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TaeKwonDo
TaeKwonDo
By Aylee

By Aylee

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Introduction

Different Belts

Poomsae

Sparring

Competition

Fun Facts

Glossary

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Sources

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Introduction !
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A kick above my head, falling into stance. Perfecting my poomsae
with judges taking note. I bet your wondering what poomsae is, well then
just read on further to find out about even more wonders of the Korean
sport TaeKwonDo!

Different Belts!
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Many colours on and on! Each colour matches a different level.
TaeKwonDo involves 9 colour belts and 10 black belts. Out of all the
belts there are precisely 5 half belts, which means a belt in between two
colour belts (or between red and black) but never between two black
belts.There is a case were you can skip a belt, but only if youve been
that belt for a really long time.!
Belt

Level

White

Level 1

White-Yellow

Level 2

Yellow

Level 3

Yellow-Green

Level 4

Green

Level 5

Green-Blue

Level 6

Blue

Level 7

Blue-Red

Level 8

Red

Level 9

Red-Black

Level 10

Black

Level 11

Other Black belts

Level 12-21

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The black belts are called dans. To actually be able to get your
black belt you have to be 15, but you can still get red black which
basically is black. So, if you go to a competition as a black belt and you
are under 15 that means you have to were a red-black belt or a red belt.!
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To level up you need to know certain poomsaes. You also have to
know them by heart because you will have to perform all by your self.!
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To become a master you need to be 7th dan and to be a grand
master you need to be 9th dan. Most people teach TaeKwonDo when
the are a Master, but some people help/assist the Master to teach the
class. Most Masters own a studio or book a place to teach classes. A
Master does not have to teach if they do not want to.!
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Karate, Techie, Judo and many other martial arts have similar
belts but they have the odd random belts like grey or purple.!
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When you become a higher belt it takes longer and longer to get
the next belt. When you are black belt, it sometimes takes as long as
what dan you are, but it depends on your group or your level. !

Poomsae!

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TaeKwonDo is mainly about self defence and certain skills, so that
means you have to show the blocks and kicks that you should use while
defending yourself. To perform poomsae with accuracy you need to
have rhythm, power, balance and technique. There are 17 poomsaes in
all! There are 8 colour belt poomsaes and 9 black belt poomsaes. The
black belts have names for their poomsaes. !

Black

Belt
1

koryo

Poomsae
2

Kkeumga
-ng

3
taebaek

4
pyongwon

5
sipjin

6
jitae

7
chonkwon hansu

9
ilyeo

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For every belt you need to know a certain poomsae. Most of the
time you have to know one more poomsae to level up, unless you are a
higher belt you may have to learn more. You may already be learning
the next poomsae, but thats ok many people already know the next
poomsae. !
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Poomsae is not in the Olympics but sparring is. Some people are
working on and trying to bring it into the Olympics and we hope within a
few years it will be in.!
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Each poomsae has a different amount of steps, but the higher belts
usually have more steps. In each poomsae there is usually a new
technique that is more advanced. You need to know all basic self
defence before you start learning the poomsaes. As you slowly
advance, you will need to know more poomsaes for each belt.!
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Sparring!
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Sparring is a certain type of fighting that is controlled and involves
points. You have to wear pads on your arms, shins, body and you must
wear a helmet. The pads help protect and determine if its a point or not,
depending on the sound which shows strength/power.!
Head: 3

Body: 1

Leg: -1 point

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Every match can be about 1-3 minutes. You have to jump the entire time
on the balls of your feet. You are allowed to punch, but not the face or
you will be disqualified. If every part of your body is of the mat, or the
area that you are sparring in.!
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A way to prepare for sparring in competitions or anywhere is to
jump robe. This helps because the whole time when you are sparring
you have to jump so thats why jumping rope helps. !
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Balance is very important for sparring because in sparring balance
is basically power. Why is this? Balance is power because without
balance you would fall while kicking and that is a minus point.!
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Always drink water when you are fighting because it is really
exhausting even thought it is not that long. You will have a coach
sitting on the side lines of the fight. They can yell orders but not all
coaches do.!
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Sparring is in the Summer Olympics and is one of the only the only
martial arts in the Olympics. This is because TaeKwonDo and judo
consist of one style ware as karate as many different styles. Not all
agree that karate should not be an Olympic sport though.
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Competition!
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There are many competitions
across the globe. Some are bigger than
others, It just depends, but all have some
things similar to each other. Some are
poomsae and sparring and some are one
or the other. A majority of competitions are
held by WTF (World TaeKwonDo
Federation) but not all.!
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In a competition with sparring you
start off with ten points and for every
mistake you lose a point. There are judges
on every side of the mat that you are
performing on(most of the time).!
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In sparring you are matched up with
someone your weight, but that person will
not always be your size or belt. In
competition you spar like you!
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There are many competitions across the globe. Some are bigger
than others,All have something similar to each other. Some are
poomsae and sparring and some are one of the other. A majority of
competitions are held by WTF (World TaeKwonDo Federation) but not
all.!
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There are also pair poomsae and family poomsae were you have
to perform at the exact time with a family member or a friend from your
club.!
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In sparring you are matched up with someone your weight, but that
person will not always be your size or belt. In competition you spar like
you normally would in your club.!
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The next world championship will be in Russia, Chelyabinsk.
People of all ages from all around the world will be competing at that
one competition.!
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Overall, TaeKwonDo is like many martial arts but also way
different. If you are not in TaeKwonDo, give some thought about maybe
joining!!
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Fun Facts!

TaeKwonDo was founded on the 11th of April 1955.

The meaning of TaeKwonDo is the way of hand and foot.

The Korean term of training hall is dojang.

The uniform is called a dobak.

Glossary!

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Poomsaes - They are sequences of actions that perform self defence.!
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Master - Someone who leads and coaches you/a club.!
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Martial Arts - A group of sports like TaeKwonDo that are all similar in
some way.!

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Accuracy - Able to give a correct reading or measurement. !
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Disqualified - Not allowed to precede further.!
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Exhausting - Making one feel very tired.!
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Competitions - A event ware many compete against each other.!
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Sources!

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-www.wtf.org!
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-www.funtrivia.com !
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-www.talktaekwondo.co.uk!
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-en.wikepedia.org!
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