Taekwondo Inverness

Since Taekwondo has quite high physical demands, it is perhaps more suitable for the younger generation in Inverness. That's not to say that older individuals can't be involved in this kind of activity, but simply that there might be other martial arts that are more suitable for the less agile among us. Tai Chi would be the perfect example.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently formulated of the martial arts, with its beginnings in Korea in 1945. A group of Korean martial artists in Seoul founded some new schools which they called "kwans", merging various martial arts practices. Taekwondo, which it eventually became known as, mainly involves kicking manoeuvres, especially jumping/turning kicks, head kicks and rapid kicking methods.

Since the Sydney Olympic Games in the year 2000, Taekwondo has been an Olympic sport. This has made it even more popular around the world with some sixty million people routinely participating in classes. And it is by signing up to a Taekwondo club or class that you can begin your adventure of learning this fascinating art.

It seems that the most appealing aspect of Taekwondo is self-defence. This is not hard to believe when you take into account the high levels of violence experienced in town and city centres on a daily basis. It is a key factor of Taekwondo that you can become confident in your ability to defend yourself and at the same time learn to respect others and learn self-restraint.

While it is good to know that you are able to defend yourself whenever you need to, it's hoped that you never need to test this outside of your local Taekwondo club environment.

Your First Taekwondo Class

If you have just booked your very first Taekwondo class, you'll be wondering what to expect. There may be variations to the following, depending on which Inverness Taekwondo school you go to, but you can pretty much expect; A warm up of 15-20 minutes to loosen your muscles and increase heart rate, a little technical training which will involve learning some blocking techniques, kicks, hand attacks and stances, learning some forms (or Poomse), a look at sparring including good timing, movement and targeting attacks, and to round off a warm down to prevent cramping and muscle spasms.

British Taekwondo is the regulating body of the sport within the British Isles, and membership of this organisation is mandatory if you would like to sign up with any Taekwondo club in Inverness or nearby. You will be able to find loads of info regarding safeguarding and equality, launching a new club, first aid, safe practices, coaching courses, members and clubs, events, coaches and tournament referees, news, and more, by popping along to the official British Taekwondo website.

Taekwondo - The Benefits

There are of course, a lot of benefits to be gained from participating in Taekwondo, and here are just some which could be appealing to you: Teach self-defence by training you to realize instances in which self-defence might be necessary, and empowering you to control these kinds of circumstances to your advantage, Greater self-discipline by comprehensively schooling your mind and body in the doctrines and tactics of Taekwondo, Improve agility, stamina and flexibility by way of extreme cardiovascular effort, Reduced anxiety and stress with controlled breathing, Toughen up your body and mind through increased mental discipline and physical co-ordination, Boost confidence by inspiring you to seize control of your life and succeed, Increase feelings of self-esteem by intensifying your physical and mental fitness.

Taekwondo Kicks

Kicks play a major role in Taekwondo, here are a small selection of the best known ones ones: Side Kick (Yeop Chagi), Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi), Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Whip or Hook Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Push Kick (Meereo Chagi). Blocks: To stop and defend against an inbound Taekwondo attack, "blocks" (known as Makgi) are used. Engaging the hand and sections of the arm, they are held in diverse positions. Each form of attack calls for a particular style of block, counter-attacks can be produced by combining a block with a retaliatory kick or punch. The most used "blocks" include: Single Forearm Block, Rising Block, Nine Block, Double Forearm Block, Low Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Upper Block, Knife Hand Block and Palm Block.

Taekwondo Forms

Beginners in Taekwondo do not have to worry too much about forms (Poomse, patterns) initially, but they'll have to get to grips with some basic ones to begin with and move on to more elaborate forms as they move through the belts (dans/grades). A form is signified by specified elements of Taekwondo including direction, stance and technique. Getting to grips with these sequences is an important part of perfecting Taekwondo.

Competitions

A standard Taekwondo tournament features breaking, sparring and patterns, in the Olympics only sparring is involved. That being said there may also be a few special categories in certain competitions such as self-defence and team demonstrations. WT (World Taekwondo) tournaments are strictly soft-contact events, while ITF contests allow some hand attacks towards the head. There are additionally some multi-discipline contests.