British Taekwondo phenom Aaron Cook has just accomplished a European Competition First – A Quadruple European Gold haul.

Cook pulled off a stunning fourth European Championships title, making him the first competitor ever to win continental Gold in every possible age group.

After spectacularly knocking out the World’s best Taekwondo player Steven Lopez in Mexico, Cook has since been racking up the titles.

One of the best exercises a Taekwondo athlete can use in the gym as a part of their Strength & Conditioning program (and again even pretty much all year round!) is the flat benchpress.

In our last Strength & Conditioning articles [ Taekwondo Strength Training Basics – The Back Squat and Taekwondo Strength Training Basics – How To Perform The Back Squat ] we covered the Squat, it’s benefits and then how to do it. In this article I’m going to cover the Benchpress and in the following article, I will cover how to execute it best.

In Taekwondo competition, especially at World and Olympic level, there are those that stand out from the rest. There are those athletes that everyone wants to see, everyone believes will will and everyone almost wants to be like. These people aren’t very common on our sport, or any sport for that matter. Every sport has this type of person…

Every so often, someone comes along, and it doesn’t matter what they do, they inspire us with what they do.

They reminds us of what we can truly achieve in our lives. They show us what is possible, and that we are only using a small percentage of our true power.

Can playing video games make you into a better Taekwondo Player? Can they give you the edge in Taekwondo competitions? Is spending all those hours shooting people left right and center actually going to pay off for you finally?

Well, some studies are showing that it actually just might for you!

In the previous article [Taekwondo Strength Training Basics – The Back Squat] we discussed the benefits and uses of the back squat within a strength training program. In this article we will address how to perform the movement correctly and safely. To perform the movement using a barbell (either fixed i.e. Smith machine or free) we need to focus on five distinct phases as follows:

While browsing the web the other day, I came across a video that really hit me right between the eyes. It’s from one of my heros, not just in sport, but in life in general, with some of the best quotes from some great movies.

Are you showing the world how great you are? Are you showing everyone around you the talents you have to be the best you can be? Show everyone how GREAT you are. They deserve it, so you can inspire them to their greatness too…

One of the best exercises a Taekwondo athlete can use in the gym as a part of their Strength and Conditioning program (and even pretty much all year round!) is the back squat.

There are many variations of the squat movement and the back squat is what is regarded as the “classical” all round movement for lifting with legs. Here I will discuss how the squat movement works and what benefits you gain from performing it.

In Taekwondo training, a good Strength and Conditioning program is a vital component to your success, both short and long term. To gain a better understanding of a proper Strength and Conditioning program we need to understand some of the key elements that is in one.

Firstly as stated in previous articles we need to know what we are training for. What is our goal and what do we need to do to achieve it? Once we know this we can then start to periodize our training. We cover this in more detail at Taekwondo Training – Periodization I and Taekwondo Training – Periodization II.

Then there are different types of training protocols for different training goals. Power lifts use exercises such as clean and jerk, core lifts use exercises like squats and benchpresses and then we have assistance lifts (such as dumbbell curls) which isolate singular muscle types.

There are many different factors that affect stretching and flexibility, especially when it comes to Taekwondo.

One of the main things I see as a Strength & Conditioning (S&C) and Taekwondo coach is different levels of flexibility. Some kids, as soon as they enter the gym, can stretch right down into box splits. Others have to train for years to barely touch their toes.

On the other hand, there are those who have virtually no static flexibility at all but excellent kicking ability, with great height, range of motion (ROM) and technique and others who seem to be ‘hyperflexible’ with little or no kicking technique.

So what are factors that affect our flexibility and why are some individuals more flexible than others?

At a local Taekwondo Competition last weekend. The competition wasn’t a very high standard, but it was good enough for experienced players to try stuff out and more or less get a good workout from it.

While watching a match, I overheard a Taekwondo player talking about how he was “looking at his next opponent” and how he was trying to “psych him out” – and it really made me laugh.

What this guy didn’t know was that the opponent he was trying to “psych out” was one of the athletes I work with.