Taekwondo Houghton Regis

Taekwondo is typically much more physically demanding than for example Tai Chi, so unless you are pretty agile and fit you might prefer to find something a little bit gentler to boost your fitness in Houghton Regis. Younger children are definitely the perfect participants for Taekwondo classes in Houghton Regis, with a lot of fast paced movements going on and a great deal of high kicking.

With its origins in 1940's Korea, South-East Asia, Taekwondo is obviously one of the more recently established of the martial arts and involves primarily high-kicking movements such as rapid kicking styles, head-height kicks and jumping/spinning kicks. It started when schools known as "kwans" were established by a bunch of Korean martial arts specialists in Seoul, South Korea.

At present an Olympic sport, Taekwondo has over sixty million practitioners all over the world, and even though you may not have any aspirations to be an Olympic Games athlete, you can still sign up for a Taekwondo class or club to learn what will undoubtedly prove to be a rewarding and fascinating pastime.

While there is much to be gained by doing Taekwondo, it is the self-defence aspect that most Houghton Regis people are interested in. This is not surprising when you consider the rising levels of violence seen in town and city centres these days. In fact one of the key principles of Taekwondo is learning to defend yourself whilst exercising self-restraint and a respect for others.

While it is good to practice and master these self-defence skills in the controlled environment of your local Houghton Regis Taekwondo club, hopefully you won't ever be required to use them in the wider world.

Your First Class

If you have made up your mind to learn Taekwondo and are heading to your first lesson, you will be wondering what will happen. This may vary depending on which Houghton Regis school you go to, but will usually involve the following. A fifteen to twenty minute warm up to loosen muscles and increase heart rate, a little technical training such as learning some kicks, stances, blocks and hand attacks, an introduction to forms or patterns, some tips on sparring including timing, movement and the targeting of attacks, and lastly a warm down to stretch tired muscles and relax.

Everybody who's a member of a Taekwondo club in Houghton Regis or any place else in the UK, is also required to join British Taekwondo, which is the regulating body of the sport. You'll be able to find out about first aid, safeguarding and equality, health and safety, clubs and members, coaching courses, events, news, starting a new Taekwondo club, coaches and referees, and more on British Taekwondo's official website, or find the latest news stories on their Facebook or Twitter page.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

In regards to promotion, ranking and belts there is not actually any real uniformity in Taekwondo, since there are a number of styles of Taekwondo which each have their own system in place. There are however parallels and they usually consist of a couple of groupings of belts "juniors" and "seniors" symbolized by coloured and black belts respectively. The senior levels usually have nine levels and the junior, eight to twelve grades.

In the UK there are a sequence of ranks in Taekwondo which are known as "Kup". The lowest is 10th Kup and the highest is 1st Kup. As is the case with many of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is portrayed by a range of colours, so the ranks can be easily identified. 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. Beginners of Taekwondo in Houghton Regis will begin with the White Belt (10th Kup), and proceed through the colours until they earn the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup).

Taekwondo students in Houghton Regis are considered to be "black belt candidates" after they have worked their way through these rankings, and they'll then have to move through an additional nine ranks (called Dans) if they aspire to achieve the supreme distinction of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. Therefore, to put it simply, there are 3 main sections in the Taekwondo belt order, that is Junior Belts, Senior Belts and Black Belts. 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 group 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 range from 1st to 9th Dan, a process which takes a number of years.

Taekwondo Kicks

Taekwondo is well known for its wide variety of kicks, more than any other recognized martial art. Listed here are just a few: Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Side Kick (Yeop Chagi), Whip or Hook Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi), Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Push Kick (Meereo Chagi). Taekwondo Blocks: To fend off the various hand attacks and kicks there are an equally diverse array of blocks. They are held in specific positions and engage the hand with sections of the arm. Specific attacks require specified blocks, but "blocks" can also be transformed into counter-attacking moves by combining retaliatory kicks or punches. The primary blocks used in Taekwondo include: Knife Hand Block, Single Forearm Block, Palm Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Low Block, Upper Block, Rising Block, Nine Block and Double Forearm Block.

Taekwondo Forms

Perfecting Taekwondo necessitates learning many disciplines and techniques and one of the key aspects of Taekwondo is its forms (also known as patterns or Poomse). These are sequences of stance, technique and direction which have to be mastered in order for participants to progress through the different dans (grades/belts).

Beginners Taekwondo Houghton Regis

Trainees starting out on their Taekwondo experience in Houghton Regis will initially register for a beginners class. Beginners classes are fantastic, since there are no stringent demands and everything is carried out at a slow and relaxed pace. Having fun whilst learning is the principal goal at the start and trainees who are having a great time have a tendency to learn a lot faster and digest considerably more of what they're being shown. Even Taekwondo masters started off as naive novices, so take that very first step and you never know where you'll wind up!