Q&A for How to Do Taekwondo

That's a controversial subject—there are different styles of Taekwondo, with some being more sport-based and others having more elements of self-defense and combat in them. So, it really depends on the style that you're training in and how much of that practical application is taught.

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art. Some styles of Taekwondo are very similar to what some people call American karate, which is Japanese. Within American karate, you're going to have a lot of jumps and kicks—Taekwondo is the same way. If you watch a Taekwondo practitioner, you're going to see a lot of high kicks; karate does more kicks from waist down, while Taekwondo does kicks from the waist up. The biggest difference between Taekwondo and karate is the aerial kicks and amount of kicking as opposed to hand techniques.

There different ways of scoring points in Taekwondo based on the system you're practicing. Some styles do electronic scoring where you'll actually have magnetic or digitized gloves and boots; when you make contact to legal target areas, it will register a point. Typically, your target areas in Taekwondo are the front of the body from the waist up to the head. You gain points based on target area—so, you'll receive a higher number of points for kicking to the head as opposed to the body. With other styles, the more advanced the technique, the more points you get.

It is important to stretch before and after class. If you don't stretch, you will experience pain. Try doing the splits, touching your toes, don't forget to stretch your arms, too.

You have to pass the test from Kukkiwon, to check whether you have enough skills for a black belt.

Video training is also good, but if you are living in an apartment, that could be a distraction to others. Stretch well and try some awesome videos!

It takes several years. It also depends on whether your club is ITF and WTF (I don't know if there is a difference) and how often your club grades. My club tries to grade at least twice a year (once around late spring and the other around October). This means that people in my club grade quicker than people in other clubs who only grade once a year on average.

It depends on how you feel. You may want to rest it and use an ankle support, you can buy online or you can ask your doctor where to get one. Before you jump back into taekwondo, consult a doctor in case you injure yourself again.

In traditional Taekwondo, the belts are: White, yellow, green, blue and brown before you get your black belt. Most schools have 'tips' where the next belt colour tip is put on the belt, and next time you get promoted, you will receive a belt of your tip's colour.

12 years old is not too old! There are even adults who learn Taekwondo! Find out from your parents first why they think you lack potential. Teaching yourself might be risky due to the possibility of learning techniques incorrectly and it will take a long time to relearn the proper technique.

It is not recommended to learn it from books/videos, since you think you get it right but it’s very easy to do one thing wrong. And if you keep practicing the technique as it is and you now do it wrong, it will be very hard to uncode the technique from your mind to make it correct. Instead, try going to a physical school, if there are any in your area. If not, do your best to try to find another style in your area.