Taekwondo Linlithgow

It's got to be said that Taekwondo can be fairly challenging physically, which might discourage the older and less nimble people in Linlithgow from taking this up. To be truthful, the most common people participating in Taekwondo classes are kids and the younger generation, but certainly older people who are in good physical condition can easily take part and get benefits from this sport.

Based mostly around high-kicking manoeuvres and moves like rapid kicking strategies, head-height kicks and jumping/spinning kicks, Taekwondo was created from the techniques of different martial arts, by a group of Seoul martial arts specialists in new schools known as "Kwans" during the nineteen forties and fifties. These "Kwans" had the names Songmu Kwan, Mooduk Kwan, Changmu Kwan, Chungdo Kwan and Jido Kwan.

The total number of Taekwondo students globally, now exceeds 60 million. Since the Sydney Games (2000) Taekwondo has been an Olympic sport and if you want to give it a go, signing up for your local Linlithgow Taekwondo club or class is a good way to get involved. While nobody would expect you to get to Olympic standard, you could certainly be one of the best Taekwondo exponents in Linlithgow.

A key element of Taekwondo is self-defence, and obviously this is one of the primary reasons that folks in Linlithgow sign up to classes and get involved in the sport. There has been a disturbing escalation of violent behaviour in recent times and this is particularly rampant in city and town centres throughout Scotland and the UK as a whole. The fantastic thing about Taekwondo though, is that it also teaches self-discipline and respect for others, not such familiar qualities in Linlithgow nowadays.

Your newly learned Taekwondo skills will likely never have to be proven outside of an actual Taekwondo class, however being aware of the fact that you have them will instill you with self-confidence.

Your First Taekwondo Class

If you have never done Taekwondo before you may be a little concerned as to what to expect on your first lesson. There may be variations to the following, depending on which Linlithgow Taekwondo school you attend, but you can roughly expect; A warm up of fifteen to twenty minutes to increase heart rate and loosen your muscles, a bit of technical training which will involve learning some blocks, kicks, stances and hand attacks, an introduction to some forms, some tips on sparring including movement, timing and attack targeting, and lastly a warm down with muscle stretching and relaxing.

If you would like to join a Taekwondo club in Linlithgow, you will also have to become a member of the sport's official governing body, namely British Taekwondo. You can get lots of details of events, health and safety, coaching courses, members and clubs, news, starting a new Taekwondo club, referees and coaching, first aid, safeguarding and equality, and more, by going to British Taekwondo's official website.

The Eight Basic Taekwondo Kicks

One of the main elements of Taekwondo is kicking, listed here is a small selection of the basic kicks: Axe Kick, Back Kick, Crescent Kick, Hook or Whip Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Side Kick, Push Kick, Front Kick. Taekwondo Blocks: To stop and defend against an incoming Taekwondo attack, "blocks" (known as Makgi) are implemented. Held in particular positions, they use the hand and different areas of the arm. Each and every block can be merged with a kick or punch to produce a counter-attack, and each is suitable for a specific attack. The primary Taekwondo "blocks" (makgi) include: Upper Block, Nine Block, Single Forearm Block, Low Block, Palm Block, Rising Block, Knife Hand Block, Double Knife Hand Block and Double Forearm Block.

Competitions

Competitions are a significant part of the Taekwondo experience, and all of the various styles across the globe hold tournaments where Taekwondo masters band together to compete. Hard contact is rarely allowed in any of these tournaments which primarily incorporate patterns, sparring and breaking. Sparring only is allowed in Olympic and WT tournaments, while some hand attacks are tolerated in ITF (International Taekwon-Do Federation) events.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

In terms of belts, ranking and promotion there's not actually any standardization in Taekwondo, since there are various styles of Taekwondo each of which has their own system in place. There are however analogies and they usually consist of a couple of groupings of belts "juniors" and "seniors" represented by coloured and black belts respectively. The senior grades typically have 9 tiers and the junior, 8 to 12 grades.

In the UK Taekwondo has a set of ranks (belts) which are known as "Kup", these ranks range from Tenth (lowest) to First (highest). The Taekwondo belt order, much like the vast majority of the martial arts is portrayed by a number of colours, these colours are white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediary 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 10th Kup (White Belt) is what Taekwondo newbies in Linlithgow will start out with, they'll then move up through the different colours, eventually reaching the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup), which can take about 3-4 years of dedicated training.

After succeeding with this challenge, Taekwondo students in Linlithgow become "black belt candidates" which entails them proceeding through an additional 9 ranks (Dans) right up until they eventually achieve the accolade of "Black Belt". So, Junior Belts, Senior Belts and Black Belts are the three primary groupings in the Taekwondo belt order in the UK. 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 takes many years to progress through.

Taekwondo Patterns (Forms)

Forms are a key part of Taekwondo and are crucial if you are going to excel at this captivating activity. Some basic Taekwondo forms have to be learned at the beginning and more elaborate forms will have to be mastered in order to progress through the various belts. A Taekwondo form is characterised by various facets such as direction, technique and stance.