Start with 30 jumping jacks, then bend all the way forward and back for counts of 10. Do 10 total reps. Then stretch the side of your body by putting your arm on one hip and using the other arm to reach for the other side, and then switch. Stretch your knees by alternating between bending them and straightening them. After that, circle them to the right 10 times and then to the left 10 times. This is really important because unfortunately knee injuries are incredibly common in TKD. Do the half splits by bending one knee and extending the other leg and put your head to your knee. Repeat with another leg. Do a 10 count of 10 total reps. Center split. Sit in the center split and go as far as you can for 10 minutes then sit down and take turns stretching by putting your head to your knee on the left, right, and center. Do a 10 count of 5 reps each. Front splits (both ways), stay in them for 10 min at a time. If you want to take it a step further sit as far as you can go and put your forehead to your shin for each side. End with butterfly stretch. Try to push your knees all the way to the ground, and end with putting your nose to the toes or to the ground. Stretch with kicks: point your toes and keeping your leg straight, swing it as high as possible. Do 10 kicks with each leg. Jog a few laps.
Sit in full splits for half an hour to an hour a day while reading, doing homework, or watching TV. Then do front-splits for each leg for about 20 minutes at a time. Try to go deeper every time - you can try standing on X-ray paper and letting your legs slide (but be prepared to have your hands ready to help you stop), or prop your feet up on both sides to deepen the center split. You can also do the butterfly stretch and have someone press down on your knees from behind (or stand on them). The more time you can dedicate to stretching, the closer you can get to a vertical sidekick!
Place your feet shoulder width apart. Take a half step to your side and turn your front foot to be in line with the body. Slightly bend your front knee. Bend your back leg to make a 90 degree angle. Back foot should be perpendicular to the front foot and the heels of your feet should be on the same line. Keep the heel of the front foot off the ground. Keep your back straight and your hips squared.
Stand with your feet shoulder length apart. Take a big step forward with the front leg and bend your knee, almost as if you are doing a lunge. Your feet should be facing forward. Bend your front knee to be at 90 degree angle. Your back leg should be straight. Keep your hips straight and pointed to the front.
Move your feet to the sides about two shoulder lengths apart. Bend your knees, as if you are sitting on a chair or riding a horse. Your feet and hips should face forward. Keep your back straight.
Put your hands on your hips and keep them there the whole time. Practice going through the stances of the form in full first, until your movements are perfect. Either have someone watch you and correct you after each movement, or practice in front of a mirror (stopping to check after each stance). Make sure that your back is straight and your shoulders are square in each movement. Your shoulders should also be lined up.
Stand in one place and work on your hand movements without the stances. Go through the whole form and practice until your movements are perfect. Many movements require your hand to be flat and your fingers to be together. If you are making a fist, make sure the fist is tight and your thumb is on the outside. When your movements are perfect, practice the flow from slow to fast and stick the final motion, so that your movements looks sharp.
Practice balance first. While this comes with practicing kicks overtime, you can do additional exercises to practice if this area needs the most improvement. Practice standing on one leg for an extended period of time and finding your center of balance. Switch legs! Once you have this down, try hopping on one leg across a room. Switch legs! You may find that it is easier for you to do this on one leg versus another - but the other leg has just as much potential. Be sure to always practice both legs - who knows, your weaker leg may end up being your stronger leg! Then work on kicks. The traditional kicks exhibited in Poomsae require a full range of motion. While the kicks and actual movements may be different, the process is the same. First, bring your knee all the way into your chest. When you kick, make sure that your leg is extended all the way in a straight line (if this is a sidekick, make sure your back is a continuation of this line, in most instances you need to arch your back further back to get that line). Similar to the hand movements, you should stick the kick at the end of the extension. After sticking your kick, bring your leg all the way back into your chest. Then bring your leg down the the floor in a controlled manner.
Karate means open hand way. It is more hand based than kicks, whereas, Taekwondo is heavier on the kicking area than in the hand techniques. In some styles, there are about 70% kicks and 30% hand techniques. For example, The Tae-Gup style tends to be very heavily kick based, where 70% to 75% of the techniques are kicking. Other styles are a little more balanced. The Chang-Hon style is almost 50-50 hands and feet.
Patterns can be harder than sparring. This is because you only have one shot in winning a poomsae competition. One shot to make everything exactly right. In sparring, if they kick you, or if you kick them, a point is gained. Memorizing patterns is important. If you forget a pattern halfway, you cannot win. To take it a step further and commit your physical memory to getting every movement right is even more difficult! But if you believe in yourself it can be done!
