Taekwondo is Not Taekwondo Without Its Kicks

You have probably heard this over and over again but you are going to hear it again now - Taekwondo is known for its kicks.

The kicks used in Taekwondo sparring are more striking than in any other martial art. Even though the kicks in poomse are simpler than the ones used in sparring, they can be equally as impressive if executed properly.

Also, a good, solid front kick is more impressive than an impromptu tornado or double roundhouse kick.

What is it that makes a great taekwondo kick?
Image via Wikipedia
1. Balance

Balance may not be seem as obvious as you think. And balance is more than just not ending up on the floor. It is a matter of fluidity, of gracefulness, of naturalness.

With a properly balanced kick, the supporting foot does not wobble, the hands do not flail about, and the athlete does not rush to complete the kick.

Also, the athlete begins and ends the technique in the proper stances without having to correct the stances to accommodate the kick.

Practice moving within your stances. When you feel comfortable doing simple things within your stances, you should try to kick from one stance into another.

2. Proper form

Having proper form is a requirement to having a beautiful kick. Proper form may be defined as the correct positions to which the entire body enters as it performs a kick from start to finish.

It is wise to talk with your instructor or other certified professional martial artist to learn the more articulate details of proper form. They will have the answers to any questions that you may have.

3. Control

The kick in Taekwondo is not supposed to be like that of a whip. It does not have to be so fast that it cannot be seen.

Instead, the kick is to be relished and beheld as the single most attractive feature of Taekwondo.
It is therefore necessary to control the kick. Controlling the kick involves the ability to freeze the kick for a split second at full extension.

This “freeze” is the life of the kick. It is the most memorable and beautiful part of the kick. Controlling the kick is not that easy though. Usually it involves much concentration and many years of practice.

Form is a must to both control and power. If you are not sure that you are doing the kick with proper form yet, keep working on the form part before you begin working on the control part.

Control takes some muscle development and patience, but it is well worth all the effort in the end.

4. Power

Nothing is worse than seeing someone perform a kick with great form, balance, and control, but with no power.

If this is the case, that person is better off as ballet dancer than a taekwondo practitioner. There is no such thing as an excellent kick that has no power.

Take note that proper form is needed to achieve control. And control is the factor that leads to power.

Bear in mind also that if you try to develop power without mastering the proper control first, it may result to permanent damage to your joints. So be very careful.

The process for developing power in a taekwondo kick is very similar to developing control in that same kick.

Note : Taekwondo is not Taekwondo without The Taekwondo Kid :-)

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Working That Taekwondo Technique

Some of the Taekwondo techniques and how they work:

1.Build-up technique.

This works in a circle of at least four. One person begins with any single Taekwondo technique, normally intended for at the person on the immediate left or right.

This technique travels around the circle, with each person accomplishing the move, until it returns to the originator of the move.

When that person repeats the move, the next person in the circle does the first technique and adds another to it. Now the two-move combination travels around the circle until it is added-to by the next person along.

This continues until the combination of moves becomes long enough to confuse the most senior belt in the group.

The purpose of build-up technique is to practice focus and controlled attacks on multiple opponents.
Image via Wikipedia
In order to achieve a fluid combination, a variety of hand, foot, knee and elbow attacks that flow easily in a sensible combination are used. It is best to carry on adding techniques until everyone in the circle has been 'dealt with'.

2. One-step sparring.

Persons are teamed in pairs in this Taekwondo technique. Then they each take turn to attack with a right lunge punch. The opponent blocks the punch and counters.

The purpose is to practice blocking or evasion and to build up a fluid and effective combination.

3.One-step semi-free sparring.

This Taekwondo technique is similar to basic one-step, but the attacker measures off and steps back into a forearm-guarding block. When the opponent is ready, they also step back with a forearm-guarding block.

When this happens, the attacker can perform one single attack: hand, foot, knee or elbow.

4.Circle-sparring.

In a circle of at least five, one or two person is chosen to lead off. These persons start in the center of the circle, select an opponent from the circle, face off with that person and perform a single attack.

That person blocks, counters and then swaps places with the attacker, thus entering the circle and beginning the process again.

'Sneak' attacks are encouraged. Face off with one person, then attack another or chase your attacker to the opposite side of the circle with a barrage of counter-attacks then immediately send an attack into someone else.

This Taekwondo technique can only be done in official training sessions with a black-belt instructor present.

5. Snapping turning kicks.

With a partner, practice head-high turning kicks that stop just short of your target.

If the target is your partner’s head, do not kick too closely until you know you have the control to stop short.

For beginners, it may be wise to practice on a focus mitt, slapping the leather as fast and lightly as possible. When you have mastered fast and controlled turning kicks, you can work them into combinations.

6. Fast retraction.

In addition to sending out punches and kicks quickly, it is important to be able to retract them with similar speed. This ensures that your legs are not left out in front of you and that your arms do not get left outstretched, exposing your ribs.

It also reduces an opponent's chances of catching your limbs and placing you in embarrassing positions.

A useful trick to practice at home is to light a candle and punch at it. Aim in front of the flame and withdraw the punch as fast as you can. With enough speed, the movement will create a vacuum around the flame and snuff it out.

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Taekwondo : What's there to know..

Every school has a different way of testing/grading. In some schools, being invited to the test means you've already earned the next belt and the test is just a formality. In others, they're deciding during the test whether or not you've earned your next rank. One school may have a set order of events during a test and another may vary on the instructor's whim.

Hydration

It's a rookie mistake – during your first test, since you don't always need a drink during the brief break in class, you don't bother to bring a bottle of water. This can wind up not being serious, if you have access to a water fountain or a bathroom sink. However, if you don't, it can quickly become a major problem.

During a test, you will be working doubly as hard as you did during any class. This isn't because you were lazy during class, this is because a test will send massive amounts of adrenaline racing through your body. While this is wonderful for snapping off those extra-high kicks, it can be very troubling for your body if you don't introduce adequate water. If you start to feel woozy, don't be embarrassed to quickly get the attention of your instructor and ask if you can stop for a water break. Chances are good that you aren't the only person out there who's desperate for a brief sit-down.

Your Forms
Image by David Reber's Hammer Photography via Flickr
This seems to be a fairly obvious expectation, but the amount of people who arrive to a test presuming they can just “wing it” during their forms is staggering. Most tests have an audience, and they're all going to be cringing as you start-and-stop your way through your form. Running through it once or twice every day the week leading up to the test will completely negate this issue. Even if you get stage fright, your body will remember what to do as long as you don't try too hard to think.

How to Put on Your Belt

I'm serious. In the excitement of receiving the new colour of belt, you will find you've suddenly completely forgotten how to put it on. You don't want to be a brown belt who's trying to figure out how to do something a white belt mastered their first night, so take a breath before you start trying to remove the previous belt and apply the new one, and take it slow.

Your Gear

Your instructor is likely to call you out for a lack of safety if you forget to bring your mouth guard, and it's the easiest thing to forget. You not only don't want to receive a lecture, you don't want a white belt testing for their yellow to pop you in the mouth and subtract a few teeth. It's also terribly embarrassing to realize you pulled one of your gloves out of your bag for some reason and forgot to put it back. So always, before walking out the door, take a look inside of your gear bag to ensure that everything is in there. It's easier to remember your mouth guard if you keep it in a case, that way it's not as tiny as it would be left free. A note on mouth guards – they will change shape if heated. So, if you leave your bag in the car in between classes, check periodically to be sure you don't need to reshape your mouth guard or you'll be very surprised when you try to pop it in for the test and it doesn't fit.

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Flaunt Those Taekwondo Belt Colors

Most of the time, the colored belt around a Taekwondo practitioner’s waist seems to hold many presumptions for people. Those who see someone with a yellow belt, think that the bearer of the belt lacks ability. This is not true.

On the same note, many believe that a black belt is the ultimate in martial art achievement. In reality, it is just another step in the learning process.

Taekwondo belt colors were only implemented after the martial arts developed.

There is even a myth behind the origin of the colored Taekwondo belts. Some say that originally, students would begin with a white belt, as is common today, but they are not given new colored belts.

Students were not permitted to wash their belts. And so as they trained, the belts would get darker and darker from perspiration and soon it would become black showing everyone how hard they worked.

The most popularly accepted one is that the Judo founder Professor Jigoro Kano, had implemented a belt system derived from a ranking system used in Japanese schools. The colors are a way of allowing an individual to see how they progress, step by step, and give them something to work hard towards.

When someone move up in the ranks, they begin to realize that it is not the belt they are striving for, but the knowledge which they have gained to achieve the belt.

Many martial arts have different belt rankings and some do not use belts at all.
The following descriptions of the belts are the meanings behind the colors and how they represent development in the student.

1. White.
Image via Wikipedia
White is the traditional color of the Korean dobok. New students wear this as their first belt.

This color represents honor, purity, virtue, and innocence. White signifies innocence as that of a beginning student who has no previous knowledge of taekwondo.

2. Yellow.

Yellow is the second belt color of taekwondo. It is the color of honor, wealth, royalty and well-being.

Yellow signifies the Earth from which a plant sprouts and takes root as the Tae Kwon Do foundation is being laid.

3. Green.

Green is the third belt color in martial arts. The first of the intermediate colors, it is here that practitioners will realize how much there is to learn and how far there is to go.

Green signifies the plant's growth as taekwondo skill begins to develop.

4. Blue.

Blue is the fourth belt color.

Blue denotes authority, truth, loyalty, and mystery. It also symbolizes quality.

To wear a blue belt is to start to learn the vast history, philosophy and mysteries of taekwondo.

Blue signifies the Heaven, towards which the plant matures into a towering tree as training in taekwondo progresses.

5. Red.

Red is the last color belt before black belt.

Red evokes excitement, anger, and intensity. Red orders attention. There is great joy and passion in red.

It signifies danger, teaches the student to exercise control and warning the opponent to stay away.

6. Black.

Black is the color most people link with martial arts.

To a non-martial artist, to have a black belt is to have mastered the art.

To a student, it symbolizes just beginning true learning of the art.

Black is the color of wisdom, silence and eternity. To have a black belt is to have the sum of all knowledge from prior belt levels, and to move on to new levels.

Black is the opposite of white, therefore, signifying the maturity and proficiency in taekwondo. It also indicates the wearer's immunity to darkness and fear.

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The 4 Key Styles of Taekwondo Training

Taekwondo is considered by many to be an ideal workout as it combines most elements sought after in a balanced fitness program.

Many people understand that there are various styles of martial arts but they do not realize that within a style like Taekwondo, there are also various styles.

Tang Soo Do: Image via Wikipedia

Tang soo do is an extremely popular martial art that evolved from the kicking arts of taekyon and subak. It is similar to tae kwon do and maintains its heritage as a traditional way of promoting the values of self-control, respect, and discipline in the pursuit of self-improvement.

Important characteristics that underpin the art include humanity, wisdom, etiquette, and trust. Tang soo do is particularly popular in the US, where it is sometimes advertised under the name of karate or Korean karate. Chuck Norris is probably its most well-known practitioner in the West. He is the six-time undefeated world professional middleweight karate champion and one-time martial teacher of Steve McQueen, Priscilla Presley, and Donny Osmond.

Han Kum Do:

Han kum do (HKD) is a sword system in which the basic cutting techniques mimic the Korean script known as "hangul". It follows the fundamental principles of multiple strikes on multiple opponents. Developed by Myung Jae Nam, the art came to popular attention during the third international HKD Games in 1997. Hangul, known as the most scientific alphabet in existence, is very easy to learn and has 24 characters (10 vowels and 14 consonants).

Making the sword cuts on the letters of the alphabet is an ingenious training aid that helps students to memorize the various cuts and enables them to perform the required movements instinctively in very little time.

Won Hwa Do:

Won hwa Do is a hybrid art that relies on 360-degree rotations to generate power, supporting the key philosophy that in nature there are no straight lines or angles of attack. Long-term practice, however, damages the joints and ligaments.

Weapons such as the short stick, knife, and sword are routinely taught, with attacks and defends born from "bi son" the rhythm used during traditional prayer and dance. The circular attacking motions of the art belong to the same tradition as those used for massaging injuries.

Hankido:

Hankido is a hybrid martial art that incorporates aspects of aikido, with kicking and striking techniques, acrobatic flips, and kicks reminiscent of tae kwon do. Students develop "ki" Korean for "qi" to learn 12 basic self-defense moves and 24 breathing techniques.

They also spin and dance to develop coordination, rhythm, timing, and softness. The art's philosophy centers on the principles of "circle," "flow," and "heart," and each has a specific exercise. "Jeon hwan bup" (the circle exercise) teaches circular moves for defense, leverage, and throwing. "Young nyu bup" (the flow exercise) encourages students to see moves as a continual interaction between themselves and their opponents, promoting an attitude of fearless, relaxed action. "Shim hwa bup" (the rowing exercise) encourages the heart to develop a fighting spirit.

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