Taekwondo Whaley Bridge

While not wanting to discourage any particular age group, it has to be said that Taekwondo is more suited to younger people in Whaley Bridge, being quite physically demanding. Its teachings of self-discipline and respect for others make it especially appropriate for children. It can sometimes be too taxing for older adults unless they are exceptionally fit and active. For those people who take up Taekwondo when they are younger, continuing the experience into adulthood should not be a problem. The less agile of you might find that Tai Chi which is a bit softer is more suitable.

Based largely around high-kicking manoeuvres like head kicks, rapid kicking methods and jumping/spinning kicks, Taekwondo was devised from the practices of various martial arts, by a number of Seoul martial arts experts in new schools called "Kwans" during the 1940's and 1950's. These "Kwans" were given the names Songmu Kwan, Jido Kwan, Chungdo Kwan, Changmu Kwan and Mooduk Kwan.

Taekwondo now has over 60 million practitioners worldwide and has become very popular in Whaley Bridge and throughout the UK. Since the Sydney Games (2000) Taekwondo has been an Olympic sport and if you want to give it a go, joining a local Whaley Bridge Taekwondo club or class is a good way to get involved. There is no reason why you cannot reach a high standard in this thrilling sport, even if you have no desire to compete in the Olympics.

Of all the many benefits of doing this sport, it is the self-defence element of Taekwondo that the people of Whaley Bridge consider most interesting. And in these days of ever increasing violence, particularly in town centres, it's no great surprise that this sits prominently people's list of priorities. It is a key principle of Taekwondo that you can become confident in your ability to defend yourself yet respect others and exercise self-restraint.

With luck you'll never have the need to use your newly perfected Taekwondo techniques for defending yourself outside of your local club environment, but it's great to know they're there if you need them.

Your First Taekwondo Lesson

If you have never done Taekwondo before, you could be a little apprehensive as to what to expect on your first lesson. This can vary from club to club but will usually consist of all or some of the following. A 15-20 minute warm up to increase heart rate and loosen muscles, a little practical training including learning some kicks, hand attacks, blocking techniques and stances, discovering a few forms, an introduction to sparring including timing, the timing of attacks and movement, and lastly a warm down to stretch and relax tired muscles.

If you wish to join a Taekwondo class in Whaley Bridge, you'll also have to register with the sport's official regulating body, namely British Taekwondo. You'll be able to learn about coaches and competition referees, clubs and members, health and safety, coaching courses, safeguarding and equality, first aid, beginning a new club, events, news, and more on the official British Taekwondo website, or get the latest news stories on their Facebook or Twitter page.

Taekwondo Safety Equipment

In all events, contests and tournaments taking place under the patronage of British Taekwondo, safety gear such as a gum shield, a blue/red head protector, shin guards, a groin guard, forearm protectors, blue/red trunk armour and hand protectors is mandatory. The fast kicking movements which are part of Taekwondo could cause injury and this all helps make the activity less hazardous for its competitors.

Taekwondo Forms

Mastering Taekwondo calls for getting to grips with a number of techniques and one of the pivotal aspects of Taekwondo is its forms (also called Poomse or patterns). These are types of stance, technique and direction which have to be mastered in order for students to move through the different dans (grades/belts).

Taekwondo Belts (Rank)

In the art of taekwondo there's really no uniformity in relation to grades and belts. It is all subject to which style you are looking at, as there are such a diversity of Taekwondo styles and rules. However, they are typically split into 2 groups "junior (colour) belts and "senior" (black) belts. The junior/colour ranks consist of white to red, with from 8 to 12 grades, while the black/senior belts normally have 9 ranks.

In the UK Taekwondo has a series of ranks that are known as "Kup", these ranks range from 10th (lowest) to 1st (highest). As is the case with many of the martial arts, the Taekwondo belt order is denoted by a range of colours, so the ranks can be easily recognised. 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. Beginners of Taekwondo in Whaley Bridge will start out with the Tenth Kup (White Belt), and move up through the colours until they earn the First Kup (Red Belt With Black Stripe)

Once this training regime has been successfully completed, Whaley Bridge Taekwondo trainees become "black belt candidates", and they then have to progress through a further 9 ranks if they're to become a Taekwondo "Black Belt", which of course is the supreme distinction. Therefore, Junior Belts, Senior Belts and Black Belts are the three main classifications in the Taekwondo belt order in the UK. The Junior division Taekwondo Belts comprise; 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 involves many years of dedicated training.

Taekwondo Tournaments and Competitions

Taekwondo contests are held around the world in all the various styles. There's generally not a lot of hard contact but breaking, sparring and patterns (forms). Olympic and World Taekwondo tournaments comprise only sparring, in ITF (International Taekwon-Do Federation) contests specified hand attacks are permitted to the head. Various other organisations stage multi-discipline tournaments.

The Benefits of Taekwondo

You will doubtless be interested to understand precisely what type of benefits might be gained by taking part in Whaley Bridge Taekwondo instruction and participating fully in its practices. You can expect to: Increase your self-esteem by maximizing your physical and mental health, Strengthen your body and mind by way of enhanced mental discipline and physical co-ordination, Augment flexibility, agility and stamina by means of extreme cardiovascular work-outs, Build up confidence by pushing you to seize control of your life and succeed, Reduce anxiety using advanced breath control, Develop self-discipline by exhaustively training your body and mind in the concepts and techniques of Taekwondo, Teach you self-defence tactics by training you to recognise scenarios where self-defence may be necessary, and empowering you to turn these types of scenarios to your advantage.

Final Thoughts

We can't all be like Jade Jones or Lutalo Muhammad, and I guess we wouldn't all want to be. Taekwondo is not just about Olympic medals and National Championships. Most of us are happy to improve our levels of fitness, make new friends and meet different people, and that's how it ought to be. Yet, as with most things in life, what you get out of it will be determined by what you put into it. Enjoy!