General
Taekwondo (or tae kwon do) literally means ‘the way of the hand and foot’.
‘Tae’ means to kick or smash with the foot, including for jumping or flying, .
‘Kwon’ means punch or to destroy with the hand or fist.
‘Do’ is simply the way.
It is martial art and therefore a system of self defence.
As well as being a martial art it has developed a Sports or competition components to Taekwondo as well.
Taekwondo is learnt by millions of people in the world now, in many countries.
Children
Taekwondo is very suitable for children to learn, often referred to as Kids Taekwondo.
Taekwondo will help the development of motor skills in childern, especially gross motor skills.
When skills are learnt in Taekwondo an important distinction from other sports skills learning is that development is on both side of the body, both left and right. For example when someone learns tennis they will usually be a left or ride hand player, with Taekwondo student are taught to kick with both the left and right leg.
Other areas of development are:
- Physical fitness
- Self control
- Focus
- Confidence
- Persistence
- Coordination
- Flexibility
- Concentration
The child learns to kick and punch in a controlled environment.
The instructor in a Taekwondo class will be a Black Belt and be highly competent themselves.
As a child learns Taekwondo they can progress at their own pace, after they have become competent at the requirements for their current belt level they are examined and move to the next belt level.
They progress through a sequence of coloured belts until they achieve a Black Belt.
Overall Kids Taekwondo is a great martial arts and sport for children to participate and learn.
Bullying is often talked about or in the news - this is something you can discuss with a Taekwondo Instructor.
Self Defence
Taekwondo being a martial art is also a self defence system.
Taekwondo will teach you defensive move such as a block, and attacking or countering techniques such as a punch or kick.
Self defence is about awareness and this will include knowledge of how close to let a threat come before reacting. Keeping a safe distance.
Taekwondo training will teach you how to use your hand and arm, and foot and leg as a self defence instrument.
Sport
Taekwondo has developed sporting aspects since its inception.
Whilst Taekwondo is in the Olympics as a sport there are other aspects and components that can be sport based as well.
Sparring with protective equipment as in the Olympics is often the face of Taekwondo sport nowadays. However Taekwondo has a rich tradition of poomse or pattern competition, as well as technical competitons.
Technical competitons may include events such as breaking, jumping, technical display or self defence routine.
The organisations involved in Taekwondo provide a wide and diverse range of sport or competition events.