Taekwondo Burntisland

Because Taekwondo has quite high physical requirements, it's perhaps more suited to the younger people of Burntisland. That isn't to say that the older generation cannot be involved in this activity, but merely that there could be other martial arts that are more suited to the less nimble among us. Tai Chi would be a perfect example.

Taekwondo is a martial art that mainly involves high-kicking manoeuvres and moves, most notably rapid kicking strategies, head kicks and jumping/spinning kicks. It began in Seoul, in southern Korea in the 1940's, when a group of martial arts enthusiasts founded schools known as "kwans", which mixed together various martial arts practices.

Taekwondo has become extremely popular in Burntisland and around the globe, with over sixty million practitioners worldwide. Signing up for a local Burntisland Taekwondo class or club is an excellent way to get involved in this activity which has even featured in the Olympic Games ever since the Sydney Games of 2000. Although you might not have any ambitions to take part in Olympic competition, there's certainly no reason why you shouldn't become a master of this challenging martial art and have a bit of fun in the process.

In these modern times of increasing violence, it is little surprise that people in places like Burntisland are getting involved in self-defence classes such as Taekwondo to help them feel safer in their everyday life. The self-defence aspect is one of the primary benefits of Taekwondo but at the same time it also encourages self-restraint and a deep respect for those around us, which are disciplines that are frequently lacking in this modern age.

There is a very good chance that your eagerly mastered Taekwondo skills will never need to be proved in the outside world, but it will undoubtedly give you reassurance knowing that they're there should you ever be in need of them.

Your First Burntisland Taekwondo Lesson

If you've never done Taekwondo previously, you may be somewhat concerned as to what can be expected on your very first lesson. This will be different from club to club but will typically comprise some or all of these. A 15-20 minute warm up to increase heart rate and loosen up muscles, a bit of technical training involving learning some stances, blocks, kicks and hand attacks, studying a few forms (or Poomse), an introduction to sparring including timing, movement and the timing of attacks, and finally a warm down to stretch and relax tired muscles.

Everybody who is a registered member of a Taekwondo class in Burntisland or anywhere else in the British Isles, is also required to join British Taekwondo, which is the regulating body of the sport. By heading to British Taekwondo's website you can read information regarding safeguarding and equality, safe practices, events, first aid, coaching courses, news, referees and coaching, starting a new club, clubs and members, and lots more Taekwondo related facts.

Some Taekwondo Kicks

Taekwondo is recognized for its powerful kicks, here are the basic ones: Push Kick (Meereo Chagi), Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi), Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Whip or Hook Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Side Kick (Yeop Chagi). Blocks: To divert and stop an inbound attack, blocks (called Makgi) are employed. Held in specific positions, they use the hand and parts of the arm. Specific attacks call for specified blocks, but "blocks" can also be transformed into counter-attacks by combining retaliatory punches or kicks. The most important blocks (makgi) include: Single Forearm Block, Upper Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Rising Block, Low Block, Palm Block, Knife Hand Block, Double Forearm Block and Nine Block.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

In Taekwondo there is not really any form of uniformity when it comes to belts and ranking. It's all subject to what style you're reviewing, as there are so many different Taekwondo styles. They are however, typically divided into 2 groups "junior (colour) belts and "senior" (black) belts. The junior/colour ranks consist of white to red, with anything from 8 to 12 levels, whilst the senior/black belts generally have 9 ranks.

In the UK there are a sequence of ranks in Taekwondo that are known as "Kup". The lowest (beginners) rank 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 denoted by a range of different colours, so that the ranks are 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. Beginners of Taekwondo in Burntisland will commence with the White Belt (Tenth Kup), and proceed through the colours until they achieve the First Kup (Red Belt With a Black Stripe)

Taekwondo students in Burntisland become known as "black belt candidates" once they have worked their way through these rankings, and they will then be faced with moving through yet another nine ranks (Dans) if they aspire to achieve the greatest accolade of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. So, to put it simply, there are 3 primary divisions in the Taekwondo belt order, that is Junior, Senior and Black Belts. 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 division 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 qualification process that will take a number of years. (Tags: Taekwondo Promotion Burntisland, Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Belts Burntisland, Taekwondo Black Belts).

Safety Gear

British Taekwondo tournaments require certain safety equipment to be worn to protect contenders from personal injury due to the formidable kicks being used. This safety gear includes: a gum shield, shin pads, a groin guard, a red or blue head guard, blue or red trunk armour (hogu), hand guards and forearm protectors.

Summary

So, what are you hoping to get from doing Taekwondo? Well, that's a great question, and the answer will be different for individual people. Most participants will purely wish to improve their levels of fitness, meet new people and gain more self-confidence. We're certainly not all going to scale the heights of Jade Jones or Lutalo Muhammad, though maybe you will, who knows?