TAGB

:"This article contains information specific to TAGB, see the Taekwondo page for wider infromtion"

TAGB stands for "Tae Kwon-Do Association of Great Britain". Formed in August 1983, It is the largest martial arts organisation in Europe with over 20,000 members and 450 clubs.Fact|date=November 2007 TAGB is a founding member of the British Taekwondo Council (BTC), and is currently the largest member.Fact|date=November 2007 TAGB is also a member of Taekwon-Do International.

TAGB teaches the ITF version of Taekwondo (also known as the Chang Hon style), developed by Major General Choi Hong Hi. This includes 23 of the 24 patterns.In ITF the patterns are performed very strictly according to the original Patterns invented by the General Choi Hong Hi and are considered to be the secret to the perfect understanding and performance of taekwon-do techniques. As said by General choi "the secret of taekwon-do lies within the patterns". The TAGB still perform Kodang insted of Juche.

The 5 Tenets of TAGB Taekwon-Do

The tenets of Taekwondo are derived from those of Hwarangdo, another Korean martial art that is much older than Taekwondo. A student is expected to show the application of the tenets in all aspects of their life and not just lessons.
* Courtesy - To be polite to everyone.
* Integrity - To be honest with yourself.
* Perseverance - To achieve a goal.
* Self Control - To always be in control of your actions.
* Indomitable Spirit - To show courage when you and your principles are pitted against overwhelming odds.

Uniform

Throughout different Taekwondo organisations the uniform will vary slightly. The TAGB official uniform uses the more traditional training suit jacket, where there is a line of material running from the collar to the bottom right hand side of the jacket.

On black belt uniforms, the black edging runs around the v-neck collar and down this line of material and nowhere else. This differs from ITF and WTF official doboks.

Advancement

Advancing through the colour belts is done by a system of gradings these are held every 3 months at regional centres, more specifically on a thirteen-week grading cycle. A grading typically consists of line work, patterns, theory, and for higher grades,sparring. Students can typically advance through the belts at a rate of 1 Kup every 3 months, until they reach senior grade (blue belt), where the rate becomes 1 Kup every 6 months. Therefore, reaching Black Belt takes 3.5 years, assuming the student advances as fast as possible and does not fail any gradings. However, treating Taekwon-Do as just a bought commodity that allows the student to gain a Black Belt is frowned upon. This is reflected in higher level gradings, where students may be asked how they have contributed to their school aside from working on their own advancement. Contributions often include teaching lower level students, helping at gradings and helping at tournaments.

Advancing up to and through the levels of black belts is done by a system of gradings held every six months. These are at the National Academy in Bristol. The time it takes between degrees of black belt is equal to the number rank that you are aiming for in years. For example, if you are training to become a third degree black belt, you must train for a minimum of three years.

Pregradings

Many clubs offer pregradings, an exam within the club that a student trains at, which mimics the actual grading. This is not the case in every club. In order to enter into the grading itself you must pass the pregrading. The pregradings are often marked by high ranking guest black belts from other clubs.

The black belt pregrading is held at the National Academy in Bristol and is identical to the real exam. In some cases the black belt application includes a prepregrading, which is organised by clubs in an area to give students an idea of the real exam, although is often much harder.

Belts

The TAGB uses the following belts system:

* 10th Kup - White belt (white signifies innocence, a student with no previous knowledge of Taekwon-Do)
* 9th Kup - White belt with yellow tag
* 8th Kup - Yellow belt (yellow signifies earth, from which the metaphorical plant grows)
* 7th Kup - Yellow belt with green tag
* 6th Kup - Green belt (green signifies the plant's growth as skills develop)
* 5th Kup - Green belt with blue tag
* 4th Kup - Blue belt (blue signifies heaven, towards which the plant is growing)
* 3rd Kup - Blue belt with red tag
* 2nd Kup - Red belt (red signifies danger, cautioning both the student and the opponent)
* 1st Kup - Red belt with black tag
* 1st Dan - Black belt (black is opposite to white, signifying maturity and proficiency)

A tag would often be a band of the appropriate colour around the end of the belt. Nowadays within the TAGB, the tag system has been removed in nearly all cases, and new belts are made with a stripe of the appropriate colour along the middle.

The Dan ranks are the various degrees of black belt, which is signified by a gold bar sewn into the ends of the belt. It is likely that the Dan ranks will run from one to nine, however as nobody within the TAGB has yet reached nine, it is unsure whether this will be the final Dan grade or whether a tenth position will be incorporated.

yllabus

Patterns

* Sajo Jirugi (Note: This is not actually a pattern, this is an exercise, but it is performed in place of a pattern for the 10th kup -> 9th kup grading. There are two official variations of this exercise, both of which are performed at the grading, but there are many more unofficial ones used in junior classes.)
* Chonji (천지/天地)
* Dan-gun (단군/檀君)
* Dosan (도산/島山)
* Wonhyo (원효/元曉)
* Yulgok (율곡/栗谷)
* Joong-Gun (중근/重根)
* Toi-Gye (퇴계/退溪)
* Hwarang (화랑/花郎)
* Choong-Moo (충무/忠武)
* Kwanggae (광개/廣開)
* Po-eun (포은/圃隱)
* Gyebaek (계백/階伯)
* Eui-am (의암/義菴)
* Choongjang (충장/忠壯)

(The ITF, also practices Juche, though this was changed from Ko-Dang at some point, which was one of the original patterns)
* Juche (주체/主體)
* Ko Dang

* Samil (삼일/三一)
* Yoosin (유신/庾信)
* Choi-yong (최영/崔榮)
* Yonggae (연개/淵蓋)
* Ulji (을지/乙支)
* Moonmoo (문무/文武)
* Sosan (서산/西山)
* Sejong (세종/世宗)
* Tong-il (통일/統一)

parring

There are three divisions of sparring practised within the TAGB syllabus: Set, Semi-Free, and Free. These offer varying degrees of choice of movements.

Set sparring consists of three-step, two-step, and one-step variants. Three-Step Set Sparring is the most basic and One-Step the most advanced. Set sparring is learnt as a colour belt.

Semi-Free sparring acts as a step towards free sparring. Students must comply with strict rules about which movements they can use. Free Sparring is practised from the half way point along the colour belts.

External links

* [http://www.tagb.biz/index.html TAGB Website]
* [http://www.tkdi.biz/ Taekwondo International Website]
* [http://www.taekwondosouthwest.co.uk/AnsweringAll.htm Taekwondo Southwest - "Answering All Your Questions" page]
* [http://www.tagb.biz/faq.html TAGB FAQ]