Yoga and Taekwondo

Does Yoga Help with TaeKwondo Training?

When envisioning training in Taekwondo or any of the martial arts, you probably assume that you need to work on your strength, flexibility and self-discipline in order to succeed. This is true and there are many ways in which you can improve on your skills.

How can Yoga help your Taekwondo training? Practicing Yoga while training in Taekwondo will help you increase your flexibility, strength and stamina. It will also give you better control of your breathing and help you clear your mind in order to better concentrate when practicing both sparring and forms

Yoga is definitely useful in Taekwondo training but many people consider it to be non essential.There are many forms of Yoga and poses that are considered to be more useful and practical at improving your taekwondo training then others. I will explore a few of these today, so lets get started!

The Ways Yoga Helps Taekwondo Training

What many people do not realize is that yoga can actually be a very beneficial way to become a better martial artist, as the two are closely related. Being able to control your breath, clear your mind, and practice repetition are some of the necessary requirements that come along with the practice of yoga.

All of these things can make you a better martial artist and an overall well-rounded person. With the strength and flexibility that you will gain during yoga, you can apply these skills to your Taekwondo classes.

Staying on top of your physical fitness does not have to include spending hours in a gym setting. Yoga is a low-impact form of exercise that is suitable for all, even those with preexisting health conditions.

The great thing about yoga is that you can go at your own pace. You will be able to enhance all of the most important skills that are necessary for both the physical and mental aspects of Taekwondo.

Whether you decide to join a yoga class or practice it in your own home, just a couple of minutes each day will be enough to make a difference.

When you are just starting out, it will probably be most helpful to join a class because you will have a live teacher to guide you and correct your poses.

Yoga Styles for TaeKwonDo

Yoga and Taekwondo

Much like martial arts, there are many different styles of yoga that can suit your needs. There is gentle yoga, the most low-impact style. Most of the poses that you will learn in this style are modified in order to be suitable for beginners and those who want to take a more therapeutic approach.

There are also classes that take place in hot rooms in order to burn more calories and build up your muscle mass. Depending on what you’d like to improve on in your Taekwondo practice, you can find a yoga class that is going to align with these needs.

It can be a great idea to try many different styles of yoga until you find the one that you like best. Because there is no such thing as right or wrong, the choice is yours to make.

Yoga Breathing For Taekwondo

You need breath if you want to sustain life. The practice of yoga focuses heavily on the way you are breathing, regardless of what style you decide on. It is thought that you are able to actually work on more complex poses and hold other poses for longer by simply regulating your breath. When you do this, you are going to be less focused on doing the actual pose and better able to concentrate.

A lot of your physical downfalls come from when you convince yourself that you can no longer do something. It all stems from a mental disconnect. The way that you are taught to breathe in yoga will teach you that you do not have to give up.

Instead, you can breathe through any impatience or discomfort and reach a point where you are so focused that you are able to complete each repetition. After some time, this is going to build your strength.

Meditation

Breathing is also very important to any meditation that you do. When you are meditating, usually at the end of your yoga class, your breathing is meant to calm you down. Any of the poses that you held and the muscles that you worked are encouraged to relax now.

As you breathe in and out, you are supposed to push all of those busy thoughts out of your head in an effort to clear your mind. By focusing on the way that you are breathing, it becomes easier to get rid of any distractions that have formed.

A lot of people find benefits to yoga classes that are solely focused on meditation for this reason. There can be a lot of distractions and stressors encountered on a daily basis, so it can be nice to have somewhere to go that allows you to just be. Yoga promotes that inner-peace that so many of us crave.

Benefits of Breathing

Now considering your Taekwondo practice, can you see any benefits of being able to control your breathing? Taekwondo requires you to have a decent amount of stamina. Never boring, you are always going to be learning new forms and moves that you are going to repeat until they become muscle memory.

You might be punching and kicking one minute and then you will have to switch focus and work on a form that contains precise movements. Taekwondo is not only a physical form of exercise but a mental one as well. If you can take your yoga breathing and apply it to your martial arts practice, you will notice a difference in your stamina.

Many people want to work themselves hard, but this isn’t always a good thing. When you push yourself too much, you are going to run out of breath. Without this, you are going to become a lot more vulnerable. No matter how much knowledge you have of all the different Taekwondo kicks, punches, blocks or even poomsae’s that you can do, this knowledge will be useless if you cannot perform them.

You need to be less talking and more doing. By controlling your breathing, you will be able to know when you need to stand down and when you need to charge forward. Taekwondo isn’t about going until you drop dead. It is about utilizing your self-discipline and saving your energy for the most important moments.

Yoga Poses For TaeKwonDo

The following are some yoga poses that will prove to be very beneficial to your Taekwondo practice. Not only do they strengthen your body, giving you all of the core strength necessary to be as powerful as you can be, but they also encourage you to work on your mental strength. With the two of these things combined, you are going to be an excellent martial artist.

Bow Pose

Start by lying down flat on your stomach. Bring your legs up and reach your arms back until you are able to grab your shins or feet. This pose stretches out your back while simultaneously strengthening it. It will also allow you to improve on your flexibility, a great benefit for your martial arts practice.

Chair Pose

This pose is all about your leg muscles. You need to have strong legs to kick during Taekwondo. The more that you use chair pose in your regular yoga practice, the more you’ll be building up all of the necessary leg muscles that you will be using in Taekwondo.

Starting by standing straight, bend your knees until your thighs are as close to a 90-degree angle as you can get them. It will actually look like you are sitting in a chair. Reaching up and forward with your arms, keep them long and extended.

Plank Pose

One that you are likely already familiar with, this pose works your entire body while starting from the core. You need to have an incredibly strong core to be a powerful and graceful martial artist.

Start on your stomach and then curl your toes under your feet by placing them firmly on the ground. Using your arms to push you up, rest on your forearms in this position for 60-second intervals. If you cannot make it the full 60 seconds at first, you can start with 30.

Final Thoughts

I hope this article has given you a better appreciation of how Yoga can be combined with Taekwondo training. Give it a try and see if you don’t see a great improvement not only in Taekwondo but in all aspects of your life!