Taekwondo Broxburn

It needs to be said that Taekwondo can be quite physically challenging, which could discourage the less nimble and more elderly folks in Broxburn from becoming involved. To be fair, the most common people participating in Taekwondo classes are kids and the younger generation, but of course older people who are in decent physical health can easily get involved and benefit from this activity.

Taekwondo started in Korea in 1945. A group of Korean martial arts fanatics in Seoul established some new schools called "kwans", where they practiced a combination of martial arts techniques. The emphasis of the discipline was on kicking manoeuvres, especially rapid kicking styles, turning/jumping kicks and head-height kicks, and it was later given the name; Taekwondo, meaning "the way of the foot and fist".Today Broxburn Taekwondo classes follow this tradition.

Taekwondo has become very popular in Broxburn and all over the world, with more than sixty million practitioners worldwide. Signing up for a local Broxburn Taekwondo class or club is a great way to get involved with this sport which has even been included in the Olympic Games since the Sydney Games in 2000. Though you might not have any goals to take part in Olympic competition, there's certainly no reason why you should not become a master of this remarkable martial art and have a bit of fun in the process.

A key element of Taekwondo is self-defence, and naturally this is one of the principal reasons that individuals in Broxburn get involved in classes and get involved in the sport. There's been a disturbing increase in violent conduct in recent times and this is particularly common in city and town centres throughout Scotland and the British Isles as a whole. The good thing about Taekwondo though, is that it also encourages self-discipline and a deep respect for others, not such common attributes in Broxburn these days.

Although it will instill you with confidence knowing that you have these self-defence skills in your locker, the chances are you'll never have to test them outside of a dedicated Taekwondo class.

Your First Broxburn Taekwondo Class

If you have just booked your very first Taekwondo class, you will be wondering what to expect. The following will give you an idea, but this may vary from school to school. An initial warm up lasting fifteen to twenty minutes, a little technical training such as learning some hand attacks, stances, kicks and blocking techniques, an introduction to forms or patterns, a look at sparring including good timing, movement and targeting attacks, and lastly a warm down to prevent cramping and muscle spasms.

If you want to join a Taekwondo class in Broxburn, you'll also have to register with the sport's official regulating body, namely British Taekwondo. By visiting the British Taekwondo website you will be able to discover information on safe practices, events, establishing a new Taekwondo club, referees and coaching, news, coaching courses, first aid, members and clubs, safeguarding and equality, and lots more Taekwondo related issues.

Taekwondo Patterns (Forms)

Forms are a key part of Taekwondo and are important if you are going to excel at this captivating martial art. A few basic forms need to be learned from the outset and more complex forms must be mastered in order to advance through the various belts. A Taekwondo form is characterised by a number of factors such as stance, direction and technique.

Tournaments

There are an array of competitions and tournaments in Taekwondo involving all the various styles. They primarily include sparring, breaking and patterns with almost no "hard contact". International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) competitions don't allow too much contact but do allow hand attacks to the head. WT and Olympic competitions allow only sparring. Multi-style competitions also take place.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

The belt and ranking structure can get somewhat confusing in Taekwondo as there is no standardized system throughout the various Taekwondo styles. Parallels can be found though, and typically there are two separate belt groupings, denoted as "juniors" (colours) and "seniors" (black dans). The number of ranks in the junior section varies over the disciplines but is commonly somewhere between eight and twelve belts, whilst the senior group usually has 9 belts or dans.

Ranks in Taekwondo in the UK are depicted by what are known as "Kup". The highest rank is First Kup and the lowest (beginners) is Tenth Kup. The Taekwondo belt order, much like many of the martial arts is denoted by a number of different colours, these colours are 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. Beginner students of Taekwondo in Broxburn will begin with the Tenth Kup (White Belt), and move up through the different coloured belts until they achieve the First Kup (Red With Black Stripe Belt)

After this has been completed, Taekwondo students in Broxburn become "black belt candidates" which involves them proceeding through a further 9 ranks (Dans) right up until they achieve the ultimate accolade of "Black Belt" status. Therefore, Junior, Senior and Black Belts are the three primary sections in the Taekwondo belt order in the UK. The Junior division Taekwondo Belts are; 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 involves many years of training and dedication.

Beginners Classes

With any sport or activity we've got to begin someplace, and Taekwondo is just the same. Even the uppermost Broxburn Taekwondo masters were complete newbies at one time. So, what can you expect as a complete beginner at Taekwondo? Beginner classes should give their students ample coaching to teach them the basics and enable them to develop confidence as they move forward. The perfect beginners class needs to be fun as well as instructional, when individuals are enjoying themselves they are far more engaged and will learn much faster.

Taekwondo Safety Equipment

Contests controlled by British Taekwondo policies require various pieces of protective gear to be used, these include things like: a red or blue head protector, forearm protectors, shin pads, hand protectors, a groin guard, red or blue trunk armour (hogu) and a gum shield. This is important due to the vigorous kicking actions being employed.

In Conclusion

The benefits that you get out of Taekwondo will be proportional to what you invest in it (as is true of life on the whole). Many of you will only want to meet different people, make new friends and improve your fitness, some may wish to progress to competitions or tournaments or maybe even the Olympics. But bear in mind, we cannot all be a Jade Jones or a Lutalo Muhammad.