What exactly is Taekwondo?
 | What exactly is Taekwondo?
Lakeland fl Self Defense Well, Taekwondo is really a martial-art that has been developed and employed for self defence in Korea. Its main distinguishing feature is the amount of groundwork it employs with kicking techniques being the dominant form of attack. The word Taekwondo actually translates from Korean as, "Tae" meaning foot and "Kwon" meaning fist and "Do" meaning way, and this literally means the way of the foot and fist. Taekwondo shares some similarities with Karate, this can be due to the fact Korean was occupied by Japan throughout the early section of the Twentieth century and the practise of native Korean martial arts were banned and nearly disappeared completely. Can there be just one single style? It is a difficult question to reply to for Taekwondo because the main differences derive from different organisations rather than technically different styles. Some people may debate that all Taekwondo is identical while some will claim that each organisation possesses its own style. And so i gives a short summary of the 2 main organisations: World Taekwondo Federation The planet Taekwondo Federation (WTF) is headquartered in South Korea. It places its main increased exposure of sparring and uses a 'Full Contact' approach with fighters wearing protective padding before sparring. The WTF can be regarded as more being a sport as opposed to a martial art especially as it administrates the Olympic Taekwondo competition. International Taekwondo Federation The International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) is headquartered in Canada, Austria and North Korea. It places its main focus on forms and achieving a way of Taekwondo. Sparring for the ITF is considered more 'Semi Contact' with control essental to opponents in competition. Generally ITF students have to be a member of a golf club or school, whereas the WTF is a public sports organisation giving the students the chance to train at various clubs. Could it be all about fighting? Taekwondo should not be seen as just a skill for fighting, it must be regarded as a way of life, like having a job, caring for a family or fighting for a cause. The real difference being that Taekwondo can be a task for survival if confrontation with physical harm cannot be avoided. The thing that makes someone who studies Taekwondo different from the typical street fighter will be the philosophy of peace which can just be achieved in the event the body-mind unite. What is going to I learn? Taekwondo will establish an individuals strength, speed, balance, flexibility, and stamina, these will all be trained by way of a variety of exercises and forms. As Taekwondo emphasis kicking, basic kicks including turning, front, axe and side kick is going to be learnt before moving on to the more advanced jumping and spinning kicks. Some Taekwondo schools teach grappling at advanced stages but this is simply not forever the situation. Which are the coloured belts for? Lakeland fl Self Defense Taekwondo utilizes a belt system to produce the rank of students, similar to Karate. Often a white belt represents a beginner having a black belt being the greatest grade available. With regards to the organisation there are many different numbers of belts with different and varying colours. A broad guide is normally ten coloured ranks referred to as Gup before reaching a black belt referred to as Dan, again with generally ten Dan grades available besides ITF which only has nine Dan ranks. Different time periods are allocated between gradings, usual a minimal rank Gup will need to wait around 3 months prior to being permitted to try for his/her next belt, whereas a Dan rank may need to wait years prior to being able to grade. A general rule for Dan gradings in Taekwondo is always that a student must wait 12 months per Dan level he/she is attempting to accomplish, so the minimum time period for any fourth Dan student to become a fifth Dan, will be 4 years between gradings. |
