TAEKWON-DO AND PHYSICAL FITNESS
The study of Taekwon-Do offers several unique advantages to the physical fitness of the student.
No doubt one life’s most treasured assets is good health. Wealth, power, fame and the blessing of physical beauty are all relatively unimportant if one does not possess good health. An individual owes it to him self and his family to constantly maintain and improve his health. A philosopher once said, “being in good health is a way of showing great devotion to the parents, as child’s health is their utmost concern”.
Taekwon-Do may be practiced individually or in groups without the use of weights of special equipment. It is in most cases, practiced alone except in sparring. Since the body sets its own limits, injuries or strains are rare and the physical condition of the student paces him automatically. The entire system of the body, from the fingers to the toes, is brought into play.
HOW OUR BODY BENEFITS FROM TRAINING TAEKWON-DO?
The training does no produce large knotty muscles, it tends to exchange flabby fat tissue for lean muscle. The tick muscles developed throughout weight training tend to push the blood vessels apart without adding new ones to fill the gap. Such tissue has difficulty in receiving oxygen and disposing of waste through the blood stream and thus tires more easily.
Taekwon-Do’s high repetition , low resistance movements develop a longer, leaner and more flexible musculature. Such muscles have more of their area close to blood supply routes, thus producing maximum endurance and well being.
BENEFITS FORM TAEKWON-DO KICKS
The emphasis in twisting the trunk in executing the kicking movements and in counter balancing the hand movements build a firm, well-muscled abdomen
The high leg raise preceding most of the kicks in Taekwon-Do also develops the side of the trunk and the inner thigh muscles.
TAEKWON-DO BENEFITS FOR WOMEN
The study of Taekwon-Do is recommended for women because of the development of the lower abdomen, hips and inner thighs; areas which produce a youthful feminine figure for women of all ages. After childbirth in particular, these areas are weakened; Taekwon-Do training is ideal to restore muscle tone for health as well as appearance.
WHAT CAN MY BODY EXPECT FROM TAEKWON-DO TRAINING SESSION?
The typical training regime, involving extensive movements of the entire body, raises the pulse rate and oxygen characteristics of the heart and lungs over and extended period. This increase ventilation is termed an aerobic effect and provides the following benefits:
Helps the lungs operate more efficiently.
Enlarges the blood vessels, making them more pliable and reducing the resistance blood flow, thus lowering the diastolic blood pressure.
Increases the blood supply, specially red blood cells and haemoglobin.
It makes the body tissue healthier in supplying it with more oxygen.
It conditions the heart, providing more reserve for emergencies.
It promotes better sleep and waste elimination.
The training tends to be a normalizer of body weight in that it results in a gain of solid tissue for the under-weight and loss of body fat for the obese. The estimated calorie consumption for a vigorous Taekwon-Do workout is about seven hundred calories per hour, one of the highest for any sports activity.
HOW TAEKWON-DO CAN IMPROVE MY PERFORMANCE IN OTHER SPORTS?
Taekwon-Do offers a super means of developing the characteristics of good performance in other sports.
Muscular strength
- Dynamic energy – the ability to throw oneself into performance with vigor.
- Ability to change the direction of movement.
- Agility – The ability to move the body from one place in space to another.
- Flexibility of joints, muscles and ligaments.
- Peripheral vision.
- Concentration and the ability to avoid distraction.
- Understanding the mechanics and techniques of body movements.
“Focus” requires that we have muscular strength, balance and the exertion of dynamic energy; when we concentrate all the power of the body at one point in space.
Combinations of fundamental movements and patterns develop agility and the ability to change movements as well as direction while sparring develops peripheral vision and concentration.
IMPORTANCE OF KYAP (YELL) AND BREATHING TECHNIQUES IN TAEKWON-DO
The techniques of warming up and warming down as well as the breathing exercise taught are other examples of the highly developed science of body mechanics and physiology contained within formal Taekwon-Do training.The attacking “YELL” that is taught also has his basis in basic physiology. Aside from serving to demoralize the opponent, the YELL serves also to tighten the lower abdominal muscles to prevent injury in the event of an unexpected counter-attack. In addition, the exhalation, thoracic grunt as practiced also by weightlifters or wrestlers, serves to equalize the pressure increased in the thorax which may result from violent exertion, thus preventing injury in the vital organs. The complete exhalation of the YELL serves to expel the tidal air of the lungs thus increasing the breathing of vital capacity of the lungs.
WHO CAN TRAIN TAEKWON-DO?
It can be seen that the study of Taekwon-Do is recommended for men, women and children. It might provide benefits in perceptual-motor organization, concentration, vision, body development, aerobic conditioning of the heart and lungs and provides training in body control which is valuable in the pursuit of any other sport of physical activity. Coupled with the obvious benefits in self-defense and the satisfaction of mastering ancient art form, it would appear that Taekwon-Do should be part of the life of all people for all their life.