Taekwondo Peterhead

It has to be said that Taekwondo can be pretty physically challenging, which might put off the less agile and more elderly people in Peterhead from becoming involved. To be truthful, the most frequent participants of Taekwondo classes are children and the younger generation, but obviously older people who are in decent physical health can easily take part and get benefits from this activity.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently created of the martial arts, with its early beginnings in Korea, South-East Asia in 1945. A group of Korean martial arts specialists in Seoul founded some schools which they called "kwans", combining a variety of martial arts techniques. Taekwondo, which it ultimately became known as, mostly entails kicking manoeuvres, particularly head-height kicks, jumping/turning kicks and rapid kicking styles.

With over 60 million practitioners worldwide and quite a few in Peterhead, Taekwondo has become very popular. If you want to get involved in this activity, which is now an Olympic sport, joining a Taekwondo club or class in Peterhead is a good place to start. While reaching Olympic standard may be aiming a bit high, there is no reason why you cannot become a Taekwondo master.

For the people of Peterhead who want to learn a martial art, a big priority is the element of self-defence. Since this is a central principle of Taekwondo, it is easy to appreciate the appeal of this unique sport. With the added benefit of developing self-restraint and having a deep respect for those around you, signing up for a local Peterhead Taekwondo class seems to be a no brainer.

There's a pretty decent likelihood that your eagerly learned Taekwondo skills will never need to be tested in your day to day life, but it will unquestionably give you reassurance knowing that they are sitting in the background should you need them.

Your First Taekwondo Class

If you have never done Taekwondo before you will likely be a bit apprehensive as to what you should expect on your first class. This could vary from school to school but will typically involve all or some of the following. A fifteen to twenty minute warm up to loosen the muscles and increase heart rate, a little technical training covering some blocking techniques, kicks, hand attacks and stances, a look at some forms, a look at sparring including good timing, movement and targeting attacks, and lastly a warm down to stretch muscles and relax.

Anyone who joins a Taekwondo class in Peterhead must also register with British Taekwondo which is the regulating body of the sport in the British Isles. By going to British Taekwondo's website you'll be able to obtain info regarding referees and coaching, first aid, members and clubs, news, safeguarding and equality, coaching courses, health and safety, events, establishing a new Taekwondo club, and lots more Taekwondo related facts.

Taekwondo Belts (Rank)

With there being various different kinds of Taekwondo there's never really been any recognised arrangement for assigning belts (grades). What exists is however fairly similar and involves a couple of belt groups "junior" and "senior" ("colour" and "black"), each of these groups is split into grades, 8 to 12 colours in the case of juniors and nine "blacks" for seniors.

In the UK Taekwondo has a sequence of ranks (belts) that are generally known as "Kup", these ranks range from Tenth (lowest) to First (highest). If you're eager to know the Taekwondo belt order, it's as follows, and is indicated by a range of different colours i.e. white, yellow, green, blue and red, with intermediate 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. Beginners of Taekwondo in Peterhead will start out with the White Belt (Tenth Kup), and proceed through the various colours until they earn the First Kup (Red With Black Stripe Belt)

Taekwondo trainees in Peterhead become known as "black belt candidates" once they have worked their way through these rankings, and they'll then be faced with moving through a further 9 ranks (or Dans) if they aspire to achieve the consummate accolade of "Black Belt" in Taekwondo. Therefore, the bottom line is, there are 3 principal sections in the Taekwondo belt order, that is Junior, Senior and Black Belts. The Junior division Taekwondo Belts are; White (Tenth), White With a Yellow Stripe (Ninth), Yellow (Eighth), and Yellow With a Green Stripe (Seventh). The Senior division 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 group of Taekwondo Belts comprise First to Ninth Dan rankings, and will involve many years of dedication and training. (Tags: Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Belts Peterhead, Taekwondo Black Belts, Taekwondo Rankings Peterhead).

The Benefits of Taekwondo

You will probably be interested to learn about exactly what type of benefits could be gained by attending Peterhead Taekwondo classes and partaking 100% in its activities. You could expect to: Develop self-discipline by comprehensively training your mind and body in the principles and tactics of Taekwondo, Augment agility, flexibility and stamina by means of strenuous cardiovascular exertion, Teach you self-defence techniques by coaching you to recognize occasions where self-defence could be necessary, and allowing you to manipulate these types of circumstances to your advantage, Enhance self-esteem and concentration by intensifying your mental and physical powers, Strengthen your body and mind by way of enhanced physical coordination and mental discipline, Beef up your confidence by encouraging you to seize control of your life and succeed, Lower stress with controlled breathing.

Taekwondo Safety Gear

Safety equipment like a groin protector, hand protectors, a gum shield, a red or blue head guard, shin protectors, a red or blue trunk guard (hogu) and forearm protectors must be worn in all contests regulated by British Taekwondo. Protection from injury is important because of the forceful kicking that's part and parcel of this sport.

The Basic Taekwondo Kicks

There are lots of different Taekwondo kicking moves, here are just a sample of them: Front Kick, Push Kick, Side Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Crescent Kick, Back Kick, Axe Kick, Whip or Hook Kick. Blocks: Taekwondo "blocks", which are used to repulse the different attacking moves, are known as Makgi. Using the hands and areas of the arm, they are held in various positions. Each and every "block" can be coordinated with a kick or punch to create a counter-attack, and each is suitable for a specific attack. The primary Taekwondo "blocks" (makgi) include: Single Forearm Block, Nine Block, Low Block, Double Forearm Block, Double Knife Hand Block, Rising Block, Palm Block, Knife Hand Block and Upper Block.

Taekwondo Competitions and Tournaments

Taekwondo contests are staged around the world in all the various styles. There is generally not a lot of hard contact but sparring, patterns (forms) and breaking. Olympic and World Taekwondo (WT) tournaments consist only of sparring, in ITF tournaments specified hand attacks are allowed to the head. Some other bodies hold multi-discipline contests.

Taekwondo Patterns (Forms)

Beginners in Taekwondo do not have to fret too much about forms (Poomse, patterns) initially, however they'll learn some standard ones for starters and move on to more intricate forms as they progress up the belts (dans/grades). A form is indicated by certain aspects of Taekwondo including technique, stance and direction. Getting to grips with such techniques is a crucial part of perfecting Taekwondo.