Taekwondo Epsom

Taekwondo is typically much more demanding physically than for instance Tai Chi, so unless you're pretty fit and agile you may prefer to find something a bit gentler to improve your fitness in Epsom. Children and younger people are clearly an ideal participants for Taekwondo classes in Epsom, with lots of fast movements taking place and plenty of high kicking.

With its origins in 1940's Korea, South-East Asia, Taekwondo is obviously one of the more recently formulated of the martial arts and consists of mainly high-kicking movements such as jumping/turning kicks, fast kicking styles and head-height kicks. It began when schools known as "kwans" were founded by a group of Korean martial artists in Seoul, South Korea.

Taekwondo has grown to be really popular in Epsom and around the globe, with more than sixty million participants worldwide. Getting started with a local Epsom Taekwondo class or club is a good way to get involved with this sport which has even been a part of the Olympic Games since the Sydney Games of 2000. Although you might not have any goals to get involved in Olympic competition, there's certainly no reason why you cannot become a maestro of this exhilarating martial art and have a bit of fun in the process.

For a lot of people in Epsom, it is the self-defence aspect of Taekwondo that holds the most appeal. And in these days of ever increasing violence, particularly in town and city centres, it is little surprise that this sits high on people's list of priorities. It is a primary factor of Taekwondo that you can become confident in your capability to defend yourself and at the same time learn to respect others and practice self-restraint.

Whilst it will instill you with confidence being aware that you have such self-defence skills in your locker, the likelihood is you'll never need to use them outside of a dedicated Taekwondo class.

Your First Epsom Taekwondo Class

If you decide to register for Taekwondo training in Epsom, the first thing you'll wish to know is what will happen on the first lesson and exactly what will the tutor expect to see from you. Different Taekwondo masters in the Epsom area will formulate differing routines for this first lesson but you should be expecting to do a fifteen to twenty minute warm-up to loosen your muscles and get the blood circulating, learn a couple of forms (Poomse), go through some technical training (blocks, kicks, stances and hand attacks), do a certain amount of sparring, and finally, a warm-down.

Everyone who's a member of a Taekwondo class in Epsom or anywhere else in Britain, is also required to join British Taekwondo, which is the official regulating body of the sport. You will be able to get loads of information on first aid, coaches and referees, events, launching a new club, health and safety, safeguarding and equality, coaching courses, members and clubs, news, and more, by viewing British Taekwondo's official website.

Taekwondo Forms (Poomse)

Novices just starting their journey in Taekwondo don't need to stress excessively about forms (patterns, Poomse) at the outset, but they will have to learn some important ones for starters and advance to more complicated "forms" as they move through the various belts (grades/dans). A "form" is denoted by certain elements of Taekwondo including technique, direction and stance. Getting to grips with these sequences is a crucial part of mastering Taekwondo.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

In the art of taekwondo there is not really any standardization with regards to ranking and belts. It's all dependent upon which style you are considering, as there are so many different Taekwondo styles. However, they're commonly divided into a couple of groups "junior" or "colour" belts and "senior" or "black" belts. The colour/junior ranks consist of white to red, with from eight to twelve grades, while the black/senior belts generally have nine rankings.

Competitions

There are an array of contests in Taekwondo involving all the different styles. They primarily consist of patterns, sparring and breaking with very little hard contact. ITF competitions don't permit too much contact but sometimes allow hand attacks aimed at the head. World Taekwondo and Olympic contests only allow sparring. Multi-style competitions are also held.

Beginners Classes

As with any activity or sport we've got to begin somewhere, and Taekwondo's not any different. Even the uppermost Epsom Taekwondo masters were complete novices at one time. So, what can you expect as a complete beginner at Taekwondo? Beginner classes should give their students enough instruction to give them the fundamentals and enable them to build confidence as they progress. The ideal beginners class should be enjoyable as well as educational, when students are enjoying themselves they are more engaged and will learn much faster.

Safety Equipment

Competitions regulated by British Taekwondo rules demand that certain items of protective equipment be worn, these include things like: forearm protectors, a groin protector, shin guards, a red/blue head protector, blue or red body armour (hogu), a mouth protector and hand protectors. This is necessary on account of the potent kicking actions being practiced.