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WHAT IS TAE KWON DO?
Literally translated from Korean "TAE" means to kick or smash with the
foot, "KWON" to punch or strike with the hand "DO" is the art or way, to
the translation to English would be “the art of kicking and punching"
· As a form of
physical exercise Tae Kwon-Do has a great effect on all everyone, no
mater what you current state of fitness it will improve. Tae Kwon-do
makes no assumptions on peoples general level of fitness, through a
stepped series of movements and exercised you feel the benefits of
regular training increasing your flexibility and cardio vascular
performance.
· As a martial art Tae Kwon-Do involves
attacking opponents with bare hands and feet. The one distinguishing
factor that Tae Kwon-Do has from other martial arts is its powerful and
diverse foot techniques, which make this martial art one of the world's
most powerful sports. Even though Tae Kwon-Do involves no use of
weapons, it has the ability to knock down an opponent in one single
blow. But, Tae Kwon-Do emphasises mastering defence techniques, which
come from the Tae Kwon-Do thinking of respecting peace and justice. Tae
Kwon-Do teaches practitioners to practice the attitude of
self-discipline to defend oneself and never attack or defeat others.
· As an educational
tool Tae Kwon-Do not only improve your physical well being, but your
mental state as well. Through Tae Kwon-Do a student practices the art of
self-perfection and understands the techniques in pursuit of the virtue
of human life. In the class the student not only develops their body,
but the mind as well. With the physical exercise of stretching,
strengthening, drilling and sparring, the Tae Kwon-Do student learns
respect for their instructor's, senior students, classmates and
themselves. A proficient student will try and live life by the 5 tenants
of Tae Kwon-Do. The development and self-fulfilment and of achieving
what your are capable of is in the central theme in the training of Tae
Kwon-Do.
Patterns
Patters are a set sequence of movements against one or more imaginary
opponents, each of the 24 patterns has a defined meaning and introduced
new movements to the student, patters offer the best was to judge ones
capabilities as the is no one else to compete with, only ones self. The
patterns start with simple movements and become increasingly more taxing
on the body and mind to complete.
Sparring
This
is the free form of sparring in which student's practice the defensive
and offensive moments learned in class. The emphasis is always on
control and sportsmanship. All students are fully kited out in
protective equipment to minimise the risk of injury, not to allow
contact to teach other.
Competition
Tae
Kwon-Do competition is divided into 3 separate disciplines, sparring,
patterns & destruction. The tournaments are run at local, national &
international level, the events are open to all students from yellow
belt onwards. The TAGB prides it's self on the quality of the management
at tournaments and the world beating standard of the students in the
association, having won 3 of the 4 last world team championships.
Students from the clubs have won British & English Championships; one of
our Lady Black-Belts has won a bronze in the World Championships in 1998
and again 2003!
Grading
Along with most other martial art there is a series of grading
representing rank. Each student begins training as a white belt and is
promoted to yellow, green, blue, red, and then finally black belt. These
ranks under black belt are called Kup and range from 9th Kup (lowest) to
1st Kup (highest). In contrast, black belt is divided into 1st Dan
(degree) to 9th Dan (from lowest to highest). It will take a diligent
student from 3 1/2 to 5 years to attain 1st Dan Black Belt.
Training
In
the training school, the Dojang, there is no age, sex, or racial
barriers; everyone begins their training with a white belt. The
instructor allows each practitioner to progress at his or her own rate
in accordance to his or her ability. During this learning the student
can expect to develop strength, stamina, quickness, flexibility,
co-ordination and balance. But to fully master the sport, one must also
develop the important mental characteristics: patience, humility,
self-control, perseverance, concentration, and respect. It generally
takes years of studying and practising to reach the black belt level. As
students develop skill, they are awarded coloured belts, which signify
class rank.
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