History of Taekwondo

Taekwondo is a self-defence martial art which originates from South Korea. The sport is a system of symmetrical body exercises designed for self- defence. Taekwondo as a sport has over 60 million practitioners in 184 countries. ‘Tae’ means to attack with the foot, ‘kwon’ means to break with the fist and ‘do’ translates as the art. The 5 rules of Taekwondo are courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, and indomitable spirit.  

Aims and objectives

As well as the sporting and self-defence aspects to Taekwondo, there is also an exercise element, which brings health improvements such as balance, flexibility, stamina, strength, and posture. The Taewondo lessons at Unique Academy will benefit the children in several ways. It will improve the children’s concentration and focus, which will benefit them academically. The children will also adapt a great amount of leadership skills improving their confidence and self-esteem.  

Training format

We aim to teach the children Taekwondo every Friday Afternoon at the local park. The afternoon will consist as follows: 

• 13:30 PM – 13:45 PM (Changing into uniforms/ walking to the park)
• 13:45 PM- 14:00 PM (Warm-up/ games)
• 14:00 PM- 14:15 PM (Stretching)
• 14:15 PM- 14:45 PM (Syllabus)
• 14:45 PM- 15:00 PM (Warm down/ fun game)
• 15:00 PM- 15:15 PM (Walk back to school)

Grading and certification

Gradings are an important aspect of Taekwondo. They indicate the student’s proficiency in that art and allow further learning to take place. A grading consists of patterns, techniques, and theory. A grading accesses one’s technical ability, knowledge, indomitable spirit, and physical conditioning. The complexity of tasks increases in accordance with rank advancement. Gradings are normally every 3 months, but students cannot expect to grade every time unless they are extremely dedicated and practise consistently. On average it should take approximately 3-4 years to gain your black belt.  

We aim to carry out two gradings during the school year at Unique Academy. A steady grading routine will motivate our children to work even harder towards their next goal i.e., new belt.  

Belt progression 

‘Taekwondo belts are earned not bought!’ 

A taekwondo belt is gained the following week of the grading depending on the decision. Once a child performs at a grading, the decision lies in the hands of our special external grading panel who decide whether the child would double grade, pass, or unfortunately fail. A child will only earn a higher belt by showing a combination of technical ability, positive attitude, and taekwondo etiquette.