Tag Archives: philosophy

Olympic Excitement and working out at home

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Over 70 million people in 91 countries practice taekwondo, according to a recent AP news story. That is a lot of people who will be interested in the coverage of the sparring matches in the Olympics in London, going on right now. Also according to the story, to keep the sport of sparring fresh and interesting–and fair–the matches will be scored electronically and have instant replay available. Why? What happens in a taekwondo fight, whether in competition sparring or a self-defense situation, happens so fast that sometimes the human eye cannot even see it. Even trained judges can miss what happened. The new electronic system removes the doubt and rewards the achievements of the fighters. 

 

But when you work out in your home dojang, when you take sparring class, no one is there to award you points. The achievements are measured on a different scale. Did you achieve what you set out to do? Did your technique improve? Did you learn what you need to move to the next level? Did you work hard? Did you build strength or flexibility or improve your health? Chances are you can say yes to all those things if you are taking class regularly. And those things are more important than “points” or medals. 

Taekwondo at the Olympics and at home

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The summer Olympic Games in London will be starting soon and you may be hearing about taekwondo as an Olympic sport. Did you know the United States is one of the top countries in taekwondo? Since taekwondo was admitted to the Olympics in 1988, South Korea leads the medal count with 12, Chinese Taipei has 7, and the USA is next with 6 medals. 64 countries competed in taekwondo in the Olympics in 2008. 

 

Olympic competition represents the fighting spirit of taekwondo and the constant striving for self-improvement that is part of the art. Olympic-style sparring is only one piece of the art. Self-defense is a separate skill from the sport that is sparring. Forms–their performance and perfection–is another aspect. Union of mind and body in health and confidence is another. When you practice your kicks and punches, though, it’s fun to dream of gold medals.

A great martial art for women and men

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Taekwon-do is a versatile martial art that allows for success of different body types and different physiques. Many women in particular find they take to the kicking aspect of the art quickly, as women tend to have hip flexibility and thigh strength when they walk in the door. Men have a tendency toward more upper body strength, and there are hand techniques in taekwon-do that utilize that strength as well. Ultimately it is the combination of hand and foot techniques though, that creates the beauty and effectiveness of taekwon-do, which literally translates as “the way of foot and fist.”

Quality Instruction Is The Difference

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The City of Cambridge brings together people from all over the world. Our school unites people from age 5 to 75, from Brazil, Korea, China, Mexico, India, Japan, Morocco, France, Ireland, and more, as well as folks from all over the United States and Massachusetts. They train together as one big family with many goals. Taekwon-do is great for mental and physical health. It improves cardio-vascular health, muscle strength and flexibility, reflexes, agility, and balance. It is great stress relief and builds confidence and inner strength. The martial arts bring body and mind together in a way that just running on the treadmill doesn’t. Many students report their ability to focus is improved. On top of all that, when learning taekwon-do, one is learning a self-defense skill.