Beginner Tips

Practice Alone Sometimes

Practicing alone at times gives one an opportunity to practice patterns and techniques without the pressure of being watched. It allows you to concentrate on the meaning and reason for every move. Using a mirror to watch yourself will improve your patterns and techniques.

Share

As you progress, share your knowledge with lower belt students. The experience will be most gratifying. Never forget that you were once a beginner. Remember the problems you had as a beginner and guide other beginners through their problems. Do not teach students techniques that are beyond their level of proficiency; it may ruin their self-confidence. You may reach your own level of self-actualization through teaching others Taekwondo.

Personal Style

Each of us has a different personality, and thus, a different style of performing techniques. The way one person performs a technique will be different from the way someone else performs the same technique. People are different, with different abilities and strengths. Focused observation and critical analysis are the first steps in learning the essential components of every technique. When first learning a new technique, it is important that you grasp the essential elements of the technique, while neglecting the unnecessary style elements associated with the instructor's style. Learn to observe the details of a technique and pick out essential components that cannot be omitted. After you have mastered the essential components of a technique, you may then begin to add your own artistic flair, within certain perimeters.