Introducing taekwondo
Taekwondo is just one of the many incredible martial arts forms practiced in martial arts academies around the country. When choosing taekwondo as your martial art of choice, you are embarking on a journey that will prove to be enriching on the mat and in your life.
What is taekwondo?
Taekwondo (stylized as TaeKwonDo or TKD) is a Korean martial art developed in the years following World War II. Taekwondo is a portmanteau of three Korean words – tae (“foot”), kwon (“fist ” or “fight”), and do (“way”). Taekwondo takes from various ancient Korean and Chinese traditions, as well as the Okinawan tradition of karate. It is one of the world’s most popular martial arts and it is the core form of martial arts taught at all Tiger-Rock Martial Arts academies.
Taekwondo training features and benefits
Taekwondo emphasizes head height kicks, jumping kicks, spinning kicks, side kicks, and striking. A typical Tiger-Rock taekwondo lesson will include kicking drills, striking drills, and speed targets. These drills will help you improve your motor skills and flexibility.
Because of its physical nature, we often combine taekwondo drills with other martial arts calisthenics exercises and other strength and conditioning drills to provide for a complete workout. These exercises and strengthening drills help boost your ability as you advance further in taekwondo training.
Taekwondo offers enormous physical fitness benefits, including improved cardiovascular health, boosted athletic ability, and improved balance and coordination. As noted in a 2014 study, taekwondo athletes exhibit good endurance, upper- and lower-body strength, increased flexibility, and anaerobic power.
Taekwondo is defensive in nature; as such, much of our real world self-defense training and counter aggression training is rooted in taekwondo.
This martial art, however, is far more than just kicking and striking; honor, humility, perseverance, respect, and loyalty are some of the key tenets of taekwondo and the Tiger-Rock system. Taekwondo emphasizes good citizenship and self-discipline.
Taekwondo is beneficial for all ages, with some practitioners starting as young as four years old. For kids, taekwondo martial arts training can help strengthen bones, strengthen muscles, and improve coordination and balance. The martial art can also help children become more focused, more self-disciplined, and more respectful of authority.
Taekwondo as a sport
Throughout the years, taekwondo has also developed into a competitive sport. At Tiger-Rock Martial Arts, we hold tournaments at the local, regional, and national levels throughout the United States. These tournaments represent competitive and learning opportunities. At Tiger-Rock Martial Arts, we encourage students to enrich their taekwondo training experience through the spirit of competition.