I had my first two lessons of Taekwondo on Monday and Tuesday and thought it would be a good idea to write up how it went in case anyone else was thinking of starting something but not sure what might happen on them first few lessons. At the moment the place were I train does not force you to join straight away and you can just pay your fee per night (£3) fora 2 hour lesson and if you do not enjoy it – no commitment to yourself. Let us begin then with how it all went.
Finding the right place
I had looked around my area to see what was on offer, most places seemed to offer Taekwondo while some of the bigger places also did kick Boxing, Thai Boxing, MMA and so forth. The prices varied and one place I checked out which was very close to me indeed charged £105 joining fee, £55 a month – this was 45 minute lessons mon-thu and Saturday mornings (11am). They needed a bank draft set up to take the money monthly from my bank account, needed one month notice to stop taking payments and allowed use of the Gym when required.
The other place which was about 10 miles away seemed a lot cheaper, a non profit set up in a community hall meeting every Monday and Tuesday at 7pm lasting through to 9pm, costing £3 per lesson and £35 joining fee which includes your suit.
Joining the cheaper one
I started my first lesson on Monday and arrived too early, I got told 6:45 but they did not really start till 7:10pm to be honest but this gave me time to chat with the people and get to know them. There was a lot of Korean words been used and I personally just kept my mouth closed with the odd grunt now and then. It started with a warm up and this was quite exhausting then we moved onto stretching to get ready for the next part. It moved into pairing up with one person holding a paddle with the other person doing various kicks.
The problem I faced was I had no idea how to do the kicks properly, were to move my feet and of course not been nimble enough to get my legs up that high. I still felt though I got some knowledge from that part and it gave me something to work on through the week in my own time. We did some more fitness training (Press-ups, sit ups, jumping etc) and this for me was second nature as I train anyhow but every little helps. We finally moved onto stretching and this involved a person pushing my legs wider as well as me placing a leg on someone shoulder while they stood up. So far the lesson was all good until we got onto the stage of sparring – I had no idea of any single move and that part of the lesson was of no use to me – by time the person who I was paired with explained it to me – it was over, I was also frustrated with trying to learn these Korean words as well as trying to do the moves. I felt that lesson was good but it was a very long road ahead.
Tuesday Lesson not only had a different instructor and mostly different people but was a whole different format. There was no warm up for a start and we launched straight into forming a line and doing a serious of kicks, punches and blocks. Once again I felt lost and tried my best to follow the rest of the class while getting some tips from another instructor. I think a combination of me trying to remember were to move my hands, how to move my feet and then trying to remember which Korean word to use next was like rubbing your head while patting your belly. We finally moved onto practising moves – something you do when going for you Belts and this is like 17 different moves done one after another. I need to say again – this was my second night of training, how on earth was I to know a single move at this stage never mind 17 of them along with all the Korean words to go along with them? I managed to pick up about 5 of them but that alone too 10 minutes of so.
Previous Training
I joined a Taekwondo club many years ago and back then the same feeling of having no idea what to do and feeling lost in the lesson while not learning anything. After a few lessons back then, I finally gave it up as bad job. This time I do not plan to walk away after a couple of lessons and stick with it no matter what, maybe I will eventually pick things up and move forward?
Thoughts?
When I trained for Un-Armed combat – the entire class was shown one move over and over and then we practised that move and this is how we all worked out how to do this stuff as one class. The difference was we were all at the same level and progressed forward as a team – everyone was an adult and we trained hard. My thoughts so far is I am expected to come into a class ranging from Black belts (of various Dan’s) all the way down to no experience whatsoever (me) and all do the same thing – I can see straight away how people will struggle with this. A Better way in my mind would be to have a class split into two parts so that the expereinced people get to do the good stuff while the new people can learn the more basic moves and so forth.
The other aspect was the more expensive places are custom built to train meaning punch bags, mats always out, gym equipment and so forth. The cheaper place cannot compete with this and has mats and striking pads (as above) – your left to your own devices to get the required fitness training and such.
The end goal
Seems a lot of people I have spoken too *used* to do Taekwondo or Kick Boxing but they gave it up. While I watched this little kid go through the moves like a robot after months of do the same moves week after week to pass his next belt I could not but help think they might be useless in real life and the other people who gave up told me how they now forgot most of the moves they used to do!
If I joined the place which is 5 minutes away from me, I get a lot more Free time and use less fuel as well breaking the lessons into 45 minute chunks instead of 2 hours a time. My worry is though that £105 is a lot of money to lay out in one go and that £55 a month could be better spent on other things such as Faster internet (50mbit) and all the channels on Cable TV for example. What if after a couple of months I get sick of it? Would I be better served just going to gym and pounding iron?
So many questions but for now I am happy to carry this on, I may do some research and learn the words in my own time as well as practice the moves as well, seems this is the only way I am going to get any benefit out of any of these clubs. My Main gripe? Having to learn Korean when my only goal is to learn a martial art.
