Taekwondo Paisley

As Taekwondo has fairly high physical requirements, it's possibly more suited to the younger generation in Paisley. That's not to say that older individuals cannot take part in this popular activity, but merely that there might be alternative martial arts which are more appropriate for the less agile of us. Tai Chi would be a perfect example.

With its origins in 1940's Korea, South-East Asia, Taekwondo is certainly one of the more recently established of the martial arts and involves mostly high-kicking moves such as spinning/jumping kicks, head kicks and rapid kicking methods. It started when schools called "kwans" were founded by a bunch of Korean martial arts specialists in Seoul, South Korea.

With over 60 million people taking part in Taekwondo classes all around the globe, this has certainly become a popular pastime, and if you become really expert at the sport you may possibly one day qualify for the Olympic Games, of which it has been an integral part ever since the Sydney Games in the year 2000.

For the men, women and children of Paisley who like the idea of learning a martial art, a major priority is the aspect of self-defence. Because this is a key concept of Taekwondo, it's not difficult to appreciate the attraction of this unique sport. With the extra bonus of learning self-restraint and having a degree of respect for other people, signing up for a local Paisley Taekwondo class would seem to be a no brainer.

Your eagerly mastered Taekwondo skills will more than likely never have to be tested outside the controlled atmosphere of an organised Taekwondo class, however knowing that you've got them will give you peace of mind.

What to Expect From Your First Class

If you decide on registering for a Taekwondo class in Paisley, the first thing you'll be thinking about is what will transpire on the initial lesson and what will the tutor be expecting of you. Different Taekwondo masters in Paisley will formulate diverse routines for this first lesson but you can expect to do a fifteen to twenty minute warm-up to get the blood coursing and loosen your muscles, learn several forms (Poomse), cover some technical training (hand attacks, blocks, stances and kicks), do a certain amount of sparring, and last of all, a warm-down.

Everyone who's a member of a Taekwondo class in Paisley or anywhere else in Great Britain, is also required to join British Taekwondo, which is the regulating body of the sport. You will be able to find loads of details on first aid, coaching courses, coaches and competition referees, members and clubs, events, news, establishing a new club, safeguarding and equality, health and safety, and more, by heading to British Taekwondo's website.

The Benefits of Taekwondo

There are needless to say, quite a few benefits to be gained from participating in Taekwondo, and the following are just a selection of the ones which might be attractive to you: Teach you self-defence tactics by coaching you to recognize circumstances where self-defence could be necessary, and enabling you to turn these circumstances in your favour, Empower your mind and body through increased mental discipline and physical co-ordination, Improve your self-esteem by elevating both physical and mental powers, Augment agility, stamina and flexibility through intensive cardiovascular effort, Better discipline by exhaustively training your mind and body in the tactics and principles of Taekwondo, Beef up confidence by pushing you to seize control of your life and succeed, Reduces stress and anxiety with controlled breathing.

Taekwondo Patterns (Forms)

Taekwondo forms (also known as patterns or Poomse) are distinguished by specific activities such as direction, technique and stance. From the outset you are going to get to grips with some of the important forms, and in order to move through the various rankings (belts) you'll have to learn some more technical ones.

Taekwondo Belts (Rank)

In regards to ranking, belts and promotion there's not actually any standardisation in Taekwondo, as there are various styles of Taekwondo each of which has their own specific arrangement. There are however likenesses and they usually comprise two groups of belts "seniors" and "juniors" represented by black and coloured belts respectively, . The senior grades usually have nine grades and the junior, between 8 and 12 levels.

Taekwondo Tournaments

There are an array of competitions in Taekwondo associated with all the various styles. They mainly include breaking, sparring and patterns with little or no "hard contact". International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) tournaments do not permit substantial contact but do permit hand attacks to the head. World Taekwondo (WT) and Olympic competitions only allow sparring. Multi-style tournaments also take place.

Taekwondo Safety Gear

British Taekwondo controlled competitions require certain safety equipment to be worn to safeguard competitors from getting injured as a result of the forceful kicking that occurs. These safety products include: red/blue trunk armour (hogu), a groin guard, hand protectors, a blue/red head protector, shin pads, forearm guards and a gum shield.