Whether you have decided to practice taekwondo for self-defense or for Olympic competition, one thing is for certain, you need to be willing to put yourself into a lot of physical strain to achieve your goals.
Taekwondo is not only about the techniques and the way of kicking a punching that is natural of this martial arts discipline, it is also about to work for the two pillars that come along: speed and strength.
To achieve this, you will need to train physically to get your legs and arms, and your body in general, in good condition, and this is even more important if you have chosen taekwondo as an Olympic discipline.
Physical demands also include nutrition elements like keeping a healthy diet, knowing what to eat and when to eat it and how much. As well as drinking a lot of liquids (water not sodas), because it is a certainty that you will dehydrate during training.
EXACTLY WHAT PHYSICAL DEMANDS ARE THERE?
For a start, you will be making a lot of training for your legs, that’s a very critical part if you’re looking for being agile and fast in taekwondo (which technically is a must), bear in mind that this is a contact sport, and the faster you move, the less chance you give your opponent to hit you.
Also, you will need to train your arms so you can be faster and stronger so you can connect and be able to either defend yourself successfully in a real-life combat situation or to mark the winning point that might transform into Olympic gold.
But the physical strain does not only come from the type of exercises you will need to perform but from the times you will need to perform them during the day and week.
For instance, an athlete preparing for the Olympic competition will probably need to have at least three training sessions per day to be ready to compete.
These sessions include physical training (getting your body in shape and making you stronger and faster), specific taekwondo techniques, and combat practice. All this means you need to feed yourself accordingly and during the night take a good rest.
One of the things we need to remember is that for a correct training you need to dress comfortably and that also included your taekwondo uniform, we recommend that you train with the taekwondo uniform you plan to use in competition to determine if it suits you fine.
Believe it or not, the cloth in which the uniform is made will take a physical strain as hard your body, so if you don’t know if it will stand to par, you may be in for trouble when competition arises.
But all in all, if you choose to train for taekwondo you need to be ready to accept the all the sacrifices that will come along with that decision, including subjecting your body to all the necessary physical demands (for both you and your taekwondo uniform) that are going to result in your mastership of this discipline or, if for competition, Olympic gold.