Taekwondo Erskine

Taekwondo is typically much more demanding physically than for instance Tai Chi, so unless you are pretty agile and fit you may prefer to find something a little gentler to boost your fitness levels in Erskine. Younger children are clearly an ideal participants for Taekwondo classes in Erskine, with a lot of fast paced movements going on and a great deal of high kicking.

The sport was first practiced in Korea in about 1945, though the name Taekwondo was not coined until the 1950's. Some schools called "kwans", combining various martial arts techniques were established in Seoul by a group of Korean martial arts fanatics. The focus of Taekwondo, as it later became known, is on kicking manoeuvres, in particular spinning/jumping kicks, fast kicking styles and head-height kicks. Nowadays Erskine Taekwondo classes stick to this tradition.

Popular worldwide Taekwondo now has more than 60 million enthusiasts. This sport has even been included in the Olympic Games since 2000, and if you want to get involved, heading along to a local Erskine Taekwondo class or club is a great place to start. Whilst the odds of you reaching Olympic standard are quite slim, there is no reason at all why you can't master this exciting martial art.

For many people in Erskine, it is the self-defence aspect of Taekwondo that has the most appeal. And in these days of increased violence, especially in town and city centres, it is no surprise that this features high on people's list of priorities. The ability to defend yourself and at the same time exercising self-restraint and a respect for others is one of the key benefits of Taekwondo.

Although it will instill you with self-confidence being aware that you have such self-defence skills in your locker, the chances are that you'll never be required to test them outside the regulated environment of an organised Taekwondo class.

Your First Taekwondo Lesson

If you have never had a go at Taekwondo before, you could be a bit apprehensive as to what to expect on your very first lesson. This can vary from club to club but will typically involve all or some of the following. A fifteen to twenty minute warm up to loosen up muscles and increase your heart rate, some practical training involving learning some kicks, hand attacks, stances and blocking techniques, learning some forms (or Poomse), a brief introduction to sparring which will include attack timing, timing and movement, and finally a warm down to relax and stretch tired muscles.

British Taekwondo is the governing body of the sport within Great Britain, and membership of this organisation is compulsory if you wish to join any Taekwondo class in Erskine or nearby. By exploring British Taekwondo's website you can read information regarding equality and safeguarding, starting a new Taekwondo club, news, events, coaching courses, first aid, safe practices, coaches and competition referees, members and clubs, and many more Taekwondo related facts.

Taekwondo Forms (Patterns)

People just beginning their journey in Taekwondo do not need to fret excessively about forms (patterns, Poomse) in the early days, but they'll get to grips with some important ones to begin with and move on to more intricate forms as they move up the various belts (dans/grades). A form is indicated by specified elements of Taekwondo including stance, direction and technique. Learning such sequences is a crucial part of mastering Taekwondo.

Taekwondo for Beginners

Trainees starting out on their Taekwondo adventure in Erskine will initially sign up for a beginners class. Beginners classes are fabulous, since there is not any pressure and things are carried out at a slow, casual pace. Having fun whilst learning is the principal aim in the early stages and students who are enjoying themselves have a tendency to learn much faster and absorb significantly more of what they're being told. Even Taekwondo masters began as clueless novices, so take that very first step and you never know where you will finish up!

Tournaments and Competitions

There are a whole host of tournaments and competitions in Taekwondo involving all the diverse styles. They mostly involve patterns (forms), sparring and breaking with almost no hard contact. ITF (International Taekwon-Do Federation) tournaments do not permit too much contact but may allow hand attacks towards the head. WT and Olympic contests only allow sparring. Multi-style contests are also held.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

With there being various different styles of Taekwondo there has never really been any standardized system for assigning belts (levels). What exists however is relatively similar and is made up of a couple of belt groupings "junior" and "senior" ("colour" and "black"), each one of these groups is divided into ranks, 8 to 12 colours for juniors and nine "blacks" for the seniors.

In the UK Taekwondo has a set of ranks which are known as "Kup", these ranks go from 10th (lowest) to 1st (highest). If you are curious about the Taekwondo belt order, it's as follows, and is indicated by a range of different colours i.e. white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediary 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 Erskine will start out with the White Belt (Tenth Kup), and progress through the different colours until they earn the Red With Black Stripe Belt (First Kup)

As soon as this training has been completed, Erskine Taekwondo students become known as "black belt candidates", and they then need to progress through a further nine Dans or ranks if they're to become a Taekwondo "Black Belt", which is the supreme accolade. Hence, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into three divisions; Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt. The Taekwondo Belts in the Junior division comprise; 10th (White), 9th (White With Yellow Stripe), 8th (Yellow), and 7th (Yellow With Green Stripe). The Taekwondo Belts in the Senior division are; 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 go from 1st to 9th Dan, a qualification process which takes a number of years.