Taekwondo Northfleet

Due to its rather more physical attributes, Taekwondo is perhaps more appropriate for the younger generation in Northfleet and is particularly suitable for children as it is excellent for developing respect for others and self-discipline. Older adults may find it a bit too demanding unless they are particularly active and fit. However, those folks who take up Taekwondo in Northfleet from a young age will find they can easily continue with it into older adulthood. The less nimble of you could consider something softer like Tai Chi.

Taekwondo is a martial art that primarily involves high-kicking moves and manoeuvres, in particular rapid kicking styles, head-height kicks and turning/jumping kicks. It began in Seoul, in southern Korea in the 1940's, when a number of martial arts enthusiasts founded schools called "kwans", which blended a variety of martial arts techniques.

Now an Olympic sport, Taekwondo has more than 60 million practitioners worldwide, and even though you might not have any ambitions to be an Olympic Games sportsman, you are still able to enroll in a Taekwondo club or class to master what will no doubt prove to be a fulfilling and intriguing activity.

For many people in Northfleet, it is the self-defence aspect of Taekwondo that has the most appeal. And in these days of increased violence, especially in town and city centres, it is no surprise that this features high on people's list of priorities. In fact one of the key principles of Taekwondo is learning to defend yourself whilst exercising self-restraint and a respect for others.

There is a pretty good likelihood that your eagerly mastered Taekwondo skills will never need to be proved in your everyday life, but it will most certainly give you self-confidence knowing that they are there should you ever be in need of them.

Your First Taekwondo Class

If Taekwondo is not a sport that you have ever done before, you will most likely be wondering what to expect from your initial lesson if you make up your mind to sign up. Different Taekwondo schools in the Northfleet area have varying thoughts on this but roughly; you will participate in a 15-20 minute warm-up, you will do a certain amount of technical training, you will learn some forms (patterns), you are going to practice sparring methods and finally you'll do a warm-down to get your body back into a relaxed state again.

British Taekwondo is the official regulating body of the sport within the United Kingdom, and membership of this organisation is mandatory if you want to join any Taekwondo club in Northfleet or nearby. You can read about safe practices, referees and coaching, news, coaching courses, safeguarding and equality, events, members and clubs, beginning a new club, first aid, and more on British Taekwondo's official website, or get the latest news on their Twitter or Facebook page.

Taekwondo Belts

When it comes to promotion, ranking and belts there is not actually any real standardisation in Taekwondo, since there are various styles of Taekwondo each of which has their own unique arrangement. There are however likenesses and they normally comprise 2 groupings of belts "seniors" and "juniors" represented by black and coloured belts respectively. The senior rankings normally have 9 tiers and the junior, 8 to 12 levels.

In the UK there are a series of ranks (belts) in Taekwondo that are generally known as "Kup". The lowest rank is 10th Kup and the highest is 1st Kup. If you are eager to know the Taekwondo belt order, it is as follows, and is denoted by a number of colours i.e. white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediary belts with stripes, 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 in Northfleet starting out in Taekwondo will commence with the White Belt (10th Kup), and move up through the coloured belts until they achieve the 1st Kup (Red Belt With a Black Stripe).

Taekwondo students in Northfleet are considered to be "black belt candidates" after they've worked their way through these rankings, and they will then be faced with progressing through a further 9 ranks (called Dans) if they aspire to achieve the greatest accolade of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. Thus, the Taekwondo belt order can be grouped into 3 divisions; Junior, Senior and Black Belts. The Junior Taekwondo Belts comprise; White (10th), White With Yellow Stripe (9th), Yellow (8th), and Yellow With Green Stripe (7th). The Senior Taekwondo Belts comprise; 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 will take a number of years to successfully progress through.

The Benefits of Taekwondo

When you are registering for Taekwondo classes in Northfleet you'll be intending to get a few benefits to make the whole undertaking worth the effort. Therefore why don't we examine some of the benefits that you may gain through learning and doing Taekwondo. Reduced stress and anxiety by doing deep breathing exercises, Toughen up your mind and body via accelerated physical coordination and mental discipline, Teach self-defence techniques by helping you realize instances where self-defence may be needed, and allowing you to control these types of scenarios to your advantage, Increase agility, stamina and flexibility through strenuous cardiovascular work-outs, Greater discipline by methodically educating your mind and body in the techniques and concepts of Taekwondo, Build up confidence by inspiring you to take control of your life and succeed, Enhance self-esteem and concentration by sharpening both mental and physical fitness.

Safety Equipment

Competitions regulated by British Taekwondo rules demand that various pieces of protective equipment be used, these include things like: a blue or red head guard, shin protectors, a mouth guard, forearm guards, blue/red trunk armour (hogu), hand guards and a groin guard. This is a must on account of the vigorous kicking actions being employed.

Taekwondo Forms

Taekwondo forms (also called Poomse or patterns) are characterized by specific elements like direction, technique and stance. From the start of your Taekwondo adventure you will be taught some of the important forms, and so as to progress through the rankings (belts) you'll have to master some more technical ones.