TKD progression and kicks
Belt Advancement
My son and I are still yellow belts, but we’re gearing up to take the test for yellow-green this month. We just need to get six more classes in by November 19. Attending more than two classes per week has been an ongoing challenge with our other responsibilities.
With that said, we’re still toward the bottom of the chain in terms of our progression. At our dojang, our progression goes like this:
“Beginner”
- White
- Yellow
- Yellow-Green
- Green
- Green-Blue
“Intermediate” (as far as I can tell)
- Blue
- Blue with Red Tip
- Blue with Two Red Tips
- Red
- Red with One Black Tip
- Red with Two Black Tips
- Red with Three Black Tips
“Serious Student”
- Black Belt, with various ranks following
It’s a long road ahead. My goal is to get us to green belt by the end of March, which I think is achievable. After that, I’m going to ride my son about progressing much less. I get that my riding him about classes at-all may come off like tiger-dad, but I never had that sort of consistent pressure to advance when I was younger. As a result, I had to really push myself to commit to things once I became an adult.
I’ve tried to instill goal-setting in him, and I think it’s starting to pay off. My son seems to enjoy regular practice now, and keeps track of his progression.
I think we can both get to blue belt at some point in 2023, but I’m going to seriously lay off the gas after March and let him decide when he’s ready to test.
Kicking Technique
But, anyway, one thing I’ve noticed about kicks that has opened up my practice:
Rather than think of the motion of each type of kick first, I’ve thought more about the surface of the foot that each kick targets. From there, I’ve mentally tried to absorb how I could maximize damage and efficiency from using that part of the foot’s surface in my kicks.
Thinking of my striking that way, rather than simply going through the motions, has actually made my motion smoother and more accurate.
