Having a Black belt and being a Black belt is 2 completely different things. Anyone can get a black belt but being a truly skilled Black Belt in any martial arts takes a lot of training.
Training in a club for 1 hour twice a week is NOT enough time for a student to become fully proficient at taekwondo or any sport. Students MUST practice at home to improve and push the limits of their abilities. It is also good exercise. This page will attempt to give the student advice on what to practice at home.
Note, everyone is different, so try and improve your weakness and get awesome at what you do best. I suggest your priority should be fitness first, then kicking and finally patterns.
I suggest you do a different exercise on different days for between 30-60 minutes. You can listen to music or watch telly while doing them at home. Adults should ensure they warm up properly to avoid injuries.
Click on the links for video tutorials
FITNESS AND STRETCHING DAY
Everyone should strive to be fit, especially if you are a martial artist. Since we are a Taekwondo club, I will suggest you concentrate on taekwondo exercises to improve your fitness for this day’s training. Pick 2 or more of the exercises you would like to do today.
- Shadow boxing and kicking exercises
- Buy a shield (or focus pads) and practice kicks and combinations on it, a lot
- Press-ups (keep back straight, this is a grading requirement)
- Burpees (good for cardio)
- Jog (or skip rope)
- Do NOT do body building or excessive weight training. It slows you down. Think of Bruce lee and NOT Arnold Schwarzenegger
Now, stretch a lot between exercises. I recommend 1-2 minutes holding side (box) splits and both left and right front splits. Recommend using ankle and wrist weights for adults while practicing.
KICKING DAY
This exercise does not need a lot of room. Do both legs and stretch when tired. Use the front leg (both left and right) and put the foot on floor between each kick for maximum cardio. Recommend using ankle weights for adults while practicing. Try and do all these exercises and stretch between them
- 20 turning kicks
- 20 side kicks
- 20 axe kicks
- 20 front hooking kicks
- 20 reverse hooking kicks
- If you have space, practice jumping reverse kicks or any fun kicks eg 3600 kicks or double back kick etc
Remember to stretch regularly. I recommend holding a front or box split for at least 1 minute before and between each set of kicks
PATTERNS DAY
Patterns often require a lot of space which not everyone has at home. Therefore, I recommend practicing your pattern with smaller stances, even baby steps but with correct stances. Concentrate on correct start and finish positions of the hand techniques. Cross check your moves with official moves list. There are 2 ways of practicing patterns and I suggest you alternate between them.
STUDYING DAY: Do all patterns twice without mistake. If you make a mistake it does not count.
- Breath properly and correct timing
- Check that you know what each stance and hand technique is.
- Check that you know what each move can be used for and it’s target.
- If you have a camera (or smart phone) film yourself performing the pattern and review it.
PRACTICE DAY: Do all patterns you know as fast as possible and then in slow motion. This will build “muscle memory” and give a little work out.
Stretch while researching the moves and read the meaning of patterns and belt colors. Mix the theory studies at with your patterns practice.