Taekwondo (Tae Kwon Do) Classes and Schools Locations Locator Map and Directory

From Wikipedia

Although each taekwondo club or school will be different, a taekwondo student can typically expect to take part in most or all of the following:

* Learning the techniques and curriculum of taekwondo

* Both anaerobic and aerobic workout, including stretching

* Self-defense techniques (hosinsul 호신술) * Patterns (also called forms, pumsae 품새, teul 틀, hyeong 형)

* Sparring (called gyeorugi 겨루기, or matseogi 맞서기 in the ITF), which may include 7-, 3-, 2- and 1-step sparring, free-style sparring, arranged sparring, point sparring, and other types

* Relaxation and meditation exercises

* Throwing and/or falling techniques (deonjigi 던지기 and tteoreojigi 떨어지기)

* Breaking (gyeokpa 격파 or weerok), using techniques to break boards for testing, training and martial arts demonstrations. Demonstrations often also incorporate bricks, tiles, blocks of ice or other materials. Can be separated into three types:

o Power breaking - using straightforward techniques to break as many boards as possible

o Speed breaking - boards are held loosely by one edge, putting special focus on the speed required to perform the break

o Special techniques - breaking fewer boards but using jumping or flying techniques to attain greater heights, distances, or to clear obstacles

* Exams to progress to the next rank

* A focus on mental and ethical discipline, justice, etiquette, respect, and self-confidence

Some schools teach the use of the "sine wave" when performing patterns; this involves raising one's center of gravity between techniques, then lowering it as the technique is performed, producing the up-and-down movement from which the term "sine wave" is derived. Other schools teach that one's center of gravity should remain generally constant throughout the performance of a pattern except where the pattern's description states otherwise.