Taekwondo helps to improve IQ and mental capacity
This is an observation rather than being of any scientific study (at this point in time). There’s also a game at the end of this article to help those of you who are injured and sidelined from physical activity.
As a parent, would you agree that you would want your children to excel to the best that they can be? Do you want your kids to be the smartest in the classroom? Apart from enrolling them into an educational institution (ie. school) there are several other ways to get your children "thinking". One of them being the obvious private tuition. However, did you know that other extra curricular activities such as sports and music can give the brain a workout?
I think that most parents may already be aware of the benefit of playing a musical instrument has. Many kids are enrolled for piano lessons, whether that choice was made by the child is highly doubtful. Yet, for those who pursue and continue to learn and play the piano, the benefits are 
outstanding. Not only do they learn a skill of playing music, their academic ability improves. They generally do better at school! Why is that?
Now, I cannot say there are the same level of benefits (intellectually) for those who play sports. In particular, different sports will provide different benefits. What I am trying to convey is that sports can improve your mental capacity to some point also – maybe not as well as playing that piano though. Some sports can also provide negative impact too, I’m thinking of those that are full contact that have direct physical injuries towards the head. Luckily for us (Taekwondo), in Australia at least, head contact is off-limits for under 14 year olds.
Why do I say this and how have I observed it? Well, I must say that it is not a definitive "Yes, Taekwondo improves your Intelligence Quotient!" I am merely saying it "helps". I have noticed that those who practise Taekwondo martial arts (and are generally good at it) are also generally good at their academic abilities also. Those who also continue to practise Taekwondo continue to improve academically also. I believe, it has something to do with memory.
To progress to a new belt level, there is a new poomsae (or pattern of techniques) to learn. It is a particular sequence of actions that needs to be remembered and executed properly. Similarly, with playing a musical instrument to play a piece of music, you need to be able to read the notes and transfer that across to your fingers, arms, lungs, body posture and whatever else is needed for that particular instrument. To play it seamlessly, memory is also utilised so that there’s no pause when turning pages. Passion and feeling can only be conveyed when the sheet music is memorised also. It’s the same with Taekwondo patterns. When you learn a new poomsae, you generally follow step-by-step (that’s reading the music note-by-note). As you get better, you memorise and perform it yourself without assistance (without the sheet music). This may be the stage where the pattern may look a bit robotic and sometimes with a few pauses while you "think and try to remember the next step". Then after many, many numerous repetitions of that particular pattern, you may start to develop a different tempo to personalise it a bit. It’s this memorisation that helps with improving your IQ and mental capacity.
I’ve recently had a friend throw a rubik’s cube at me. This fad/craze seems to come and go, a bit like the yo-yo. Having the mixed up coloured squares in front of me, I tried numerous turns, twists and rotations to get the colours lined up. Unfortunately, I did not complete it. However, in observing how my friend solved it – I noticed something (I thought was) quite unusual. There were times when my friend did not even look at the cube and just started twisting things all over the place. Why? Because there was a particular sequence of rotations (they call it an algorithm) to get from Point A to Point B. I found out that it wasn’t just the one sequence, there were several different "patterns" to memorise. Each pattern to be utilised at different times depending on the colour/square formation. Now, I’m not sure about you – though I am thoroughly impressed every time that rubik’s cube is solved; and I attribute a lot of that to being "smart".
The same goes for many of the 3D physical puzzles that are available now. Things or items that involve a bit of brain power to get the links separated, to put the pieces together etc. When you see someone solve these, you sometimes think "Wow! they’re smart."
Even with other aspects of Taekwondo, there is that level of memorisation required. In sparring (sport Taekwondo), when the opponent does a certain attack – there’s a choice of counter-attacks and possibly a sequence of attacks following it. Roundhouse kick? Back kick! And I always hate leaving the back-kick by itself! In self-defense, when an attacker shoves or grabs the shoulders, what do you do? Hopefully, instinctively there’s at least one sequence of events that has been memorised to get yourself out of that situation. It’s very much the same as that rubik’s cube. You have a problem, and you need to solve it. Once you figure out how to solve it, it’s a matter of remembering it. So that in future similar circumstances you can repeat the solution again.
That’s where this game comes in. I came across it when I couldn’t find any free IQ tests online anymore. For those of you who are out of Taekwondo because of injury, you can try this game out to keep your brain active. I know, it’s not the same – because you don’t get a physical workout at the same time, but it’ll definitely keep your brain ticking over. Much like in martial arts sparring or the rubik’s cube, once you find a solution to some of these puzzles, it’s a matter of memorising and remembering the sequence for the next time.
Also, it is very good to keep the brain activity high leading into the later years of life. They say that as you get older, you start to lose your memory/mind. That is not necessarily true. If you keep the brain active with a variety of challenges, it should stay in good shape. It is actually the lack of use that deteriorates the mind. The less you use it, the more your mind will get use to not using it.
Remember, we are creatures of habit. So let’s make a habit of using our mind combined with our body. That’s where Taekwondo comes in!
Roy Khoh says:
March 3rd, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Actually I wrote this so that I can find this game quickly again
Roy Khoh says:
March 6th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Regarding those 3D puzzles, you can check out Mr Puzzle that sells quite a fair few of them.
In particular, I received this 6 piece burr as a Christmas present years ago. Difficulty rating of 9! Needless to say – it was ABSOLUTELY mind boggling.
Roy Khoh says:
March 14th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Finally! An IQ score of 170 got me on the highscore board for Puzzle Freak 2.
That was from playing once a day for the past week. Then I really tried for a high score yesterday but failed to make it.
Got 169 today first go too, but my name was written as “Roy Khoh” and the scoreboard just showed ********** so I tried again without any spaces.
Peel Region Grading - 5 April 2009 | Taekwondo: ATA Western Australia says:
April 14th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
[...] beneath their ability – forgetting steps in poomsae (patterns) here and there (remember the IQ article?), freezing up and uncertainty in their faces at other times. That’s the beauty of having [...]
Roy Khoh says:
July 26th, 2009 at 10:07 am
If solving the rubik’s cube is a pattern – I’m learning it in stages – and about 70% there.
To me, I view it very similar to learning a new pattern. You need to repeatedly practise and “complete” the necessary steps to get from Point A to Point B to Point C and finally to finish at Point Z.
Then, even after having done it all the way to Point Z, you might want to practise ONLY the steps from Point A to Point B until you’re comfortable with it. Once there, continue to Point C.
Then start again and practise starting from Point A and go to Point C (in order of A, B and C, of course) until you’re comfortable with that!
The procedure to learn is simple – incrementally add on the next step to what you’ve already comfortably memorised. Stopping at each stage and starting from scratch to “test” yourself.
Hopefully, you’ve read the above and can apply it to both your learning of a new pattern – or trying to solve that rubik’s cube. I think the rubik’s cube pattern is a little more complex than our TKD ones.
Roy Khoh says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 10:55 am
It’s taken just over a week to “learn” a new pattern for me. The pattern “Rubiks Cube”.
Like some people who forget steps in their regular Taekwondo pattern – I do too.
When I make a step forward, then realise my mistake I can sometimes backtrack to the previous step. Sometimes I botch it up completely and having need to start from the very beginning.
Just like learning a new Taekwondo pattern – I remember the beginning steps well. The middle steps are okay and the final finishing steps are vague.
I have also found that if I “talk out aloud” my steps and thoughts it’s much easier for me to remember that same step, the next time.
I guess, whether I retain this pattern would depend on how often I perform it “correctly” in the near future – and for how long I repetitively practise it.