Taekwondo Lisburn

Taekwondo is generally a lot more demanding physically than for example Tai Chi, so unless you're pretty agile and fit you might prefer to partake in something a little bit gentler to improve your fitness in Lisburn. Younger children are clearly an ideal participants for Taekwondo classes in Lisburn, with lots of fast movements going on and plenty of high kicking.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently formulated of the martial arts, with its root beginnings in Korea in 1945. A group of Korean martial artists in Seoul founded some schools known as "kwans", merging a variety of martial arts techniques. Taekwondo, which was ultimately called, mostly involves kicking manoeuvres, particularly fast kicking strategies, jumping/turning kicks and head-height kicks.

At present an Olympic sport, Taekwondo has more than sixty million practitioners all over the world, and while you may not have any ambitions to be an Olympic Games sportsman, you are still able to join a Taekwondo club or class to learn what will no doubt prove to be a fascinating and advantageous pastime.

In these times of escalating violence, it is hardly surprising that people in locations like Lisburn are attending self-defence training such as Taekwondo to help them feel safer in their local environment. The self-defence element is one of the primary factors of Taekwondo but it also promotes self-restraint and a deep respect for others around us, which are disciplines that are largely absent in 21st century living.

Such self-defence techniques may at some time come in useful in your everyday life, though it is far more likely you'll only be putting them to the test within a supervised class environment. Yet it is an amazing feeling knowing that you'll always be in a position to defend yourself if you have to.

Your First Taekwondo Class

If you decide to register for Taekwondo training in Lisburn, the first thing you'll need to know is what is going to occur on the first lesson and exactly what will the trainer be expecting of you. Different Taekwondo masters in the Lisburn area will put together differing routines for this initial lesson but you can count on doing a 15-20 minute warm-up to get the blood flowing and loosen your muscles, learn a couple of Poomse (forms, cover some technical training (blocking techniques, kicks, hand attacks and stances), do some sparring, and last of all, a warm-down.

The UK regulating body of the sport is British Taekwondo and if you would like to sign up with a Taekwondo club in Lisburn, you will also be required to become a member of this respected organization. You can find out about first aid, safe practices, establishing a new club, events, safeguarding and equality, members and clubs, news, coaching courses, coaches and referees, and more on British Taekwondo's website, or find the latest news on their Facebook or Twitter page.

Taekwondo Belts (Promotion)

In Taekwondo there's really no form of standardisation when it comes to belts and ranking. It all hinges on what style you're looking at, since there are such a diversity of Taekwondo styles and rules. However, they're typically split into a couple of groupings "junior" or "colour" belts and "senior" or "black" belts. The colour/junior rankings range from white to red, with anything from 8 to 12 rankings, while the senior/black belts typically have 9 ranks.

In the UK Taekwondo has a sequence of ranks that are generally known as "Kup", these ranks range from 10th (lowest) to 1st (highest). As with most of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is portrayed by a range of different colours, so that 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. The 10th Kup (White Belt) is what Taekwondo novices in Lisburn will commence with, they'll then progress through the coloured belts, finally reaching the Red Belt With a Black Stripe (1st Kup), which can take approximately three to four years.

Taekwondo students in Lisburn are called "black belt candidates" once they have worked their way through these rankings, and they will then need to move through another 9 ranks (called Dans) if they aspire to achieve the consummate accolade Taekwondo Black Belt. Therefore, the Taekwondo belt order can be put into 3 sections; Junior Belts, Senior Belts and Black Belts. The Junior group of Taekwondo Belts comprise; White (Tenth), White With a Yellow Stripe (Ninth), Yellow (Eighth), and Yellow With a Green Stripe (Seventh). The Senior group of Taekwondo Belts are; Green (Sixth), Green With a Blue Stripe (Fifth), Blue (Fourth), Blue With a Red Stripe (Third), Red (Second), and Red With a Black Stripe (First). The Black division of Taekwondo Belts comprise First to Ninth Dan rankings, and involves many years of training and dedication. (Tags: Belt Order Taekwondo, Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Belts Lisburn, Taekwondo Rankings Lisburn).

The Taekwondo Kicks

Taekwondo is recognized for its powerful kicks, listed here are the basic ones: Back Kick (Dwo Chagi), Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi), Side Kick (Yeop Chagi), Axe Kick (Naeryeo Chagi), Hook or Whip Kick (Huryeo Chagi), Front Kick (Ap Chagi), Push Kick (Meereo Chagi), Roundhouse Kick (Dollyo Chagi). Taekwondo Blocks: To stop and defend against an inbound attack, blocks (called Makgi) are used. They are held in specific positions and enlist the hand with parts of the arm. Certain attacks call for specified "blocks", but blocks can also be turned into counter-attacking moves by the combination of reciprocal kicks or punches. The key "blocks" include: Double Knife Hand Block, Nine Block, Double Forearm Block, Single Forearm Block, Palm Block, Low Block, Upper Block, Rising Block and Knife Hand Block.

Safety Equipment

In all events, tournaments and matches taking place under the control of British Taekwondo, safety gear such as blue or red trunk armour, shin protectors, hand guards, a groin protector, forearm protectors, a mouth guard and a red or blue head protector is compulsory. The fast kicking moves employed in Taekwondo can easily cause injury and these preventative measures help make the activity less risky for its competitors.

Taekwondo Competitions

Taekwondo tournaments and competitions are staged internationally in all the various styles. There's usually not a whole lot of hard contact but patterns (forms), sparring and breaking. Olympic and WT (World Taekwondo) tournaments comprise only sparring, in ITF tournaments specified hand attacks are permitted to the head. Other bodies stage multi-discipline tournaments.

In Conclusion

The benefits that you get from Taekwondo will be proportional to what you put into it (as is true of life in general). The majority of you will only wish to meet different people, improve your fitness levels and make new friends, some may aspire to progress to tournaments and competitions or perhaps even the Olympics. But remember, we cannot all end up being a Jade Jones or a Lutalo Muhammad. 👊