Q. I am not flexible at all! Can I still learn taekwondo? A. Yes you can. Flexibility is very practical for high kicks but it is not an absolute must. Speed has a big influence as well. You will see that using proper technique and speed, you will reach pretty high, even if you are not the most flexible in your class! Q. I have already reached the age of xxx. Am I not too old to start taekwondo? A. You are never too old to start taekwondo, as long as you are physically able to train. Of course, the older you get, the more difficult it will be to win in competition for instance, but taekwondo is much broader than sparring, something which people often tend to forget. The most important aspect of a training is that you feel good about the training and that you make progress on both physical and mental level. Q. I am not very fit... Will that be a problem? A. No, start training right away! Taekwondo will help you to become fit in a (relative) short amount of time. Q. How long does it take to become a black belt? A. That totally depends on where you train and how much you train. Where I come from, it takes more than 5 years (training 2 - 3 times a week) to become a black belt. I also heared of schools where you can achieve the black belt level after about 2 - 3 years. Q. I want to start with taekwondo. What kind of a club should I be looking for? A. The first thing you should do is visit a club. Talk with the instructor and observe how he/she is teaching. It is very important that you feel comfortable with your instructor and the way classes are being taught. You must be able to develop trust in your instructor. The style is not really important, both ITF and WTF are, like any martial art equally good, they are just a bit different (you might want to try a totally different martial art for the same reason as well :O) Do not pay fees that are too high, a good instructor should not be teaching to become rich! Check if the trainings are physically internsive and not too chaotic. Q. You are talking about belt-colors, but my club uses a totally different system! A. This is clearly stated in the Belts/Exams section. There are a lot of different affilitations that use different guidelines for exams. The fact that your club has a different bel-coloring system does not mean that your club doesn't practise taekwondo, they simply have a different point-of-view on this subject. Q. I am looking for master so-and-so, do you know where I can find him? A. No. Q. I am looking for a club in town xxxx. Do you have an address for me? A. No. Q. I am told that taekwondo is not the most effective martial art when it comes to self-defence. A. It is in my opinion true that if you want to practise a martial art purely for self-defence purposes, taekwondo might not be the martial art that you are looking for. Most street-fights end up on the ground, so in that case you want to practise a martial art that focusses on grappling.