Taekwondo Newquay

While not wanting to discourage any particular age group, it has to be said that Taekwondo is more suited to younger people in Newquay, being quite physically demanding. Its teachings of self-discipline and respect for others make it especially appropriate for children. Older adults trying Taekwondo for the first time often find it too taxing, unless they have kept themselves active. However those in Newquay who take up Taekwondo at a young age, will find that carrying it on into older adulthood is not a problem. If you consider yourself among the less agile, you could try something like Tai Chi which is much softer.

Based largely around kicking manoeuvres and moves like turning/jumping kicks, rapid kicking styles and head-height kicks, Taekwondo was devised from the techniques of various diverse martial arts, by a group of Seoul martial arts experts in new schools known as "Kwans" in the 1940's and 1950's. These "Kwans" were given the names Changmu Kwan, Jido Kwan, Mooduk Kwan, Songmu Kwan and Chungdo Kwan.

Ever since the Sydney Olympic Games in the year 2000, Taekwondo has been an Olympic sport. This has added to its popularity all over the world with some 60 million people or more routinely taking classes. And it is by signing up to a Taekwondo class or club that you are able to start your adventure of learning this fascinating activity.

For many folks in Newquay, it is the self-defence aspect of Taekwondo that has the most appeal. And in these times of ever increasing violence, especially in town and city centres, it is no surprise that this aspect sits high up on people's list of priorities. It is a key factor of Taekwondo that you're able to gain more confidence in your capacity to defend yourself and at the same time learn to respect other people and learn self-restraint.

Your eagerly mastered Taekwondo skills will likely never have to be tested outside the controlled atmosphere of an organized Taekwondo class, however knowing that you have them will instill you with confidence.

Your First Newquay Taekwondo Class

If you've never tried Taekwondo previously, you may be somewhat apprehensive as to what should be expected on your very first lesson. This may vary from club to club but will generally comprise all or some of the following. A 15-20 minute warm up to loosen muscles and increase heart rate, a little practical training including learning some hand attacks, stances, blocking techniques and kicks, learning some Poomse (forms), a quick introduction to sparring including timing, movement and the timing of attacks, and lastly a warm down to stretch and relax weary muscles.

The UK official governing body of the sport is British Taekwondo and if you wish to sign up with a Taekwondo club in Newquay, you'll also be required to become a member of this respected organization. You can get a lot of info regarding beginning a new Taekwondo club, coaching courses, first aid, safeguarding and equality, news, events, clubs and members, safe practices, coaches and tournament referees, and more, by visiting the official British Taekwondo website.

Taekwondo Patterns (Forms)

Beginners in Taekwondo do not need to fret too much about forms (patterns, Poomse) in the early days, but they'll learn some important ones for starters and move forward to more complex "forms" as they progress through the various belts (dans/grades). A "form" is signified by particular areas of Taekwondo including direction, technique and stance. Learning such techniques is an important part of perfecting Taekwondo.

Taekwondo Belts

In the art of taekwondo there's not really any uniformity in relation to ranking and belts. It is all determined by what style you are looking at, as there are so many different Taekwondo styles and rules. They are however, typically divided into 2 groupings "junior (colour) belts and "senior" (black) belts. The colour/junior rankings consist of white to red, with anything from eight to twelve ranks, while the black/senior belts commonly have nine levels.

To Summarize

What you get from Taekwondo will be directly related to what you put into it (as is true of life in general). The majority of you will purely wish to meet different people, make new friends and improve your fitness, some might want to move on to tournaments and competitions or maybe even the Olympics. But remember, we can't all be a Jade Jones or a Lutalo Muhammad.