Taekwondo Galleywood

While not wanting to discourage any particular age group, it has to be said that Taekwondo is more suited to younger people in Galleywood, being quite physically demanding. Its teachings of self-discipline and respect for others make it especially appropriate for children. Older adults trying Taekwondo for the first time often find it too taxing, unless they have kept themselves active. However those who take up Taekwondo in Galleywood at a young age will find they can easily carry it on into older adulthood. The less agile of you might find that Tai Chi which is a bit softer is more suitable.

Based primarily around high-kicking manoeuvres like rapid kicking methods, head-height kicks and turning/jumping kicks, Taekwondo was devised from the practices of different martial arts, by a number of Seoul martial arts experts in new schools called "Kwans" in the 1940's and 1950's. These "Kwans" had the names Chungdo Kwan, Jido Kwan, Changmu Kwan, Mooduk Kwan and Songmu Kwan.

Taekwondo has grown to be very popular in Galleywood and all around the world, with over sixty million practitioners worldwide. Getting started with a local Galleywood Taekwondo club or class is an excellent way to become involved in this activity which has even been a feature of the Olympic Games ever since the Sydney Games of 2000. While you might not have any aspirations to take part in Olympic competition, there's certainly no reason why you should not become a maestro of this remarkable martial art and have a bit of fun along the way.

For the men, women and children of Galleywood who like the idea of learning a martial art, a major priority is the aspect of self-defence. Considering that this is a central concept of Taekwondo, it is easy to see the attraction of this unique sport. With the additional bonus of developing self-restraint and having a deep respect for those around you, getting involved in a local Galleywood Taekwondo class seems to be a no brainer.

Whilst it will instill you with confidence being aware that you have such self-defence skills tucked away inside you, the odds are that you will never be required to test them outside of an actual Taekwondo class.

Your First Class

Different Taekwondo schools in and around Galleywood will have different ideas about what learners should be covering on their first class, however to give you an idea of what you should expect most initial Taekwondo lessons will include things like a warm-up, some sparring, learning simple Poomse (forms), an overview of kicks, hand attacks, blocks and stances (technical training) and a warm-down to stretch tired muscles and get the body back to a state of harmony.

British Taekwondo is the official regulating body of the sport within the United Kingdom, and membership of this organisation is mandatory should you wish to sign up with any Taekwondo club in Galleywood or nearby. By viewing the official British Taekwondo website you will be able to discover info on news, starting a new Taekwondo club, health and safety, coaching courses, events, safeguarding and equality, first aid, referees and coaching, members and clubs, and a lot more Taekwondo related facts.

Taekwondo Belts (Rank)

With regards to promotion, ranking and belts there isn't actually any real uniformity in Taekwondo, since there are various different styles of Taekwondo which each have their own unique arrangement. There are however analogies and they usually comprise a couple of groups of belts "seniors" and "juniors" symbolized by black and coloured belts respectively. The senior grades typically have nine grades and the junior, eight to twelve ranks.

Ranks in Taekwondo in the UK are depicted by what are referred to as "Kup". The highest rank is First Kup and the lowest rank (beginners) is Tenth Kup. The Taekwondo belt order, much like most of the martial arts is indicated 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. The White Belt (10th Kup) is what Taekwondo beginners in Galleywood will start off with, they can then advance through the different colours, finally achieving the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup), which will take about 3-4 years of dedicated training.

After successfully completing this challenge, Taekwondo students in Galleywood are considered as "black belt candidates" which entails them progressing through a further nine ranks (Dans) up until they achieve the ultimate accolade of "Black Belt". Therefore, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into three divisions; Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt. The Taekwondo Belts in the Junior division 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 go from 1st to 9th Dan, a process that will take a number of years. (Tags: Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Belts Galleywood, Taekwondo Promotion Galleywood, Order of Belts in Taekwondo).

Taekwondo Competitions and Tournaments

A typical Taekwondo competition incorporates patterns (forms), sparring and breaking, in the Olympics only sparring is included. Having said that there are also a few special events in certain tournaments such as self-defence and team demonstrations. World Taekwondo tournaments are strictly soft-contact affairs, whilst International Taekwon-Do Federation competitions allow some hand attacks to the head. There are also several multi-discipline competitions.

Taekwondo Forms (Patterns)

Beginners in Taekwondo do not have to worry excessively about forms (patterns, Poomse) at the outset, however they'll learn some important ones to start with and progress to more challenging forms as they progress up the various belts (grades/dans). A "form" is denoted by specific aspects of Taekwondo including technique, direction and stance. Learning these sequences is a vital part of mastering Taekwondo.

Taekwondo Beginners Classes

Even the top exponents of Taekwondo in Galleywood began their journey as newbies, so it is no disgrace to be a total beginner at Taekwondo, or for that matter any other activity. The goal of a Taekwondo beginner class is to teach a few of the basics, improve confidence and build a firm base for the future. Most importantly of all is that it must be fun, students having fun are going to learn faster and be better engaged.

Safety Gear

Contests governed by British Taekwondo policies require various items of protective equipment to be worn, these include: a blue or red head guard, a mouth protector, a groin guard, a blue or red body guard (hogu), shin guards, hand protectors and forearm protectors. This is vital because of the formidable kicking actions being employed.