Taekwondo Galston

Taekwondo is typically far more physically demanding than for instance Tai Chi, so unless you are pretty fit and nimble you might prefer to partake in something a little gentler to boost your fitness levels in Galston. Children are certainly the perfect participants for Taekwondo classes in Galston, with a lot of fast movements going on and plenty of high kicking.

The name Taekwondo has only been used since the 1950's, although the discipline started life in Korea in 1945. A group of Korean martial artists in Seoul established some new schools known as "kwans", combining various martial arts techniques. This eventually became known as Taekwondo and the main emphasis of the discipline was on kicking manoeuvres, especially fast kicking strategies, head kicks and jumping/spinning kicks.

With over 60 million practitioners worldwide and quite a few in Galston, Taekwondo has become very popular. This sport has even featured in the Olympic Games since 2000, and if you want to get involved, joining a local Galston Taekwondo club or class is a good place to start. While you may not aspire to Olympic competition, there is no reason why you cannot become a master of this exciting martial art and have some fun along the way.

Of all the many benefits of learning this sport, it is the self-defence aspect of Taekwondo that the people of Galston find most appealing. This is not a surprise when you consider the rising levels of violence seen in city and town centres nowadays. In fact one of the key benefits of Taekwondo is learning to defend yourself whilst respecting others and exercising a degree of self-restraint.

Your eagerly mastered Taekwondo skills will most likely never have to be proven outside of a dedicated Taekwondo class, however being aware of the fact that you have them will give you peace of mind.

Your First Taekwondo Class

If Taekwondo is not an activity that you have ever tried before, you will probably be wondering what to expect from your initial lesson should you decide to join. Different Taekwondo schools in the Galston area have varying thoughts on this but roughly; you will take part in a 15-20 minute warm-up, you will do some technical training, you'll learn some patterns (forms), you will practice sparring strategies and last but not least you will perform a warm-down to help your body get back into a state of relaxation.

If you wish to join a Taekwondo club in Galston, you'll also have to register with the sport's official governing body, namely British Taekwondo. By exploring British Taekwondo's website you'll be able to discover details about starting a new Taekwondo club, clubs and members, health and safety, news, first aid, coaching courses, equality and safeguarding, coaches and tournament referees, events, and many more Taekwondo related issues.

Galston Taekwondo for Beginners

As with any sport or activity we've got to begin someplace, and Taekwondo is no different. Even the leading Galston Taekwondo exponents were total newbies at one point. So, what can you expect as a total beginner at Taekwondo? A beginners class should give its enrollees ample training to teach them the fundamentals and allow them to build self-confidence as they progress. A perfect beginners class needs to be fun as well as instructional, when individuals are having fun they're a lot more engaged and will learn faster.

Taekwondo Safety Equipment

Safety equipment like hand guards, a groin protector, forearm protectors, a mouth protector, blue or red trunk armour (hogu), a red/blue head protector and shin protectors have to be used in all tournaments controlled by British Taekwondo. Protection from injury is crucial due to the vigorous kicks that are part and parcel of this activity.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

Because there are various disciplines of Taekwondo there's never really been any recognised arrangement for assigning belts (levels). What exists however is pretty similar and consists of two belt groups "senior" and "junior" (black and colour), each one of these groups is split into levels, eight to twelve colours in the case of juniors and nine for seniors.

In the UK there are a sequence of ranks (belts) in Taekwondo which are referred to as "Kup". The lowest (beginners) rank is Tenth Kup and the highest rank is First Kup. If you're curious about the Taekwondo belt order, it is as follows, and is indicated by a number of colours i.e. white, yellow, green, blue and red, with "in-between" 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. Beginners in Galston starting out in Taekwondo will begin with the 10th Kup (White Belt), and proceed through the colours until they reach the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup).

After this training has been successfully completed, Galston Taekwondo students advance to "black belt candidates", and they then need to progress through a further 9 Dans (ranks) if they're to achieve the Taekwondo "Black Belt", which of course is the ultimate accolade. Thus, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into 3 divisions; Junior Belt, Senior Belt and Black Belt. The Junior Taekwondo Belts comprise; White (10th), White With Yellow Stripe (9th), Yellow (8th), and Yellow With Green Stripe (7th). The Senior Taekwondo Belts are; Green (6th), Green With Blue Stripe (5th), Blue (4th), Blue With Red Stripe (3rd), Red (2nd) and Red With Black Stripe (1st). The Black Taekwondo Belts go from 1st to 9th Dan which will take a considerable number of years to successfully progress through. (Tags: Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Black Belts, Taekwondo Belts Galston, Taekwondo Ranks Galston).

Taekwondo Competitions and Tournaments

Taekwondo competitions and tournaments are held across the globe in all of the diverse styles. There's generally not much hard contact but breaking, sparring and patterns. Olympic and WT (World Taekwondo) tournaments consist only of sparring, in International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) competitions specific hand attacks are permitted to the head. Some other associations stage multi-discipline tournaments.

Taekwondo Forms (Poomse)

Beginners in Taekwondo do not have to fret excessively about forms (Poomse, patterns) at the outset, but they'll have to get to grips with some standard ones to start with and progress to more difficult "forms" as they move through the belts (dans/grades). A form is signified by certain areas of Taekwondo including technique, stance and direction. Learning these sequences is a vital part of perfecting Taekwondo.

Taekwondo Kicks

In the world of martial arts, Taekwondo shines as the one with the most kicking techniques. The following are just some standard ones: Push Kick (Meereo Chagi), Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Whip or Hook Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Side Kick (Yeop Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi). Taekwondo Blocks: To stop and deflect an inbound attack, "blocks" (called Makgi) are employed. They are held in specific positions and use the hands with different areas of the arm. Certain attacks necessitate specified "blocks", but "blocks" can also be transformed into counter-attacking moves by linking retaliatory punches or kicks. The key "blocks" include: Upper Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Knife Hand Block, Rising Block, Double Forearm Block, Low Block, Single Forearm Block, Palm Block and Nine Block.

The Many Benefits of Taekwondo

You'll undoubtedly be intrigued to discover exactly what kind of benefits might be achieved by attending Galston Taekwondo classes and engaging fully in its practices. You can expect to: Reduced stress and anxiety by doing deep breathing exercises, Strengthen your body and mind by means of increased physical coordination and mental discipline, Greater discipline by thoroughly training your mind and body in the doctrines and tactics of Taekwondo, Build your confidence by pushing you to take control of your life and succeed, Improve agility, flexibility and stamina through intensive cardiovascular exertion, Enhance feelings of self-esteem by sharpening your physical and mental health, Help with self-defence by helping you identify instances in which self-defence could be required, and enabling you to turn these circumstances to your advantage.

In Conclusion

Precisely what you acquire from Taekwondo will be directly related to what you put into it (as is true of life in general). Many of you will just wish to improve your fitness, make new friends and meet different people, some may aspire to take part in tournaments and competitions or perhaps even the Olympic Games. But remember, we cannot all end up being a Jade Jones or a Lutalo Muhammad.