Taekwon-Do 태권도

What is Taekwon-Do?

Taekwon-Do is the Korean martial art of self defence, and is a combat sport. The founding father of Taekwon-Do was a general in the Korean army, General Choi Hon Hi. Taekwon-Do was taught to the Korean army for hand to hand combat.

There are two main types of Taekwon-Do. Ch'ang-Hon or traditional style, and sport style. Lionheart Martial Arts teaches the Ch'ang-Hon style, which focuses more on self defence, tradition, and technique. Ch'ang-Hon style Taekwon-Do most resembles Okinawan Karate when compared to other martial arts.

Within the two main styles, you will find numerous organisations which set rules, policy, and promotion criteria. Lionheart Martial Arts is registered with the International Ch'ang-Hon Taekwon-Do Federation.

Taekwon-Do Founder General Choi Hon Hi

A closer look.

When we break Taekwon-Do down, we see that it is composed of, Fundamental Movements, Patterns, Sparring, Self Defence, Power, and Theory.

Fundamental Movements

Before you can run, you must crawl.

The fundamental movements are the basic techniques and foundation of each belt level. Students will learn stances, attacking tools, and blocking tools. Students will first learn the techniques and practice them. Students will then use techniques on pads, increasing the power used, and students hold the pads, learning how to take a hit.

Students will learn and are expected to perform these techniques before moving to their next belt.

Patterns

Each belt level has a specific pattern that the student will learn, using the fundamental techniques for that level.

The patterns are put together in a fashion that resemble you are defending yourself from an opponent or opponents. By putting the patterns together, the student builds upon the fundamentals and progress towards self defence and sparring. This provides the student the opportunity to practice offensive and defensive techniques without a partner.

Students must learn a pattern for each belt level and perform the pattern correctly, before promotion to the next belt level.

Sparring

Sparring is the safe equivalent of fighting for your life! It is where the student can test their marital arts skills against others in a controlled environment.

Sparring is broken down into step sparring where students learn the proper distance and geometrey of each technique. Students learn attacking techniques and the best targets for them, and which defensive techniques are best used for those attacks.

Free sparring is where the students have the the opportunity to spar againts other opponents. We start sparring with no contact, and as the student gains more control, they will transition into light contact, up to harder contact. Free sparring is great for fitness, and teaches the student to have control over their techniques and emotions, how to remain calm under pressure, and critical thinking when being attacked.

Self Defence

As stated above, Ch'ang-Hon Taekwon-Do was developed by General Choi and taught to the Korean army for hand to hand combat. Lionheart Martial Arts teaches the best form of self defence is to be aware of your surroundings, avoid dangerous situations, and to know how to de-escalate confrontations. When this can not be done, students are taught techniques they can use to defend themselves in hand to hand combat.

Power (Board Breaking)

Once the student has learned the fundamentals, they will then learn how to generate power with their techniques. We will start learning power by kicking and striking pads, without fear of hurting themselves, and building confidence. The students then practise their techniques, breaking plastic rebreakable boards. For belt promotions and demonstrations, students break wooden boards showing the destructive abilities of their techniques.

Theory

Taekwon-Do is more than physical fitness, self defence, and combat, it is discipline over the mind, body, and spirit. Taekwon-Do translates to "The way of the hand and foot" and specifically, "Do" means way of life and this is what Taekwon-Do is really about. Beyond fighting and combat, it is a life long practice, philosophy, and a way of thinking.

Students will learn discipline, respect, and etiquette as they adopt the Student Oath and Tenets of Taekwon-Do. These ethical guidelines provide how students should behave in the Do-Jang (gym) and outside in their everyday lives, thus making Taekwon-Do a way of life.

Students learn how techniques work, how to generate power, history and more to develope their mind. Students are required to be able to explain what they have learned for promotion to the next level.

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