Where is Taekwondo from?
Taekwondo is a Martial Art that originated in Korea in the 1940s and 1950s. Taekwondo came from the combination of many indigenous Korean Martial Arts that have been practiced over the centuries such as Taekkyeon, Gwonbeop, Subak, among others.
Taekwondo was officially founded by General Choi Hong Hi in 1966 when he formed the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF). General Choi was a Korean military general, he formed Taekwondo with the idea of making it suitable for military hand to hand combat.
General Choi wanted to keep Taekwondo similar to the military which is why he created a system of ranking or belts. The belt system, starting a White Belt and moving all the way up to various degrees of Black Belt show your ranking and knowledge of the Taekwondo system.
What does Taekwondo mean?
The meaning of Taekwondo can be broken down into three separate parts, Tae meaning foot, Kwon meaning fist, and do meaning art. Put that together and you get the art of the foot and the fist.
Who is Taekwondo for?
Taekwondo is the world’s largest Martial Art with over 60 million worldwide practitioners and over 8 million certified Black Belts. You can start in Taekwondo by the age of 3, but because it’s a wide and deep range of knowledge, kids, teens, adults, and seniors practice Taekwondo as well.
Some people are worried that they can’t practice Taekwondo due to them being a beginner, never picked up a sport before, or even has some kind of physical ailment or handicap. This is furthest from the truth.
Taekwondo is not a team sport, so you are not required to go at the pace of anyone other than your own. Each workout can be slowed down, sped up, or modified for each student to meet his or her needs.
Taekwondo is a beautiful sport in which the likes of beginners, intermediates, advanced, athletes, people with disabilities, handicaps (including wheelchairs and prosthetics) can participate and get the benefits they are seeking out of the Martial Art.
What are the benefits of Taekwondo for Adults?
Many people may see kids in the Taekwondo class and believe it’s only for kids. This is far from the truth. Although there are many benefits from a kid starting young in the Martial Art, there are just as many benefits that can help adult improve his or her life.
Taekwondo classes on the surface layer will teach you how to defend yourself, you will have that much more confidence going into a real-life situation that you know how to defend yourself from a would-be attacker. As you will learn in class, self-defense is not all just physical, it is also knowing to avoid bad places, bad people, and how to deescalate any potentially violent situations. You will learn of this in your training.
While learning how to defend yourself, you will also be improving your overall physical health. Legs are the largest part of you body and Taekwondo has many kicks you use. By throwing kicks, this is one of the best, and also fun ways to work your cardio. As you use your legs, your blood will be pumping from your legs and throughout your body, giving you a lot more natural energy.
As you work your cardio, you’re also strengthening and toning your muscles, which will help you lose weight, cut out stubborn fat, feel younger, and have more energy than you’ve ever had before. Many people fall in love with the Taekwondo journey and use Taekwondo as a good excuse to kick bad habits such as smoking or drinking. Heavy smoking and drinking will get in the way of your Taekwondo training, so many adults have found taking classes as the best way to kick bad habits.
Taekwondo not only has physical benefits but mental benefits as well. As you progress, you will start to see your confidence building, this is because of the goal-oriented structure Taekwondo was founded upon. It is easy to measure your progress visually through belts and you will be able to see how you can get better at something through hard work and structured focus and discipline. These principles that are learned in the classroom can be carried out through every other aspect of your life once you learn the principled lesson of structured focus and discipline on a certain goal you want to achieve.
Another huge benefit is mental clarity and peace of mind. Most adults have a million things going on between their jobs, their kids and families, bills, social events, and other obligations. Their minds are always running a million miles per hour and it seems as though they never have time for themselves. Taekwondo class takes an immense amount of focus, once you start taking class, you will realize that you must put all your attention and focus on the task at hand and for that hour and class, your mind is not bothered by work, by bills, by the kids. This is a huge relief on your overall stress and anxiety and once you set this hour aside for yourself, you will see how much more clarity you have when going through the rest of your day.
What to do Now?
Here at Gallatin Martial Arts, we offer Taekwondo classes and other Martial Arts including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hapkido, Boxing, MMA, and more.
We offer a one-week free trial so that way you and your friends can come in and find the class that fits best for you!
With our expert instructors, we’re ready to help you start your journey today!
Click below to schedule a free trial class.