READY POSITION is a natural posture position. From it, you can move into any other stance. When in the stance, the feet are parallel to each other and about one shoulder width apart. The knees are slightly bent. Grip the floor with your toes.

MIDDLE STANCE, sometimes called "horse stance" is one of the basic training positions. The feet are parallel to each other and about two shoulder widths apart. The knees are pushed out to the sides so that the legs are bowed. Grip the floor with your toes. You should feel pressure on the outer edges of your feet if your knees are pushing out properly. When looked at from the front, the stance should look as if the student is riding a horse. Since the stance is quite wide, it is very strong from the side. However, because the stance is not very long, it is very weak from the front and back.

FRONT STANCE is a fighting position. From here, the student can move forward and back, turn and execute many techniques.
The feet are parallel to each other and about one and a half shoulder widths apart. The stance is about two shoulder widths long from front to back. The front knee is bent so that the student cannot see the toes of that foot. The knee of the rear leg is straight (locked out). The locking of the rear knee and flexing of the front allows the hips and upper body to squarely face the front. Keep the shoulders directly over the hips. Grip the floor with your toes. This standing position is extremely strong from the front. When pushed from the front, the student should not be able to be moved backward.

BACK STANCE is a fighting stances. From this position, the student can move forward and back, turn and execute many techniques.
Feet are perpendicular to each other and about one and a half shoulder widths apart. The heel of the forward foot points to either the heel of the midpoint of the base foot. The forward knee is bent and in line with the foot. The knee of the base leg is also bent, and pushed out to the side. The shoulders are directly over the hips and square. The upper body faces the same direction as the base foot, but head looks in the direction of the forward foot. Grip the floor with your toes. This stance is extremely strong from the side. In fact, when pushed from the side, the student should not be able to be moved backward. Also, when done correctly, the student should be able to kick with the lead leg without having to shift his/her weight.

REAR STANCE is a fighting position. The student can move forward and back, turn and perform many techniques. When in the stance, the feet are perpendicular to each other and about 3/4 shoulder widths apart. The heel of the forward foot points to either the heel of the midpoint of the base foot. The forward knee is bent and in line with the foot. The heel of the forward is just off the floor. The knee of the base leg is slightly bent. The shoulders are directly over the hips and square. The upper body faces the same direction as the base foot, but the student’s head looks in the direction of the forward foot. Grip the floor with your toes. This position is excellent for kicking, since their is only a little weight on the forward foot. Most of the body’s weight in on the rear foot.

• 9th Grade White Belt
• 8th Grade Orange Belt
• 7th Grade Yellow Belt
• 6th Grade Camo Belt
• 5th Grade Green Belt
• 4th Grade Purple Belt
• 3rd Grade Blue Belt
• 2nd Grade Brown Belt
• 1st Grade Red Belt
• 1st Degree Recommended Red/Black Belt
• 1st Degree Black Belt

Click Here for Printable Version (.pdf)

The Rank Stripe, or high stripe shown pictured first should start on the student’s left side. Decided rank Tiny Tigers will have an animal patch, instead of a rank stripe.

Knowledge stripes (shown to the right), or the stripes placed closer to the edge of the belt should begin on the student’s right side under their ATA Patch on the uniform jacket.

Begin by finding the center of the belt by folding the belt in half.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

Q: Who can participate in a tournament?
A: Any active ATA student. Competition is divided for all ages and skill levels.

Q: What does a student do at the tournament?
A: Students will compete with their form. White, orange, and yellow belts also compete with one-steps #1 and #2. Camo belts and above compete in point sparring with gear. Hand gear, foot gear, head gear, mouth guard, and athletic cup (for males) is mandatory.

Q: What is weapons competition?
A: All students (White through 5th Degree Black Belt) can perform their own creative form. Their free-style form is not to be longer than twenty seconds. Colored belts may compete with the Single & Double Ssahng Jeol Bong, Single & Double Bahng Mahng EE or the Jahng Bong. Black belt competitors must perform the weapon form that is required for their rank.

• All 1st through 5th Degrees must compete with the ATA Protech weapons forms. All ties will be decided by performing the form one more time, and an additional creative free-style.
• 1st Degree Black Belts may compete with the Single Ssahng Jeol Bong, or Single Bahng Mahng EE.
• 2nd Degree Black belts may compete with the Single/Double SJB, or Single/Double BME.
• 3rd Degree Black Belts may compete with Single? Double SJB, or Single/Double BME or the Jahng Bong.
• 4th & 5th Degree Black Belts may compete with the Single/Double SJB, or Single/Double BME or the Jahng Bong or Sam Dan Bong.

Q: How are competitions scored?
A: Forms - there will be three judges rating forms on a scale of 9.0-9.9. The three highest scores will win first, second and third place trophies.

One-steps (white belt/orange belt/yellow belt)- the judges will raise a red or white flag indicating which one-step was performed most accurately. When a student has earned two points they will move on to compete against another competitor.

Point sparring (camouflage belt through black belt)- the judges will raise a red or white flag indicating which competitor scored the point. Points are determined by certain techniques being directed to specific areas. When a student has earned five points or whoever has the most points at the end of two minutes, will continue on to another competitor. Four trophies are also awarded, the same as in one-step sparring.

Q: Why should a student compete in a tournament?
A:

• It is fun!
• Competition teaches sportsmanship
• Self-confidence is developed
• It provides children and opportunity to compete successfully in their sport and to meet other students and instructors.
• A team and winning attitude connects the students with their classmates.
• Mental self-control is demonstrated competition situation.

Everyone is a winner for participating in a tournament. Children not placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd will receive a 4th place VICTORY trophy and students will receive a red star for their victory patch.

Tournament Requirements

All students are invited to sign up for in-school, regional, national and world ATA Tournaments. Tournament competition events include forms, sparring and weapon competition.
In order to compete at an ATA tournament in form competition, students must have their instructors permission and know at least one form, either their current belt form or the last belt form they tested with. For example, a newly promoted orange belt who does not yet know his whole form, is permitted to do his white belt form with no detriment to his score. The student must know ALL of at least one form to compete, partial forms, however nicely done, are not acceptable.

Sparring competition is traditionally held immediately following forms competition within the same ring. Students not competing in sparring for any reason must stay in their ring until their judges dismiss them. White, orange and yellow belts will do one-step sparring with a partner, while camo belts and above will free spar for points. White, orange and yellow belts will compete only with one-steps number 1 and 2, so knowledge of one-step 3 is not needed to compete. Even if a new camo belt plans to compete with his yellow belt form, he/she MUST compete in a camo belt ring. Camo belts and above are not permitted to compete with one-steps for any reason. Camo belts and above are required to bring all necessary sparring gear including hand and foot pads, head gear, mouth piece and groin cup for males. Students without proper gear will not be permitted to spar. Shin pads and other additional protective gear are optional. Students should not wear gear into their competition ring, as they will be given time to put on their gear following forms competition.
Weapons competition is optional and may require an additional registration card and fee. Students competing in weapons are required to bring their own weapons.

All competitors are invited to arrive early to avoid missing their competition. Students should arrive either in uniform, or in dress attire with their uniform present to change into before competition.

Daily Dozen Streches

The following stretching exercises are supplements to Martial Arts training. Stretching should not be done with cold muscles, so do something before beginning to warm up. Light exercise, like jumping jacks or running in place, is a good way to begin. When stretching, reach and extend--do not bounce. Muscles need oxygen to stretch. Breathe normally while in the extended position. As with all exercises, if there is any question as to the suitability of the exercise for you, consult a physician before attempting to do any physical workout.

Benefits of Martial Arts

1. Balance your martial arts goals among physical, intellectual and value-oriented goals. Obviously, if you're a beginner, this can be a difficult task but the school that you choose should support your goals and make it easier for you to succeed.
2. Start by identifying basic goals, such as learning common commands in Japanese or Korean (depending on the martial art you practice), showing courtesy to another student, showing respect for the instructors and school. You will be able to identify advanced goals as you develop experience in the style. Your instructors should provide you with help in setting goals.
3. Keep your goals specific, measurable, and realistically able to be achieved within a period of time.
4. Track your progress toward achieving goals. Keep a notebook or journal to record instances of your performance boh during and outside of classes..
5. Share your goals with instructors and other students. Encourage others to share their goals with you.
6. Encourage students, friends and family members to provide you with both positive and negative feedback.
7. Recognize short-term and long-term progress and celebrate your successes.
   

"I've lost 14 pounds..." (after taking classes for 4 weeks)

Steps to choosing a martial arts school:

1. Check your telephone directory to see what kinds of schools are listed within a reasonable distance.
2. Phone the schools and ask whether they're affiliated with a larger organization, such as the American Tae Kwon Do Association (ATA) or World Karate Association (WKA). If not, standards and methods for advancement, competition, and training requirements may be inconsistent.
3. Determine your martial arts goals. Are you interested in self-defense, exercise, a family activity, becoming a black belt, etc.?
4. Make an appointment to take a class. Many schools have an observation area, so you can watch during class. Ask permission first.
5. If it isn’t offered to you by the staff, ask for permission to talk with students and instructors. Find out how students' experiences have been with the school and whether the instructors' styles will support your goals.
6. Assess the quality of teaching and the facility. What is your impression of the instructors? Do instructors expect and show respect and courtesy? What is their experience?
7. Determine the school's emphasis. Is it purely self-defense? Does it advocate development of the whole person physically and mentally? What level of contact is permitted? Are tournaments available, who can compete, and what is the level of competition that can be expected? Is tournament competition required? How formal or informal are the classes?
8. Ask friends and work associates whether they've heard anything about the martial arts school you're interested in joining. Also check with the Better Business Bureau and your local chamber of commerce. Is the school involved in the community?

Taekwondo can be traced back to ancient Korea. The only documented history begins around the middle of the 1900's. The exact start is unknown but it is believed that it originates from a Korean martial art known as t'aekyon practiced around 1,300 years ago.

Near the beginning the 1900's the art transformed with the introduction of Japanese and Chinese techniques. This bothered some because the influences didn't carry on the traditional values, philosophy, and the kicking power associated with the old ways.

On April 11th, 1955, Taekwondo became official!! General Hong Hi Choi organized the various Korean martial arts styles and presented the name Taekwondo to a committee that was made up to decide on this title. From then on, Taekwondo was recognized as the new, officially recognized Korean martial art.

Tae = kick or jump
Kwon = fist or hand
Do = "the way"

Taekwondo = "The Way of the Hand and Foot."

Towards the 1960's, Taekwondo started spreading internationally and evolved into primarily a combat sport with self-defense, fitness, and the philosophy still remaining at critical elements of Songham Taekwondo, the style developed and supported by the ATA.

Taekwondo is currently the most popular martial art in Korea, and stands among the worlds most popular martial arts!

Songahm Taekwondo:

The Songahm Star

The "Songahm Star" is the pattern that is formed on the ground if all 18 forms of the Songahm system are completed. In a perfect Songahm Star, the distance from the center point of the star to the top point is nine feet ("feet" being the student's foot length). The total distance from the top point to the bottom point equals 18 feet, representing the number of forms in the Songahm system.

"Martial Art" is a broad term encompassing the many styles of physical discipline (fighting) arts that have been developed over the centuries. To say that the style of Songahm Taekwondo is just another "martial art" would be an oversimplified explanation of the world's largest centrally administered martial art. This system of teaching and training is unequaled in the martial arts community.

During its early years, the ATA used the Chahng-hun style of forms (also used by the International Taekwondo Federation). But although this style was widely accepted in the Taekwondo community, Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee felt that its forms did not accurately reflect Taekwondo -- particularly the strength and beauty of Taekwondo kicking techniques. As a result, he believed the forms contributed little to the Taekwondo curriculum. For example, white belts were expected to know front kicks and side kicks, but no front kick appeared until the third (yellow belt) form, and there was no side kick until the form after that!

From 1983 to 1990, Eternal Grand Master introduced the eighteen Songahm forms. These forms are part of a fully-integrated curriculum, in which everything a student learns reinforces everything else. The forms contain all or nearly all of the techniques that students are expected to know at each rank, the one-step sparring segments complement the forms, and all of these patterns lead logically to the movements required for each succeeding rank.

The Songahm curriculum facilitates a smooth progression from one rank to the next, so that students who begin Taekwondo feeling they'll never be able to do a simple block (for example) suddenly find themselves a few years later doing 360-degree jumping kicks with ease.

Songahm Taekwondo also focuses on personal development of the mind and body. To say it is just self-defense would be to lose most of the valuable ideas and philosophy behind this ancient art.

The heightened capacity for self-defense resulting from our Taekwondo is really a fringe benefit that is gained by dedicating one's self to the values, philosophy and training of Songahm Taekwondo. When learning, a student is in a true, traditional Taekwondo class, focusing not just on the physical but also on discipline, honor, self-control, respect, courtesy, perseverance and loyalty.

A beginner does not focus on being a skilled martial artist within a month or two, as a strong foundation in Taekwondo must be built first. Trying to advance beyond your level without proper guidance is like building a house on concrete that has not dried. Though the house may still stand, the foundation would not be as strong and the appearance of the house may not be as presentable.

The ATA and its affiliated organizations help build a strong foundation of Songahm Taekwondo in each of its members, a foundation from which advancement in both the martial art (mind and body) and in self defense can be built and added on to in perpetuity.

Source = www.ataonline.com