What Does Taekwondo Teach?
Taekwondo is a 5,000-year-old Korean martial art and an Olympic sport. It is a physical and mental practice that teaches practitioners the "right" ways of using the fists, or "kwon," and feet, or "tae." Taekwondo teaches you to defend yourself and to keep the peace, explains the World Taekwondo Federation. Through vigorous exercise, taekwondo also teaches physical fitness and inspires self-confidence, focus and responsibility.
In taekwondo, you learn hand blocks, punches and kicking. The blocks include rising, knifehand and palm variations. Among the various punching techniques are jabs, reverse punches, upper cuts, hook punches and back fists. The basic kicks are front, back and side kick; as you progress, you learn roundhouse, hook, spinning hook and crescent kick. Advanced versions of blocks, punches and kicks come with higher belt levels and years of study. Taekwondo teachings also include multiple stances, including front stance, fighting stance, horse stance and walking stance.
Poomsaes are combinations of kicks, punches and blocks done in a coordinated movement against an imaginary opponent. They appear much like a dance and teach certain defensive and offensive actions to be automatic. The poomsaes become increasingly more complex as you move up in color-belt rank. Breathing control and mental focus are elements also taught in the poomsaes.
In your taekwondo training, you will participate in one-step, two-step, three-step and free sparring. The step sparring is a form of drill training used by taekwondo students that aims to perfect the physical skills of the martial art. Free sparring pits you against one or more opponents in a non-choreographed battle. This teaches you to apply the kicking, punching and blocking skills in a real-life fighting situation. Protective gear is usually worn during sparring to protect you from injury. Sparring is integral to learning self-dense techniques of how to use an attacker's strength and skills to defend yourself.
Breaking is another important part of the taekwondo curriculum. At each belt level, you learn to execute power through specific kicks and punches to break boards, bricks or other materials. You learn the proper speed, strength and focus required to properly execute skills that cannot be demonstrated on humans without causing injury.
You will also learn about the history of taekwondo and Korean terms. Some schools also include meditation and weapons training. Taekwondo can be especially valuable for children in learning self-respect, concentration, self-discipline and respect for authority.
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