Hi. My sons want me to take Tae Kwon Do with them. We start tonight. I'm a 34 year old woman. I've never done any kind of martial art, and this will be a huge step outside of my comfort zone. Ballet is more my thing, although it's been about 20 long years since I've even done that. :)
Any words of wisdom for me?
2007-08-30 11:18:04 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Martial Arts
DKP is absolutely correct.
Relax and enjoy the experience. It's very likely you'll come away energized, excited, and raring to go back for your next class.
Once you're hooked, just take it easy, take one step at a time, and before you know it, you'll be ready to test for your 1st Degree black belt. It really does come around much sooner than you think.
As far as your former Ballet dance experience - that is perfect. TaeKwon-Do is very ballet like in its movements, flow, and rhythm. What changes is the final technique. So I think you'll be more at home than you may realize.
Good luck!
Ken C
9th Dan HapMoosaKi-Do
8th Dan TaeKwon-Do
7th Dan YongChul-Do
2007-08-30 11:32:40 · answer #1 · answered by Ken C 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hello,
Don't be nervous. I am 29 and just started taking TKD about 3 weeks ago. I admit, I was nervous my first day, but quickly found out the school I go to treated all students as family.
Stretching is key. I recommend getting to the class a little early and stretch on your own for a good 10-15 minutes in addition to the stretching that they will have you do at the beginning of class.
Since I just started, this is what they made have you begin with. You will learn the basic stances (fighting, horse, etc). The Horse Stance is murder on you Hamstrings. I recommend stretching these muscles really well. You will also learn the basic kicking techniques of front kick and roundhouse. These require you to "snap" your knee joint to increase power. If you have bad knees beware. Also, you may start practicing the basic blocking techniques, which are simple, but in the kata, it is easy to get confused with the order.
Go online and look up how to count to 10 in Korean, you will need to know this to. I had no clue, and nobody offered to teach me (though, I did not ask either), but it is really hard to pick it up when they are blazing through it while counting the stretching. I have not progressed pass this point, but I am sure your experience will be similar to mine. Since you have done ballet in your past, chances are, you are pretty limber, so it's just a matter of reminding you muscles on what to do.
Eat a good diet and get as much sleep as possible (even though with kids that's always a joke.)
Give each class 100% and you will soon see your endurance and strength improve dramatically. Most important HAVE FUN!!
One last bit of info, wash your uniform regularly and use fabric softener. When you first get them, they are really itchy.
Good luck,
J
2007-08-30 13:46:12 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Cool! Take a step outside your comfort zone for just a short time and go for it. Almost any martial art will get some of your flexibilty back, help increase your health physically and mentally and you may even find that you like it. A good instructor will see and realize that you may be a little out of shape and not make you over do it and I would highly recommend that you start off easy but just think of the long term benefits and you get to do it with your kids!
2007-08-31 01:28:53 · answer #3 · answered by samuraiwarrior_98 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Dont be scared. I taught Martial Arts for 5 years and had plenty of moms come through the program and get their black belts. You can bond with your boys, get healthy and fit, gain self confidance, and learn self defence skills all at the same time. Relax and enjoy yourself and before long you will either love it or decide its not your thing. But I bet you will love it.
2007-08-30 13:03:15 · answer #4 · answered by Aurora 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A word to the wise, make sure to stretch. Martial arts make you feel pain in the muscles that you forgot you had. You are highly intelligent so you shouldn't have a hard time remembering the forms.
2007-08-30 11:33:43 · answer #5 · answered by Patrick the Carpathian, CaFO 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Relax and enjoy. If you've found a good school, you'll be back in your comfort zone quickly. Most martial arts schools are filled with very nice, very friendly, very helpful people.
You'll do just fine!
2007-08-30 11:24:48 · answer #6 · answered by dkp 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
One person mentioned that it would be a good idea to learn Korean terminology. Here is a link: http://www.uky.edu/StudentOrgs/TKD/terminology/term.pdf
You probably won't need to know all these, but you'll figure out soon enough which ones your school uses.
Like everyone else said, stretch. TKD requires a lot of flexiblity. If possible, get to class 10 to 15 minutes early so you can warm up and stretch.
Good luck!
2007-08-30 15:11:28 · answer #7 · answered by ATWolf 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
nothing to be worried about... i hope the ballet comes back to you--- it will help you with your martial skills
2007-08-30 13:58:18 · answer #8 · answered by amaashelton 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
dont be tae kwon do isnt rough
2007-08-30 11:23:58 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
There's no reason to be nervous. Just have fun, be willing to do your best, and everything will be fine.
2007-08-30 14:23:27 · answer #10 · answered by Chris F 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋