White Belts; The Symbol of Innocence
As the first belt in the rankings, the white belt symbolizes the exciting newness and inexperience of a promising beginning. The lack of color reminiscent of a blank canvas, full of potential. In this first stage, our students are greeted with patience, kindness, and dedicated instruction in the ways of Tae Kwon Do. Though there is a lot to learn in the first belt and it may seem overwhelming, these resources should save you and your student some time and energy for practicing when starting out. The white and high white belts have very similar expectations and practices and are not required to retain as much as the higher ranks. Below you will find links to helpful instructional guides, forms, charts, and information that will be supplemental both for you and your blossoming student.
Learning Korean!
While studies have shown that learning another language has incredible value to your child's developing mind, practicing Korean also helps students to feel more connected to the martial art they are practicing. Using the language in class encourages a sense of pride in the work and focus they are committing to as well as a feeling of camaraderie between the students within the class. Outside of the class practicing the language together is both a bonding and stimulating exercise to share with your student. That being said, Korean is a very different and challenging language and so listed below is a list of the Korean words that white belts should learn before they test for the next rank, as well as a some links for further help on pronunciation.
1. Tae Kwon Do (Ty-Kwan-Doe): The Foot, The Fist, The Way
If translated literally, Tae Kwon Do means "The Foot, The Fist, the Way" and many practitioners interpret as the ways in which we use this art to defend ourselves and others. 2. The Korean Numbers 1-10 Practicing these numbers provides a quantifiable way to remember the forms and as well as communicate during class. While there are multiple ways to pronounce these numbers, the way listed below is how the class will be practicing them.
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1st Taegeuk IL Jang: "The Sky"
Taeguek Il Jang is often the first form taught by martial arts studios because while simplistic, it is a great tool for practicing the importance of direction and form. For our white belts, we recommend memorizing and practicing only the first five movements, making sure to emphasize the direction, blocks, and stances of the form. Below this chart you will find a detailed video of the form.
As mentioned earlier, for the beginner white belt we expect our students to know movements 1-5 but for our high white belts we teach them movements 1-10. This means that by their testing date they should know the following techniques:
- Walking Stance
- Forward Stance
- Low block
- Inside block
- High block
- Middle Punch
- Front kick
Testing Summaries
This section provides a concise list of the new techniques that each student should prepare for their next testing date.
White Belts
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High White Belts
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