Fun Facts About Taekwondo

Do you know which is the most popular martial art in the world?

No. it is not Karate or Kung Fu.  It is called Taekwondo – the popular martial art and the national sport in South Korea.  This popular martial art is practiced as a sport in as many as 123 countries all over the world.  It has been estimated that there are more than 30 million practitioners of this unique martial art across the world, of which more than 3 million are holders of black-belt – a certificate for recognition of their skill level in the sport. Taekwondo is one of the two martial arts that have been included in the Olympic Games.

What actually is the sport of Taekwondo?

It is a martial art in which the foot and the fist are used.  In other words, Taekwondo refers to the method of using the foot and the fist effectively in the form of kicking and punching. A student of Taekwondo as a martial art is taught the various techniques and methods involved in punching, kicking as well as blocking using the feet and the fists effectively. The student, in particular, is taught the martial art in a systematic way that involves blocking using the fists effectively, kicking using the legs, punching using the fists and also a series of open-handed attacks.

What makes Taekwondo a popular sport?

Taekwondo is not viewed as a mere sport played for the sake of fun.  It is viewed as an essential and useful martial art that includes many techniques for combating attack from opponent.  It is best considered as an effective tool for self-defense.  In addition to the role of attack as well as self-defense, the martial art of Taekwondo is considered as a very effectively tool for exercising the body, and also for meditation and philosophy, since the sport or the art requires concentration and alertness the most.

What makes Taekwondo special in comparison with Karate and Kung Fu?

Taekwondo uses both the fists and the feet effectively.  The strongest and also the longest organ in a person’s body is the leg.  Taekwondo uses this longest part to the best effect through the means of kicking.  It is believed that kicking the opponent using the legs will be the best way for executing powerful strikes on the opponent and the possibility of retaliation from the opponent is relatively less when kicked powerfully.

Debbie Spiegel, Enrollment Director

Taekwondo Training Techniques

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. It is the world’s most popular martial art in terms of number of practitioners.  In Korean, tae means “foot”; kwon means “fist”; and do means “way” or “martial art”; so Taekwondo is loosely translated as “the way of the foot and fist”

Taekwondo training involves:

1. Techniques and curriculum of taekwondo
2. Anaerobic and aerobic workout, including stretching
3. Self-defense techniques (hosinsul)
4. Forms  (also called patterns, pumsae, teul, hyeong)
5. Sparring
6. Relaxation and meditation exercises
7. Throwing and/or falling techniques
8. Breaking
9. Martial arts demonstrations
10. Power breaking
11. Special techniques
12. Speed breaking
13. Focus on mental and ethical discipline, justice, etiquette, respect, and self-confidence
14. Some taekwondo instructors also incorporate the use of pressure points, known as jiapsul, as well as grabbing self-defense techniques borrowed from other martial arts, such as Hapkido and Judo.

Debbie Spiegel, Enrollment Director

The Importance of Physical Activity for Children

“The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend 60 minutes of physical aerobic activity daily for children ages 6-17 (there are no specifications for those five and under), and 30 minutes daily for adults ages 18-64.”  (http://fitness.gov/be-active/physical-activity-guidelines-for-americans/ )  For children, physical education within the schools is only a partial solution.

“Two decades ago, 42 percent of public school children attended daily physical education classes. Today, gym has been reduced to once a week in many city schools. Nationally, only 4 percent of elementary schools, 8 percent of middle schools, and 2 percent of high schools in the U.S. provided daily physical education or its equivalent for all students in all grades, according to a 2006 report from the Centers of Disease Control.”  (http://www.alternet.org/story/156152/what_ever_happened_to_gym_class_budget_cuts_and_the_rise_of_childhood_obesity )

With obesity on the rise and physical education in schools on the decline, what is a family to do to ensure that their child(ren) maintain a healthy lifestyle?  The answer is to look outside of the school and home for alternatives to physical activities.

The Asian Arts Center offers a one month trial course at no cost or obligation to you.  This gives your family the opportunity to come into one of our two locations, meet our qualified instructors, and participate in two classes per week for an entire month.  Our Taekwondo classes get children moving.  In one 50 minute class, a child will do stretches, run, kick, punch, and more.

The best thing about it is that children are so busy having fun that the physical exercise is rarely noticed.  Many children (as well as adults!) have a negative association to the word “exercise”.  They hear the word and instantly translate it to “too hard”, “too much work”, or “no fun”.  That is not the case at the AAC.  There are relays and games that are often played during a class, allowing children to have fun and cheer each other on.  Before they know it, class is over and they never even noticed that they received a full workout!

Physical activity is the best solution to weigh management for our children and for ourselves.

Angel Perkins, Enrollment Specialist

What is the Meaning of TaeKwonDO?

What is the meaning of Tae Kwon Do?

To put it simply Tae Kwon Do, is a version of unarmed combat designed for the purpose of self-defense. However, it is more than just that. It is the scientific use of the body in the method of self-defense; a body that has gained the ultimate use of its facilities through physical and mental training.

It is a martial art that has no equal in either power or technique. Though it is a martial art, its discipline, technique and mental training are the mortar for building a strong sense of justice fortitude humility and resolve. It is this mental conditioning that separates the true practitioner from the sensationalist, content with mastering only the fighting aspects of the art.

This one of the reasons that Tae kwon-Do is called an art of self-defense. It also implies a way of thinking and life, particularly in instilling a concept and spirit of strict self-imposed discipline and an ideal of noble moral rearmament. The nearest description of it is almost a cult.

Translate literally “TAE” stands for jumping or flying, to kick or smash with the foot, “Kwon” denotes the fist-chiefly to punch or destroy with the hand or fist. “Do” means an art or way – the right way built and paved by the saints and sages in the past.

Thus taken collectively “Tae kwon-Do” indicates the mental training and the techniques of unarmed combat for self-defense as well as health, involving the skilled application of punches, kicks, blocks and dodges with bare hands and feet to the rapid destruction of the moving opponent or opponents.

Debbie Spiegel, Enrollment Director

Unhealthy School Lunches

Processed foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt have become a mainstay of lunches in schools across America and the results are in — experts say these unhealthy school lunches are a contributing factor to the childhood obesity epidemic. A movement is afoot to bring change to school lunch programs across the country.

An estimated 17% of children and adolescents ages 2-19 years are obese according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The possible consequences of childhood obesity can range from physical complications such as diabetes and high blood pressure, to social problems like low self-esteem and depression. And those problems can lead to children who don’t perform as well in school.

Simply put: “healthy students are better learners,” according to Rochelle Davis, the founding Executive Director for the Healthy Schools Campaign.

“What’s wrong with school lunches is what is wrong with all the food we’re eating — it’s not just in the schools,” Davis says. “One of the biggest deficits is the lack of fruits and vegetables and whole grains.”

But there are many obstacles to improving unhealthy school lunches, not the least of which is money. Schools receive $2.68 for each free meal served through the National School Lunch Program, a federal meal program.

That $2.68 must cover payment not just for the food, but also any labor, facility, and structural costs a school incurs. Additionally, schools are mandated to use part of that money for milk purchases.

Another obstacle to addressing the problem is that some schools have given contracts to food management companies. Cory Schreiber, Culinary Instructor at The Art Institute of Portland, says the contracts amount to one of the biggest changes to school lunches. It’s also one that can cause more problems.

“The quality goes down; they have purchasing powers,” he says. “There’s no reason in the world that money [$2.68] should offer a profit. But they know how to manage the subsidies.”

According to the Food Research and Action Center, 31.2 million children participated in the National School Lunch Program through more than 101,000 schools and residential child care institutions during the 2008-09 school year. “On a typical school day,” the center notes, “19.4 million of these 31.2 million total participants were receiving free or reduced price lunches.”

The government isn’t entirely ignoring the issue of unhealthy school lunches. The Healthy School Meals Act of 2010 (H.R. 4870) was introduced in Congress in March and referred to committee. A key provision is a pilot program for selected schools to offer plant-based protein products and nondairy milk substitutes.

Sometimes very simple changes, such as placing bowls of fruits and vegetables on the lunchroom tables while children are waiting for their meals, can have positive effects when it comes to combating unhealthy school lunches, says Lisa Bennett, Communications Director for the Center for Ecoliteracy.

“It’s always interesting and encouraging to check out the stories of schools that have done things differently,” she says. “Very simple changes can have a big effect.”

Bennett says reversing lunch and recess times helps kids settle down when it’s time for lunch.

While still problematic, unhealthy school lunches and childhood obesity situations are getting attention and Bennett says there is some positive change happening.

With school lunches becoming unhealthier by the day, it becomes more important that parents do everything they can to try to ensure their children are participating in physical activities.  This is why classes at the Asian Arts Center are wonderful, because children get a full body work out twice a week.  Not only is a child becoming more physically active, they also are becoming stronger mentally.

 

Eve Wojtowicz, Enrollment Specialist

Top Five Reasons to Take Taekwondo

There are many reasons that people choose to take Martial Arts.  The top four reasons are:

Self-Defense

Self-Esteem / Confidence Building

Strength Building / Exercise / Weight Management

Meet New People / Over-come Shyness

With children, there is also a fifth reason:  Their parents want to help them to learn focus, respect, and self-discipline.

Self-Defense:  Taekwondo is a wonderful way to lean self-defense because it not only teaches you physical ways to defend yourself, but it also trains the body to breathe properly in stressful situations.  Breathing allows the body to remain calm and gives the brain time to evaluate the situation and act appropriately.

Self-Esteem:  Knowing that you are physically able to defend yourself is a great confidence builder!  Research shows that bullies target the weak or meek.  Having confidence and self-esteem enables you to maintain eye contact, stand tall, and speak clearly; all of which shows strength in body and character.  Be it bullies in the schoolyard or in the boardroom, your strength will shine through and make you much less of a target.

Exercise:  Most students at the Asian Arts Center take classes twice a week and classes are roughly 55 minutes in length.  During one class, students run, kick and punch.  The classes are structured so that the pace changes frequently, allowing the heart rate to increase and decrease, providing an excellent workout.  Exercise is key to proper weight management and strength building.

Over-coming Shyness:  The AAC offers a safe environment for children to scream, yell, punch and kick.  It teaches them to stand up for themselves and allows them to come out of their shells.  Students participate in sparring, allowing them to be in a non-contact yet combative situation.  Being shy is not an option!

Focus:  “Focus the eyes.  Focus the mind.  Focus the body.”  This is the mantra in our classes.  Children learn that this focus is important not only in our classes, but in their life outside of the AAC.  This focus carries over into their academic classes and other sports, as well as at home.  Focusing the eyes on whoever is speaking to you shows respect.  Focusing the mind on that person and what they are saying is important at home, when speaking to parents, as well as at school or on the field, when lessons are being taught.  Focusing the body helps children learn not to fidget while being addressed, which can be distracting not only to the child, but also to the person speaking to them.

These are only the Top Five reasons to take Taekwondo!  The benefits to martial arts are immediate and long lasting.  Contact the Asian Arts Center today to start seeing results in YOUR life.

Angel Perkins, Enrollment Specialist

Preventative Care

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  It is hard to believe how the weather is acting again!  However, we are from Ohio so are we really all that surprised?  I still cannot believe that the low tonight and tomorrow is 7 degrees.  I think when the weather turns this cold, people become less motivated to want to work as hard.  What we all fail to understand is the working out actually will make you warmer and help increase your well-being, which will aid in preventing colds/the flu/ etc.  A healthy body will prevent viruses from effecting your body, and I don’t know one person who enjoys being sick.  I think there are so many ways to cure illnesses.  However, most never look at the ways to prevent illnesses.  One great way to prevent becoming sick is by taking care of yourself.  Not only can working out at the Asian Arts Center help you become more focused, but it also can help prevent getting colds, and most importantly will keep you in great physical shape.  With trips to the ER costing hundreds, it is so much smarter to be preventative then spend so much money curing.

 

Eve Wojtowicz, Enrollment Specialist

How Martial Arts Can Reduce Your Stress

• You will be responding to situations that involve fear.
• You will be learning how to develop non-verbal behaviors that manage to communicate confidence to others.
• You will be learning how to remain calm under pressure.
• You will be learning how to make rapid decisions under stressful situations.

Call the Asian Arts Center today to schedule your one-month trial program; a $129 value at no cost to you.  Empower yourself and your child with the necessary skills to overcome stress and fear.

Debbie Spiegel, Enrollment Director

 

Does Taekwondo Make Children Aggressive?

I would like to take a moment to answer a frequently asked question:  Will Taekwondo make my child become aggressive or violent?  The short answer is no.  For the long answer, please continue reading…

Taekwondo is a peaceful art.  As with other martial arts, students learn respect, self-control, and self-discipline; all while getting an excellent workout.  Taekwondo is taught as self-defense.  Children learn that martial arts is not about violence; it is about knowing how to defend oneself and having confidence in all situations.

With the way that our classes are designed, many students who are already exhibiting aggressive tendencies have been found to “level out” their behavior.  A child who is full of energy is now given an outlet for it and the results are astounding.  These children become more focused and self-aware, release their energy throw constructive means, and are more even tempered.  It is constantly stressed that their skills are to be used only for defense and not in an abusive or offensive way.

On the other end of the spectrum, children who are shy, pensive, or withdrawn get the opportunity to come out of their shells in an environment that is safe, positive and reassuring.  The difference is that the children become more assertive, not aggressive.

Taekwondo is a great tool to teach our children (and ourselves) confidence, respect and how to handle themselves in stressful situations.

Angel Perkins, Enrollment Specialist

Martial Arts and music

Last night I had performed playing drums at a lounge in Centerville. At the gig, I was in a conversation where I had explained my techniques on drumming.  I had mentioned that I owe a good deal of my drumming skill and techniques to my martial arts practice.  I was describing how I attempted to play drums earlier in life and my coordination was never too impressive on drumming until I had practiced martial arts for a few years.  My understanding of body control and awareness is something I have applied for better skills in drumming.

Kellen Brown, Instructor