Team sports are extremely popular worldwide because of their dynamic game play. But few other team sports are as popular as football and ice hockey. To clarify a common source of confusion by ‘football’ I mean soccer, and I am using the world football simply because the entire world excepting the USA refers to soccer as football. Some have called football the king sport because of the fact that it is simple to understand, it’s great fun and people know about it anywhere you go.
Ice hockey also has great popularity in many nations and it would probably be popular worldwide if it was easier to find ice in the hotter regions of the planet. All jokes aside, ice hockey is a serious team sport loved both by players and fans for its exciting style, elaborated tactics and the great skills needed to be a good hockey player.
As a Taekwondo instructor I have worked a lot with football and ice hockey players. The reason why such professional players would choose also to train in martial arts and especially taekwondo is that it helps their performance in their own sport. Taekwondo (TKD) is a famous type of martial arts mostly dominated by fast and explosive kicking techniques. For this reason, taekwondo training will help footwork, quickness and balance all very important both for football and ice hockey players.
The most important thing that a player can get with TKD training is flexibility and that helps prevent injuries especially knee and foot injuries. Feet and knees are essential for football and hockey alike. Both sports demand agility and often strain the athletes causing terrible injuries. Unfortunately it is common for football players and hockey players to suffer accidents during the game which sometimes prevent them from playing long periods losing time, training and money.
Not all the taekwondo styles are equal; my personal opinion is that a school that focuses on the Olympic style of sparring is the best choice for football players because training is focused on using legs, hips and the whole mid section.
If you are thinking of complementing your football or ice hockey training with taekwondo martial arts training the best thing is to find a good taekwondo school and talk with an instructor.
Because different players have different needs you should ask the instructor two basic questions:
1 How will taekwondo training help me?
2 What kind of taekwondo training do you provide?
For any questions or comments about finding good taekwondo schools don’t hesitate to contact me.
Yours,
Markku Parviainen
Chief instructor MP-TKD academy