Posts Tagged ‘TKD’
Saturday, November 29th, 2008
The belts and their colors that are used with Taekwondo aren’t just a random assortment of colors that are used to separate the ranks in the martial art. In Taekwondo, each belt color has a meaning that lets fighters known about their advancement and increasing knowledge. Belts are also great for the stylist, as they let the stylist know just how far they have progressed.
The colors of the belts found in Taekwondo vary, as they represent the advancement of rank, as well as the growth of the student. It can take a long time for students to move up the ranks, all depending on their knowledge and how quite they adapt to the techniques and forms of the art.
Below, are the colors and belts of Taekwondo, along with their meaning.
White belt
A white belt is the symbol of birth, or the beginning for the stylist. Students that wear white belts are just starting out, searching for the knowledge to continue Taekwondo.
Yellow belt
A yellow belt is the first ray of light that shines on the student, giving them new strength to the Taekwondo martial art. Students that have yellow belts have taken a great step in learning, and have opened their mind to new techniques.
Green belt
A green belt is the symbol of growth, or a seed as it sprouts from the ground and begins to grow into a plant. Students with green belts are continuing along the path of Taekwondo, learning to develop further and redefine every technique they have been taught.
Blue belt
A blue belt represents a blue sky, with the plant continuing to grow upwards, heading for the sky. Students with blue belts continue to move higher in ranks, as the plant continues to grow taller. Students at this stage will also be given additional knowledge of Taekwondo so that their mind and body can continue to grow and develop.
Red belt
The red belt is the heat of the sun, with the plant continuing the path upwards toward the sun. Students that possess red belts are higher in rank, as they have acquired a lot of the knowledge in the art of Taekwondo. Red belts also tell the students to be cautious, as they gain more knowledge and their physical techniques increase.
Black belt
A black belt is the best of the best. It symbolizes the darkness that is out there beyond the light of the sun. Once the student is given a black belt and begins to train other students, he will teach all that has been taught to him. Black belts recognize the best students, as they continue to teach others the art of Taekwondo, and continue the never ending cycle of training.
Technorati Tags: kae kwon do belts, kaekwondo belts, Martial Arts, Tae Kwon Do, TKD
Tags: kae kwon do belts, kaekwondo belts, Martial Arts, Tae Kwon Do, TKD
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Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
With most types of martial arts, the color of the belt that you have will signify your rank within your style of martial arts. The belts that are used with martial arts signify your rank within that style, although they have no universal means or ranking within the martial arts world. More or less, they tell others how much you know about your specific martial art.
The use of belt colors in martial arts is an old practice, dating back hundreds of years. Belts and their use in martial arts all started by a man known as Jigoro Kano, who created the style known as Kodokan Judo. Kano started out by using only white and black belts to signify rank within his style of martial arts. His reason for using belts, was to specify which students could compete in different activities. For example, those with white belts couldn’t compete in the same activities as those with black belts.
Shortly after Kano introduced his idea of using belts, other belt colors were introduced to the world of martial arts. Over the years, it became a great way of telling what experience a student had in his style – just by the look of his belt. Other styles began to use this system as well over the years, including Karate, Taekwondo, and several others.
The only problem with using belts to signify ranking, is the fact that one school may have different requirements from another school. Even though they both may teach the same style of martial arts, their ranking system and requirements to get a certain ranking may be totally different. This can cause confusion in ranks, especially if a black belt from one school isn’t as versed in the style as a black belt from another school. Even though most schools stick to the same criteria, there are schools that choose to incorporate their own unique style as well.
Although most martial arts styles use belts to signify rank, there are some martial arts out there such as Shootfighting that don’t use belts at all. The styles that choose not to use belts don’t go by rankings either, as they are more or less for self defense purposes. Pitfighting is another style that doesn’t use belts either. These styles are great to learn for protecting yourself – although they differ from the traditional sense of martial arts.
All things aside, belts are an innovation to martial arts. They give students something to aim for, and a reason to keep practicing. Most students that study martial arts aim for getting the black belt, which is the most prestige belt in martial arts. A black belt takes years of practice to obtain, as the student will move through many lower ranked belts before getting the opportunity to try and earn the black belt.
Technorati Tags: Karate, louisivlle, louisville kentucky, Martial Arts, Tae Kwon Do, TKD
Tags: Karate, louisivlle, louisville kentucky, Martial Arts, Tae Kwon Do, TKD
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Monday, November 17th, 2008
Tae Kwon Do is a modern martial art, well known all around the world for it’s lightning fast, often high, spectacular spin kicks. Tae Kwon Do has been around for many years, originally founded in Korea. It translates to “the are of punching and kicking”, or the “art of unarmed combat”.
The martial art Tae Kwon Do has four disciplines – patters, self defense, break test, and sparring. It isn’t just one of these disciplines that make up the art, but a combination of them. All 4 of them are important, especially for those looking to advance in belt ranking. To advance in a belt, there are certain tests that students need to pass.
One of the great things about Tae Kwon Do is the fact that there are no age limits, and it can easily be learned by young children. Children of all ages will quickly learn fast reactions playing games, learn respect, and they will also learn their abilities as well as their disabilities.
The competitions however, are a bit different for children than they are for the adults. Even though the participants will wear full body protection, children can only kick and punch to the body, as no shots to the head are allowed. The competitions in Tae Kwon Do is what makes the art so very dominating. A majority of students that practice this martial art do so because of the competitions.
The competitions can be very exciting to watch, as they can get very competitive. Contrary to what many may think, the competitions aren’t deadly, nor are they anywhere close to being as dangerous as Muay Thai fights. Competitors will wear full protection, including head gear. For adults, kicks to the head are allowed, although a majority of stylists can block them before they make impact.
In order to participate in the competitions, stylists will need to have a certain level of experience. It can take years to become good enough, especially for those who win. Competitions are a great way to learn, especially if there are participating fighters from other areas of the world. The skill of a stylist is a very important factor with the competitions and tournaments. If you have a black belt fighter going against a white belt – the results will normally be quite obvious.
All things aside, the art of Tae Kwon Do is a great martial art. Stylists can learn kicking, punching, blocking, and the spectacular movements the art is known for. Tae Kwon Do is practiced all around the world, meaning that there are just as many places to learn this art as there are Karate. For an art that won’t disappoint – Tae Kwon Do teaches self defense and a whole lot more.
Haynes TKD is a great Louisville area school.
Technorati Tags: Karate, Louisville, louisville kentucky, Martial Arts, Tae Kwon Do, TaeKwonDo, TKD
Tags: Karate, Louisville, louisville kentucky, Martial Arts, Tae Kwon Do, TaeKwonDo, TKD
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Monday, September 15th, 2008
David Gilbert unveils the secrets of the Tae Kwon Do Forms. David who believes in the practice of forms reveals secrets that TKD masters don’t want to be generally known. It’s not clear why they would feel this way but David makes clear that forms are an important aspect of learning Tae Kwon Do. Still Martial Artists like Bruce Lee argued for a freeer expression of the art. Who is right? See what David has to say.
Tae Kwon Do Forms – Self-Defense Guidelines
By David Gilbert
I am an absolute martial arts enthusiast. Or specifically I practice the Tae Kwon Do Forms, Tae Kwon Do Sparring and Poomse as well.
Some people practicing Tae Kwon Do Forms might think: what’s the purpose of Tae Kwon Do training if you’re not allowed to use it in the streets?
Myth and Truth
In fact, it’s a myth. There is some style of Tae Kwon Do that focuses on self-defense aspect within the art. The reason many think that Tae Kwon Do Forms is useless on the street is because of the fact that the majority of what others see are the style of Tae Kwon Do that focus on mainly Olympic competition format.
Tae Kwon Do Forms is an exercise. Most Tae Kwon Do instructors don’t want and forbid you to use it because they know that it is useless and they don’t want you to know that. Plain and simple. My view, don’t have to agree. Like most all styles that are “traditional” use kata. You’ll know if it is real. First off a lot of contact when training, I am not saying fighting, but contact. You’ll hurt and get scratches and a little black and blue. If your not, then your in an exercise class, not a class for self defense, at least not an effective and real one.
Self-Defense Guidelines
You can use Tae Kwon Do or any other style of martial arts on the street to defend yourself. And please follow these simple guidelines:
1, It must be to defend only. The law does allow martial artist to defend ourselves. But we aren’t supposed to kill the people that have attacked us with his fist.
2, We are supposed to use some type of restraint. I am not supposed to break 10 bones even though that is what we are trained to do.
3, The defense has to be on the same level as the offense. If a guy attacks with a knife and I disarm him and he is no longer a threat I am supposed to stop fighting. In other words if I take him down and he is now unable to continue to attack I can’t continue to hurt him because I am upset.
4, There are some gray areas regarding the law. It is best that once you have taken the guy down and he isn’t an immediate threat you should leave the area as soon as possible. You don’t have to break every bone in his body are put him in a comma before you stop retaliating.
5, Use the self defense that you have been taught. Don’t go overboard. If you do go overboard you will go to jail. That doesn’t matter if you know martial arts or not. Going to jail is not worth it if you can get yourself out of the situation. If my life or family life is threatened I will respond with the same force. That means I will take a life. I have no choice and the law is supposed to protect me in that situation.
6, You should probably find someone who has been doing karate or kung fu around the same time as you and see if you can at least give him a good fight. If you can’t and the guy totally beats you up then you should consider getting out of that Tae Kwon Do class.
In Summary
At the end of the day, in a life and death situation a swift kick to the shenanigans would be a better form of defense than showing off what you learned at your Tae Kwon Do Form class.
Technorati Tags: Karate, Louisville-Karate, Louisville-Tae-Kwon-Do-Louisville-KY, Tae Kwon Do, TKD
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Sunday, August 31st, 2008
By Clint Leung
The two most common martial arts practiced in North America are karate and tae kwon do. Many wonder what the difference between these two martial arts is. This is especially the case for those who are just starting to look around for a martial arts studio. After all, most practitioners in both karate and tae kwon do seem to wear the same type of white gi uniforms with various colored belts.
Modern traditional karate was developed in the islands of Okinawa in Japan after some influences from Chinese martial arts. There are actually different styles of karate but they are all commonly considered as Japanese martial arts today. The colored belt system was developed to show the various ranks of karate practitioners with white depicting novices and black belts (with various degrees) representing instructor levels and higher. There is a whole range of other different colors in between. Modern tae kwon do was developed in Korea after much influence from Japanese karate during the occupation by Japan. Indeed, tae kwon do is sometimes referred to as Korean karate. The Koreans adopted similar white uniforms along with a colored belt ranking system for tae kwon do. Today, there are two main styles of tae kwon do, one under the International Tae Kwon Do Federation and the other under the World Tae Kwon Do Federation. Many tae kwon do schools have added a black lining to their white uniforms for black belt levels. A V-neck top is often seen in schools affiliated with the World Tae Kwon Do Federation. There are also older Korean styles including tang soo do and moo duk kwan. Some of the more Americanized karate and tae kwon do schools also use uniforms with other colors such as red, black and blue in addition to the traditional white.
It can be generalized that in karate, one would use their arms or hands for 60% of the time for strikes or blocks while the use of legs for kicking will be about 40%. This breakdown is seen in the many forms or katas of karate which are set routines which simulate fighting against imaginary opponents using martial arts techniques. The forms from tae kwon do would have the opposite percentage breakdown with 40% hands and 60% legs. In tae kwon do, there is also more emphasis on higher kicks to the head level than in karate. Tae kwon do practitioners also utilize more jumping or flying kicks where one is airborne while executing kicking techniques. The tae kwon do forms or patterns are generally a bit shorter and less complex than the karate forms. Some tae kwon do schools have been known to use the odd karate form in its curriculum as well.
In North America as well as other parts of the world, there are separate traditional competitions for karate and tae kwon do. However, the open martial arts tournaments in North America often have competitors from both karate and tae kwon do competing together. Some of the larger open martial arts competition events will have separate forms divisions for Japanese karate and Korean tae kwon do competitors but the fighting or sparring divisions will usually be combined. Many black belts in tae kwon do end up studying karate as well and the opposite has been true too. Tae kwon do has received more publicity in recent years since its introduction as an Olympic sport. The style and rules used for the Olympic version of tae kwon do fighting comes from the World Tae Kwon Do Federation (WTF). Both karate and tae kwon do are considered as hard style martial arts in North America today (as opposed to soft styles such as the many versions of Chinese kung fu).
Clint Leung is a lifelong martial artist with over 32 years of training experience in kung fu, tae kwon do, karate, kickboxing and martial arts weaponry. He has won Canadian and world championship titles (NASKA, NBL and WSKF). He is also owner of Free Spirit Activewear (http://www.FreeSpiritActivewear.com) , an online retailer and designer of premium martial arts activewear. Free Spirit Activewear has martial arts info articles.
Technorati Tags: Karate, Louisville, Tae Kwon Do, TaeKwonDo, TKD
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