Taekwondo Bishopbriggs

Taekwondo is generally far more physically demanding than for instance Tai Chi, so unless you're pretty nimble and fit you may prefer to partake in something a bit gentler to improve your fitness levels in Bishopbriggs. Children are clearly an ideal participants for Taekwondo classes in Bishopbriggs, with a lot of fast movements going on and plenty of high kicking.

With its root beginnings in 1940's Korea, Taekwondo is obviously one of the more recently formulated of the martial arts and involves mainly high-kicking moves such as head kicks, spinning/jumping kicks and fast kicking strategies. It began when schools called "kwans" were established by a group of Korean martial arts specialists in Seoul, South Korea.

Taekwondo has become very popular in Bishopbriggs and all across the globe, with over 60 million practitioners worldwide. Enrolling in a local Bishopbriggs Taekwondo club or class is a great way to get involved in this sporting activity which has even been a feature of the Olympic Games since the Sydney Games in 2000. Whilst you might not have any ambitions to get involved in Olympic competition, there's certainly no reason why you cannot become an expert at this enjoyable martial art and have a bit of fun in the process.

For a lot of people in Bishopbriggs, it is the self-defence aspect of Taekwondo which holds the most appeal. And in these days of increased violence, especially in town and city centres, it's no surprise that this aspect sits high up on people's priority lists. It is a primary factor of Taekwondo that you can become confident in your ability to defend yourself while at the same time learning to respect other people and learn self-restraint.

Such self-defence techniques may at some point prove useful in the outside world, though it is much more likely that you will solely be testing them within a controlled class setting. Yet it is an amazing feeling knowing that you'll always be in a position to defend yourself when you need to.

Your First Taekwondo Lesson

If you have never had a go at Taekwondo before, you could be somewhat concerned as to what can be expected on your first class. This varies from club to club but will normally consist of some or all of these. A 15-20 minute warm up to loosen muscles and increase heart rate, a little practical training involving learning some blocks, stances, kicks and hand attacks, studying a few forms (or Poomse), an introduction to sparring which will include timing, attack timing and movement, and finally a warm down to stretch and relax weary muscles.

The UK governing body of the sport is British Taekwondo and if you would like to join a Taekwondo club in Bishopbriggs, you'll also be required to become a member of this organization. You can find lots of facts about first aid, equality and safeguarding, events, news, safe practices, coaches and tournament referees, establishing a new club, coaching courses, members and clubs, and more, by heading to British Taekwondo's official website.

Taekwondo Tournaments and Competitions

Taekwondo tournaments and competitions are held all over the world in all of the various styles. There is generally not much hard contact but sparring, patterns (forms) and breaking. Olympic and World Taekwondo (WT) competitions comprise only sparring, in International Taekwon-Do Federation tournaments certain hand attacks are allowed to the head. Various other associations hold multi-discipline contests.

The 8 Basic Taekwondo Kicks

There are many different kinds of Taekwondo kicks, listed here are just eight of them: Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Push Kick (Meereo Chagi), Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Side Kick (Yeop Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi), Whip or Hook Kick (Huryeo Chagi). Taekwondo Blocks: To stop and avert an incoming Taekwondo attack, blocks (called Makgi) are employed. Held in particular positions, they engage the hands and different parts of the arm. Each and every "block" can be coupled with a kick or punch to establish a counter-attacking manoeuvre, and each one is meant for a particular attack. The most important blocks include: Palm Block, Nine Block, Double Forearm Block, Knife Hand Block, Upper Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Single Forearm Block, Rising Block and Low Block.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

The belt and ranking structure can get somewhat confusing in Taekwondo because there's no standardized system across the diverse Taekwondo disciplines. Parallels can be found however, and typically there are two separate belt groupings, signified as "juniors" (colours) and "seniors" (black dans). The number of grades in the junior group varies across the styles but is typically between eight and twelve belts, whilst the senior section normally has 9 dans or belts.

In the UK Taekwondo has a sequence of ranks that are generally known as "Kup", these ranks go from Tenth (lowest) to First (highest). If you're interested in the Taekwondo belt order, it is as follows, and is denoted by a range of different colours i.e. white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediate 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. Beginners in Bishopbriggs getting started in Taekwondo will begin with the White Belt (10th Kup), and progress through the coloured belts until they earn the 1st Kup (Red Belt With a Black Stripe).

Taekwondo trainees in Bishopbriggs are considered to be "black belt candidates" after they have worked their way through these rankings, and they will then be faced with proceeding through another 9 ranks (called Dans) if they want to achieve the consummate distinction of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. Therefore, the Taekwondo belt order can be put into three groupings; Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt. 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 successfully progress through. (Tags: Taekwondo Belts Bishopbriggs, Taekwondo Black Belts, Taekwondo Rankings Bishopbriggs, Taekwondo Belt Order).

To Summarize

The benefits that you acquire from Taekwondo are going to be directly related to what you invest in it (as applies with life on the whole). The majority of you will simply wish to improve your fitness, make new friends and meet different people, some may aspire to move on to tournaments and competitions or maybe even the Olympic Games. But remember, we can't all be a Jade Jones or a Lutalo Muhammad. 👊