Taekwondo Swansea

Since Taekwondo has pretty high physical demands, it is possibly more suitable for the younger generation in Swansea. That is not to say that elderly people cannot get involved in this activity, but simply that there might be alternative martial arts that are more suitable for the less agile among us. Tai Chi is the perfect illustration.

With its beginnings in 1940's Korea, Taekwondo is certainly one of the more recently created of the martial arts and entails primarily high-kicking moves such as head kicks, rapid kicking techniques and jumping/spinning kicks. It started when schools known as "kwans" were set up by a group of Korean martial arts specialists in Seoul, South Korea.

Popular across the world Taekwondo now has more than 60 million students. Now an Olympic sport, Taekwondo is accessible to everybody, and heading along to your local Swansea Taekwondo club or class is the best way to get yourself involved. While nobody would expect you to get to Olympic standard, you can certainly be one of the best Taekwondo exponents in Swansea.

People in Swansea take up Taekwondo for many reasons but it is the self-defence aspect that appeals to most. This is not hard to believe when you take into account the high levels of violence experienced in town and city centres on a daily basis. The ability to defend yourself and at the same time exercising self-restraint and a respect for others is one of the key benefits of Taekwondo.

There is a very good chance that your eagerly mastered Taekwondo skills will never see the light of day in the outside world, but it will undoubtedly give you reassurance knowing that they are there should you need them.

Your First Class

If you've never had a go at Taekwondo before, you could be a little apprehensive as to what should be expected on your first lesson. This can vary from school to school but will usually comprise some or all of these. A 15-20 minute warm up to loosen up muscles and increase heart rate, a little technical training involving learning some kicks, blocking techniques, stances and hand attacks, learning some forms (or Poomse), an overview of sparring including timing, attack timing and movement, and lastly a warm down to relax and stretch tired muscles.

Taekwondo also of course has got its own regulating body, and in Great Britain it is British Taekwondo. Anyone wishing to join a Taekwondo club in Swansea must become a registered member of this organisation. You can find plenty of facts about referees and coaching, coaching courses, establishing a new Taekwondo club, clubs and members, safe practices, events, safeguarding and equality, news, first aid, and more, by popping along to British Taekwondo's official website.

Taekwondo - The Benefits

There are of course, a number of benefits to be had from taking part in Taekwondo, and listed here are just a few which might be of interest to you: Build confidence by pushing you to seize control of your life and succeed, Empower your mind and body by way of improved physical coordination and mental discipline, Develop discipline and willpower by comprehensively training your mind and body in the doctrines and strategies of Taekwondo, Lower stress with controlled breathing, Teach self-defence techniques by helping you to understand scenarios where self-defence might be needed, and enabling you to turn these situations to your advantage, Enhance self-esteem and concentration by sharpening both mental and physical health, Augment stamina, agility and flexibility through strenuous cardiovascular effort.

Taekwondo Forms

Beginners in Taekwondo don't need to worry too much about forms (Poomse, patterns) initially, but they will get to grips with some basic ones to start with and advance to more difficult "forms" as they progress through the various belts (grades/dans). A "form" is denoted by particular aspects of Taekwondo including stance, technique and direction. Learning such techniques is a vital part of mastering Taekwondo.

Taekwondo Belts (Ranking)

In Taekwondo there is really no form of uniformity in relation to ranking and belts. It is all determined by what style you are reviewing, because there are such a lot of Taekwondo rules and styles. They are however, generally divided into a couple of groupings "junior (colour) belts and "senior" (black) belts. The junior/colour rankings consist of white to red, with anything from eight to twelve grades, while the senior/black belts typically have 9 rankings.

Competitions and Tournaments

A regular Taekwondo competition features patterns (forms), sparring and breaking, where the Olympics is concerned only sparring is involved. That being said there can also be some unique categories in certain competitions such as team demonstrations and self-defence. WT (World Taekwondo) contests are purely soft-contact affairs, while ITF (International Taekwon-Do Federation) tournaments permit some hand attacks to the head. There are in addition a number of multi-discipline contests.

Beginners Taekwondo Swansea

As with any sport or activity we need to start somewhere, and Taekwondo is exactly the same. Even the foremost Swansea Taekwondo masters were complete beginners at one time. So, exactly what can you expect as a complete novice at Taekwondo? Beginner classes should give their students enough coaching to give them the basic principles and enable them to build confidence as they move forward. An ideal beginners class ought to be enjoyable as well as instructional, when individuals are enjoying themselves they're more invested and are going to learn quicker.

Taekwondo Safety Gear

Matches governed by British Taekwondo guidelines demand that various items of protective gear be used, these include things like: a mouth guard, forearm guards, a groin protector, blue or red body armour, hand guards, shin protectors and a blue/red head protector. This is necessary on account of the formidable kicking moves being employed.