Taekwondo Great Wakering

It has to be asserted that Taekwondo can be very demanding physically, which may put off the older and less nimble folks in Great Wakering from taking this up. To be truthful, the most common participants of Taekwondo classes are children and the younger generation, but obviously older people who are in great physical condition can easily get involved and get benefits from this sport.

Taekwondo is a martial art that mostly consists of high-kicking manoeuvres and moves, most notably fast kicking strategies, spinning/jumping kicks and head-height kicks. It began in Seoul, in southern Korea in the 1940's, when a number of martial arts enthusiasts founded schools known as "kwans", which merged various martial arts practices.

Since the Sydney Olympic Games in the year 2000, Taekwondo has been a competitive Olympic sport. This has made it even more popular throughout the world with some sixty million people regularly participating in classes. And it is by signing up to a Taekwondo club or class that you can begin your journey of mastering this exciting martial art.

A key aspect of Taekwondo is self-defence, and not surprisingly this is one of the main reasons that individuals in Great Wakering get involved in classes and take up the sport. There has been a troubling escalation of violent practices in recent years and this is especially widespread in city and town centres throughout Essex and Britain in general. The beauty of Taekwondo though, is that it also promotes self-discipline and respect for other people, not such common attributes in Great Wakering nowadays.

Even though you'll take a lot of trouble mastering these essential self-defence techniques, with any luck you'll never need to apply them except within your local Taekwondo club environment.

Your First Great Wakering Taekwondo Class

If you have just booked your very first Taekwondo lesson, you will be wondering what to expect. Most Taekwondo schools in Great Wakering follow a similar pattern, but there may be variations to the following. A fifteen to twenty minute warm up to increase heart rate and loosen muscles, some technical training comprising some stances, kicks, hand attacks and blocking techniques, some work on forms or patterns, a look at sparring including movement, timing and attack targeting, and lastly a warm down with muscle stretching and relaxing.

The UK official governing body of the sport is British Taekwondo and if you wish to sign up to Taekwondo club in Great Wakering, you'll also be required to become a member of this respected organization. By visiting the British Taekwondo website you'll be able to discover info on coaches and referees, health and safety, first aid, events, equality and safeguarding, launching a new Taekwondo club, coaching courses, clubs and members, news, and many more Taekwondo related facts.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

The belt and ranking system can get very confusing in Taekwondo because there's no standard arrangement across the diverse Taekwondo disciplines. Analogies can be found though, and usually there are two separate belt groupings, represented as "juniors" (colours) and "seniors" (black dans). The number of grades in the junior section varies through the styles but is commonly between 8 and 12 belts, whilst the senior group typically has 9 belts or dans.

Rankings in Taekwondo in the UK are represented by what are known as "Kup". The highest rank is First Kup and the lowest rank is Tenth Kup. As is the case with many of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is denoted by a range of colours, so the ranks can be 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. The White Belt (10th Kup) is what Taekwondo novices in Great Wakering will begin with, they will then move up through the different coloured belts, finally attaining the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup), which will take around three to four years.

Taekwondo students in Great Wakering are considered as "black belt candidates" after they have worked their way through these rankings, and they'll then need to proceed through an additional nine ranks (or Dans) if they want to achieve the supreme distinction of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. Thus, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into three divisions; Junior, Senior and Black Belts. The Junior Taekwondo Belts are; 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 takes a number of years to progress through. (Tags: Taekwondo Belt Order, Belt Order Taekwondo, Taekwondo Belts Great Wakering, Taekwondo Ranks Great Wakering).

Final Thoughts

We can practically guarantee that if you participate in Taekwondo you'll gain self-confidence, improve your levels of fitness and make more friends. If that's all you take away from it, then all well and good, you can call it an achievement! We aren't all striving to be Jade Jones's or Lutalo Muhammad's, but those of you who are, still have to start with that very first step. Good luck with your journey! 👊