Taekwondo Stocksbridge

Taekwondo is typically a lot more demanding physically than for instance Tai Chi, so unless you are pretty fit and nimble you may prefer to partake in something a bit gentler to boost your fitness levels in Stocksbridge. Children are clearly an ideal participants for Taekwondo classes in Stocksbridge, with lots of fast movements going on and a great deal of high kicking.

Taekwondo is one of the more recently created of the martial arts, with its root beginnings in Korea, South-East Asia in 1945. A group of Korean martial artists in Seoul established some schools known as "kwans", merging a variety of martial arts techniques. Taekwondo, which it eventually became known as, largely entails kicking manoeuvres, especially rapid kicking styles, head-height kicks and jumping/turning kicks.

With over 60 million fitness enthusiasts participating in Taekwondo instruction all over the world, this has unquestionably become a popular and beneficial activity, and if you become really expert at this martial art you might even one day be eligible for the Olympic Games, of which it has been an integral part since the 2000 Sydney Games.

For many people in Stocksbridge, it is the self-defence aspect of Taekwondo that has the most appeal. And its not surprising that this is on people's list of priorities when you consider the rising levels of violence seen these days in town and city centres throught the United Kingdom. Learning to defend yourself while at the same time applying self-restraint and a respect for others is a key benefit of Taekwondo.

Your eagerly mastered Taekwondo skills will more than likely never have to be proven outside the controlled atmosphere of an organised Taekwondo class, however knowing that you've got them will instill you with self-confidence.

Your First Stocksbridge Taekwondo Class

If Taekwondo is not something that you've ever tried previously, you'll likely be curious about what you should be expecting from your initial lesson if you make your mind up to sign up. Different Taekwondo schools in the Stocksbridge area have different thoughts on this but in brief; you will take part in a 15-20 minute warm-up, you will do some technical training, you will learn some forms, you are going to practice sparring techniques and finally you'll do a warm-down to get your body back into a relaxed state again.

If you wish to sign up to a Taekwondo club in Stocksbridge, you'll also have to register with the sport's official regulating body, namely British Taekwondo. You will be able to read about referees and coaching, starting a new club, safe practices, coaching courses, clubs and members, events, equality and safeguarding, news, first aid, and more on British Taekwondo's official website, or find out the latest news on their Facebook or Twitter page.

Taekwondo Competitions

There are a multitude of contests in Taekwondo involving all the diverse styles. They primarily include sparring, breaking and patterns (forms) with very little hard contact. International Taekwon-Do Federation competitions don't permit excessive contact but may permit hand attacks aimed at the head. World Taekwondo and Olympic competitions allow only sparring. Multi-style contests are also held.

Taekwondo Belts

Because there are many different kinds of Taekwondo there's never really been any uniform arrangement for allocating belts (ranks). What exists is however fairly similar and is made up of 2 belt groups "senior" and "junior" (black and colour), each one of these groupings is divided into ranks, 8 to 12 colours for juniors and nine for the seniors.

In the UK there are a sequence of ranks (belts) in Taekwondo which are known as "Kup". The lowest is Tenth Kup and the highest rank is First Kup. As is the case with most of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is indicated by a number of different colours, so that the ranks are 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 beginners in Stocksbridge will start out with, they will then move up through the different colours, finally achieving the Red With Black Stripe Belt (1st Kup), which will probably take about 3-4 years.

Taekwondo students in Stocksbridge become known as "black belt candidates" once they have succeeded with this challenge, and they'll then be faced with proceeding through a further 9 ranks (Dans) if they want to achieve the ultimate accolade Taekwondo Black Belt. So, putting it simply, there are three primary divisions in the Taekwondo belt order, namely Junior, Senior and Black Belts. The Junior Taekwondo Belts are; White (10th), White With Yellow Stripe (9th), Yellow (8th), and Yellow With Green Stripe (7th). The Senior Taekwondo Belts are; 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 can take a considerable number of years to successfully progress through. (Tags: Taekwondo Black Belts, Taekwondo Belt Order, Taekwondo Ranks Stocksbridge, Taekwondo Belts Stocksbridge).

Taekwondo Safety Equipment

British Taekwondo tournaments call for specific safety equipment to be worn to protect competitors from being injured as a result of the vigorous kicking that occurs. This safety gear includes: a red/blue trunk guard (hogu), a gum shield, hand guards, a groin guard, shin protectors, forearm guards and a blue or red head guard.

In Summary

We cannot all be like Jade Jones or Lutalo Muhammad, and I guess that we don't all want to be. Taekwondo is not solely about National Championships and Olympic titles. Most of us are happy to improve our fitness levels, make new friends and meet different people, and that is how it should be. However, as with most matters in life, what you get out of it will be based upon what you put into it. Good luck! 👊