Taekwondo Hints and Tips

Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your Taekwondo training.

Work your basics

At first this is all that you will be doing but, as you progress in skill, always revisit them. Think first about your stance and then about the individual techniques that come from each of them. A Taekwondo student must always have a good base and it's the first thing that judges will be looking for in gradings and competitions.

Get flexible

All Taekwondo techniques look nicer if uninhibited by stiffness. If you only train a couple of days a week, do some stretching every day with one day of rest or extremely light stretching only.

Kick faster and jump higher

Taekwondo kicks don't just have to be high, but fast too! Once you have been training a few months, look to use your days off to train your muscle's explosive power with the science of plyometrics. Click here to see the range of exercises you can do to improve your Taekwondo kicking speed and give yourself the edge.

Train with respect

Respect your teacher, if you cannot then you will be unable to learn from him. Respect your classmates, otherwise you will not enjoy an optimum training experience with them. Lastly respect yourself and your body - ignore your own limits and you will suffer the consequences.

Taekwondo is based on a strictly hierarchical peerage system handed down through centuries. Unlike European culture, Koreans show particular respect to their elders throughout adult life. A fully grown man can be publicly chastised by an elder for not doing so. The first and most important gesture of respect in Taekwondo is the simple bow. Taekwondo students must bow to their teachers at the beginning and end of class. Judges must be bowed to at the beginning and end of all grading and competition events. A student must demonstrate that he grasps Taekwondo's most basic principles - personal humility and respect.