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Taekwondo is practiced by more than 180 million people in more than 120 countries. Practitioners include boys and girls, and men and women of all ages, in all walks of life. Homemakers, executives and factory workers, athletes and non-athletes, physicians and engineers, children and seniors in good health and poor health, some in excellent physical conditional, others in compromised circumstances - all practice Taekwondo. WHY? What do they get out of it? What can you get out of it?

The following list of BENEFITS is just the beginning. Not only is the list of major benefits itself far from all-inclusive, but each item can be expanded, and expanded. As with most things, we can talk them to death; we can be encouraged, even inspired, and still do nothing. The key to accomplishing anything is making the COMMITTMENT, and making it specific to a certain day, time, and place. If you put it off "till tomorrow", you will experience the universal experience: "TOMORROW NEVER COMES".

To achieve the benefits, you must do something, generally on a very regular basis, generally over an extended period of time, generally (at least in the beginning) under the guidance of an experienced practitioner. The following list names just a few of the BENEFITS you can achieve if you make the COMMITTMENT. (By the way, there are major benefits to be achieved simply by making the commitment and learning to stick with it.)

We will present the Benefits of Taekwondo Practice under several headings:

• Physical
• Mental / Psychological
• Personal
• Social / Ethical

• Improves overall health and vitality;
• Minimizes the physical effects of aging;
• Counteracts "brain aging";
• Enhances will power and determination;
• Fosters and supports the development of a vast array of Physical, Mental-Psychological, Personal, Social, and Ethical skills

Taekwondo practice will be beneficial but certain exercises may need modification, or even exclusion from your routine as a result of injury or certain medical conditions. The most notable conditions include, but are not limited to:

• Sciatica
• Lower back injury or pain
• Back, shoulder and neck injury or pain
• Glaucoma (or any eye or visual related problem)
• Arthritis
• Knee problems
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Pregnancy

We expect that you will fully disclose any disability or compromising situation which may be injurious to your health and wellbeing. And, while it is important that you work "at the edge" of your ability, it is equally important that you "do not cross the line". Our instructors are available to consult with you and to help you modify any program or exercise to minimize risk and to conform to your physician's recommendations.

As Always, it is Advised that you consult with your physician before beginning any program of serious exercise.

Physical

• Flexibility - Increased range of motion decreases risk of injury.
• Agility - Improved ability to move quickly around obstacles is the result of improved ability to perceive space, time, and object relationships.
• Coordination - Left and Right as well as Upper Body and Lower Body.
• Strength - Muscular tissue is strengthened - not so much its lifting ability, but in terms of its ability to move intensely without tearing.
• Muscle Tone - Improves dramatically.
• Weight Loss - Weight loss and control is promoted naturally.
• Better Posture - Focused attention on physical alignment and reduces the risk factor for an enormous number of problems. Additionally, you look and feel better.
• Digestion - The process of nutrition (injestion, digestion & elimination) are all facilitated.
• Circulation - Movement of the body, causes blood to flow to places it may have forgotten or neglected. This nourishment is what increases the overall vitality. The health of the whole is related, even contingent on the health of each part.
• Improved Respiration - Breathing, specifically controlled breathing, provides an enhanced process for the most efficient exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood.
• Endurance / Stamina - Since Taekwondo practice require periods of intense action alternating with periods of "soft action" and recovery, endurance is achieved.
• Accuracy - This is an outcome of focused attention directed at a physical target (real or visualized).
• Power - Taekwondo requires that each technique is delivered with focus and speed - hence, the power.
• Rest & Sleep - A regular practice of Yoga will result in the ability to rest peacefully and sleep soundly. Restful/peaceful sleep is recognized as one of the pillars of good health in every regard.

Mental / Psychological

• Stress Reduction - You will feel it. Others will see it.
• Focused Attention - Proper Taekwondo practice requires attention and develops attention. Attention "here" translates to attention "there".
• Awareness - Taekwondo training leads naturally to awareness, first of the physical environment, then to awareness of the "mental environment".
• Confidence - Confidence is built on competence. Highly developed skills which can be called upon at a moment's notice and delivered effectively and efficiently is the essence of the training and practice.
• Self-concept / image - This asset derives from confidence.
• Self-control / discipline - This ability is the result of the internal feedback one gets from doing something worthwhile, doing it well, and feeling good about the accomplishment. It develops as self-concept develops.
• Motivation - Having a reasonable goal and achieving it is what it is all about.
• Relief of Depression - It is a well-known fact that physical activity is an phenomenal antidote for depression. Every physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse, nutritionist, every health care professional recommends, even prescribes, exercise, at least "as tolerated".

Personal

• Self-understanding / awareness - Practicing Taekwondo takes one face to face with himself or herself. One often thinks he understands, but this is "where the rubber hits the road".
• Respect for self, for others, and all things - Consideration for all people, places and things is the key lesson. We bow, and bow, and bow. The room does not change. The instructor does not change. We change.
• Effective work habits - The instructor helps the student set and work to achieve an ever increasingly more challenging program of goals. The student is involved in a plan; learns to make a plan; and is coached to stay with it until it is accomplished to the best of his/her ability.
• Wise use of time - The structure of the class, the goals to be achieved, the amount of time available - these factors together teach the use of time.
• Aesthetic appreciation - As an art form, Taekwondo provides for first hand experience and appreciation at a very personal level.
• Pursuit of life-long learning - The practice of Taekwondo teaches the learner that perfection can only be approached - not mastered. The more we learn, the more we find to learn.
• Meditation - For everyone, but especially for children, it is quiet time, a time to get focused, to concentrate. On a more advanced level, it is time to become aware of yourself, to become aware of your surroundings, and to become aware of yourself in your surroundings. It is the calm that is achieved in this practice that allows composure under stress, and the knowledge that challenges can be met effectively.
• Self-defense Techniques (Basic to Advanced) - The class is designed to build patterns of awareness, attention, physical movement, self-discipline and discretion that translate to effective response to a threat or physical attack. At its best, self -defense translates to avoidance of physical confrontation, and to the defusion of an escalating situation. If the physical aspect must be employed as a matter of survival, then, and only then, it must be swift, sure, applied with discretion but with indomitable spirit.

Social / Ethical

• Family time together - Taekwondo is a activity that can be seriously practiced by all members of the family. It has been said that, "The family that kicks together, sticks together."
• Social competency - Taekwondo practice helps develop a functional skills as contributing member of a family and of a community. On an even larger level, the practitioner gets an awareness his/her relationship to the global community.
• Learn and Practice a Code of Honor - The Code is thousands of years old and rooted in those values that insure the survival of the community, from its smallest group, the family, to the neighborhood, the state, ultimately, the global community. The Code by which all Taekwondo World members conduct:

  Loyalty to Country
  Obedience to Parents
  Love between Husband and Wife
  Cooperation between Brothers and Sisters
  Respect for Elders
  Faithfulness with Friends
  Honor for Instructor
  Discretion in the use of Taekwondo
  Courage in battle
  Steadfastness
  Indomitable Spirit