo has fairly high physical demands, it is possibly more suitable for the younger generation in Birmingham. That is not to say that older individuals can't take part in this popular activity, but simply that there may be alternative martial arts that are more appropriate for the less agile among us. Tai Chi would be a perfect example.

Taekwondo is a martial art that mainly consists of high-kicking moves and manoeuvres, most notably head kicks, fast kicking strategies and jumping/spinning kicks. It began in Seoul, in southern Korea in the 1940's, when a group of martial arts specialists founded schools called "kwans", which blended various martial arts practices.

Taekwondo has grown to be very popular in Birmingham and around the globe, with over 60 million practitioners worldwide. Joining a local Birmingham Taekwondo club or class is an excellent way to get involved in this sport which has even been included in the Olympic Games since the Sydney Games in 2000. Although you may not aspire to Olympic competition, there is certainly no reason why you cannot become a maestro of this exhilarating martial art and have a bit of fun along the way.

A key element of Taekwondo is self-defence, and doubtless this is one of the main reasons that individuals in Birmingham sign up to classes and engage with the sport. There has been a worrying increase in violent behaviour over the last few years and this is especially rampant in city and town centres around West Midlands and the United Kingdom as a whole. The fantastic thing about Taekwondo though, is that it also teaches self-discipline and a deep respect for other people, not such widespread attributes in Birmingham these days.

Your newly mastered Taekwondo skills will likely never need to be tested outside of an organized Taekwondo class, however knowing that you've got them will give you peace of mind.

What to Expect From Your First Class

Different Taekwondo clubs in Birmingham will have different guidelines for what students should be covering on their very first class, however to give you a concept of what you should expect most first Taekwondo classes will include things like a warm-up, a bit of sparring, learning simple Poomse (forms), an overview of kicks, blocks, hand attacks and stances (practical training) and a warm-down to relax tired muscles and get the body back to a state of relaxation.

Taekwondo of course also has its own official governing body, and in Britain it is British Taekwondo. Everyone wishing enroll with a Taekwondo club in Birmingham have to become registered members of this organisation. By going to British Taekwondo's official website you can read information regarding first aid, referees and coaching, safe practices, events, news, coaching courses, establishing a new Taekwondo club, members and clubs, equality and safeguarding, and a lot more Taekwondo related issues.

Some Taekwondo Kicks

Taekwondo is renowned for its powerful kicking manoeuvres, listed here are the basic ones: Hook or Whip Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Front Kick, Back Kick, Axe Kick, Side Kick, Crescent Kick, Push Kick. Blocks: To repulse the numerous kicks and hand attacks there are a similarly diverse selection of blocks (Makgi). They are held in specific positions and use the hand with sections of the arm. Specific attacks necessitate particular blocks, but blocks can also be transformed into counter-attacking movements by the combination of retaliatory punches or kicks. The primary "blocks" include: Upper Block, Single Forearm Block, Nine Block, Palm Block, Double Forearm Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Rising Block, Low Block and Knife Hand Block.

Competitions and Tournaments

There are a whole host of contests in Taekwondo associated with all the different styles. They mostly comprise patterns, sparring and breaking with almost no "hard contact". International Taekwon-Do Federation competitions don't permit excessive contact but do allow hand attacks to be aimed at the head. World Taekwondo (WT) and Olympic competitions only allow sparring. Multi-style contests also take place.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

The belt and ranking system can get quite complicated in Taekwondo since there's no uniform system throughout the different Taekwondo styles. Likenesses can be found however, and generally there are two separate belt groups, denoted as "seniors" (black dans) and "juniors" (coloured belts). The number of levels in the junior group varies across the disciplines but is usually somewhere between eight and twelve belts, whilst the senior groupings usually has nine belts or dans.

In the UK there are a sequence of ranks in Taekwondo that are generally known as "Kup". The lowest is Tenth Kup and the highest rank is First Kup. As is the case with many of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is denoted by a number of colours, so that 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. Beginner students of Taekwondo in Birmingham will begin with the White Belt (10th Kup), and move up through the various coloured belts until they attain the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup).

When this training has been accomplished, Birmingham Taekwondo trainees are referred to as "black belt candidates", and they then need to progress through a further 9 Dans if they're to achieve the title of Taekwondo "Black Belt", which of course is the ultimate distinction. Therefore, Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt are the 3 primary classifications in the Taekwondo belt order. The Taekwondo Belts in the Junior group are; 10th (White), 9th (White With Yellow Stripe), 8th (Yellow), and 7th (Yellow With Green Stripe). The Taekwondo Belts in the Senior group comprise; 6th (Green), 5th (Green With Blue Stripe), 4th (Blue), 3rd ( Blue With Red Stripe), 2nd (Red), and 1st (Red With Black Stripe). The Taekwondo Belts in the Black group range from 1st to 9th Dan, a process which will take many years.

Taekwondo Forms (Patterns)

Forms are a pivotal part of Taekwondo and are vital if you're going to master this fascinating martial art. Some basic Taekwondo forms must be grasped from the outset and more complex forms must be perfected so as to advance through the various levels. A Taekwondo form is distinguished by various aspects such as stance, technique and direction.