Benefits of Tae Kwon Do
The benefits of Taekwondo are physical, mental and spiritual to any individual – teaching key traits to children, modelling them into first class citizens who work to fulfil their potential, as well as supporting adults (men and women alike) with their personal development. Every student has the opportunity to progress through the Tae Kwon-Do ranks in the same way and each student is given the chance to learn skills and develop at their own pace without discrimination. Each of the benefits listed and explained below are ideal for the evolution of this modern-day society, ensuring each student embraces individuality and are accepting to both themselves and others in addition to enhancing key traits to encourage a well-rounded individual including; self-discipline, respect and mental health support.
Being apart of West Midlands Tae Kwon-Do enhances YOUR belief in YOUR ability to complete a physical skill or task! Tae Kwon-Do is assessed and set up on a “rank” system, gaining a new belt and rank every time you take and pass a grading. Such method is used to break up the key physical skills you will need to learn before obtaining a black belt and making sure a step-by-step process is used helps adults and children feel proud of each skill learned. This sense of pride and achievement will boost your confidence and self-esteem. Tae Kwon-Do also focuses on the fitness element of the modern martial art; toning muscles, boosting healthy bones nd helping you lose weight – not only giving you a sense of pride through learning the art, but also making your body happier and healthier. For people with personal goals such as losing weight, you learn how to overcome obstacles and gain confidence doing this.
This again happens both physically and mentally in order to correct and establish disciplined focus.
Physically, at West Midlands Tae Kwon-Do you will learn strikes, punches and kicks which, according to the Theory of Power, you will need to apply focus to the technique ensuring it is effective and destructive. We give you the tools to defend and protect yourself if needed and this requires a lot of attention and focus to perfect, to be usable in times of trouble. Focus needs to be used to perfect each skill in Tae Kwon-Do, just as it needs to be used to complete any other life task – a certain amount of concentration and patience needs to be established before you can complete a task to its fullest potential.
So, this one might sound a little cliché – how can doing Tae Kwon-Do make you happy? Is this just a marketing tactic? Actually, no its not. We’re not saying that every time you walk into our Tae Kwon-Do
classes you’re going to be happy and smiley, but we are saying fitness through our Tae Kwon-Do lessons will generally make you feel happier and healthier. Feeling happier after exercise comes from the brain producing and releasing chemicals during physical activity. The chemical Serotonin is released during fitness activities. Serotonin is the chemical for happiness, joy, elation and calmness – which can help fight depression and anxiety, balancing out these neurochemicals. In addition to this, the happiness through joining our Tae Kwon-Do classes comes from the socialising and friendship aspect with studies showing a better support system can influence your mood on a daily basis – and that’s exactly what West Midlands Tae Kwon-Do is; a support system, a community.
This is obvious to anyone. Punching and kicking things when you haven’t got additional daily stress around you is relieving, think about how much better this is when you have additional stress and pressure. By using focus pads to practice techniques such as punching, kicking and striking – doing this with precision, correct technique and force can be a wonderful way of relieving some additional pressure.
Stress release and stress management happens inside the brain – as well as making you happy, Serotonin is a proven chemical released by the brain to relieve stress. Endocannabinoids also naturally occur in the brain, causing the sensation of calmness.
At West Midlands Tae Kwon-Do we offer mixed age, mixed ability and mixed gender classes, meaning you can come along with your friends and family. However, whether you come with your friends and family or on your own, we guarantee you will be able to make friends and be part of a friendly community – and these friends can potentially be people you can rely on when times are tough.
For children, Tae Kwon-Do teaches social skills from an early age – which is great for a child’s confidence and assuring children when change is taking place. Whereas with adults, this socialisation at our Tae Kwon-Do classes provide mental stimulation combatting loneliness which may occur to some in the later stages of life when the kids start to grow up.
West Midlands Tae Kwon-Do also support 2 selected charities (Cancer Research UK & Stroke Association UK), with our students participating in many charity events throughout the year – and you can be a part of this too; whether you’re a student, parent or just want to help out, our charity team are always open to new participants.
Nothing in life is ever easy, every goal you ever set will require a certain amount of discipline to achieve it. As Tae Kwon-Do is based on a ranking system, Goal Settings are pretty much inevitable; “I want to achieve my black belt”, “I want to win world champion”, “I want to learn how to kick”, “I want to lose weight” – We can help!
We work with you on your goal, however specific or individual it is, and we make sure you have all the support necessary to achieve it, maximising your motivation and increasing your focus.
Both the physical and mental goals which you set involve both physical and mental discipline, empowering everyone to stick to their decision / goal and follow through. By developing self-discipline and the ability to stick to set goals ensures better self-esteem, self-confidence and inner strength, leading to happiness and satisfac
tion.
Tae Kwon-Do is known to be the best form of self-defence, with TAGB instructors teaching realistic, applicable defensive techniques.
From defending yourself using techniques to stop an opponent to using counteractive strikes that are designed to break bones, Tae Kwon-Do gives you the skill and confidence to defend yourself and the weak in vulnerable situations.
With the TAGB Oath, our Tae Kwon-Do practitioners will be taught the control and discipline to never abuse their knowledge of the art, using it only for defensive purposes, however the conditioning of a martial artists body ensures defence becomes basic instinct and part of your natural ability.
Resilience is about being able to “bounce back” from stress, challenges or traumas – ensuring an essence of curiosity and adaptability. Tae Kwon-Do can help all these traits, ensuring calmness and supporting both adults and children deal with change.
Respect is a key trait which should be instilled in children from a young age, with respect being taught at home, in school and any extracurricular which your child may be a part of. Being respectful is about being kind, polite and engaged with excellent listening skills while letting go of anger. So how does West Midlands Tae Kwon-Do teach this? Within our training halls (dojang), there are a set of clear rules which every student needs to abide by as well as clear and precise instructions being given by instructors and black belts for lower grades to follow. Children and young adults need to understand there are consequences to actions and we ensure respect is shown in our dojang to every student who attends.
Getting involved in physical exercise is the ideal way to begin to lose weight and tone the body. Energy in / Energy out! Without even dieting, you can lose weight to reach an end goal – by doing more physical output to burn the calories and energy put into the body.
Regular physical exercise can also increase your metabolic rate and West Midlands Tae Kwon-Do focus on doing just that by using cardiovascular exercise and body weight exercises.
Instructors World Master Farquharson, Craig Mason and Georgia Elwell are also fully qualified Level 3 Personal Trainers, meaning they can assist with nutritional advice, goal setting and even laying out a 12- week gym plan if this is required for you to reach your goal.
Before any exercise a warmup and stretching of key muscles should be carried out to ensure you don’t pull or stain these muscles during the main body pf physical exercise. By stretching key muscles in the body including the hamstring, calf, quads and back muscles can increase your range of motion and rehabilitate muscle movement.
During Tae Kwon-Do we do not only loosen the muscle by stretching but we also work on movement in the joints such as the rotator cuff in the shoulder and hip flexors.
Improving your cardiovascular health is a benefit when participating in any type of sport or exercise, especially in Tae Kwon-Do as we provide a good cardio workout every time. Improving cardiovascular health ensures a strong heart to be able to pump blood and oxygen around the body. This improved pumping of oxygen increases your physical output and efficiency of oxygen reaching the muscles. Furthermore, a strong heart can; reduce your risk of heart disease, reduce your risk of arterial disease, ensures your cholesterol is kept in check and lowers your resting heart rate.
At West Midlands Tae Kwon-Do we focus on increasing cardiovascular health through cardio activity and strengthening muscles through body weight exercises including; press ups, sit ups, squats etc.
By conditioning the body increases the strength the muscles can withstand and natural exercise progression such as changing the positioning of the hands in a press up can add extra resistance for those who find the standard body weight exercise too easy.
Tae Kwon-Do also focuses on using your body weight against an opponent’s – strengthening and conditioning key muscles specifically for Tae Kwon-Do and self-defence.
Building bone strength works in the same way as building muscle strength. Every time you increase the amount of weight on your bones or you cause them to receive higher impact, it causes your osteoblasts to lay down new bone matter. Technically your bones grow like your muscles – the more you train, the stronger they get! Your osteoblasts lay down new bone matter with every weight bearing exercise, something which makes them thicker, denser, and stronger. Stronger and better bones can then help to prevent degenerative diseases such as Osteoporosis.
In conclusion, Tae Kwon-Do provides many key benefits mental and physically which other sport cannot provide. This fighting and self-defence support can make you more focused, teach you discipline and respect, make you stronger and more flexible as well as improving health benefits. If you haven’t signed up to your local Tae Kwon-Do class yet, get in contact and begin reaping all these amazing benefits our classes can offer you.