Taekwondo, Lancaster, Ages 8+
Taekwondo Classes in Lancaster
Beginner-friendly Taekwondo with kickboxing and self-defence built in. First class free.
No prior experience. No fitness prerequisite. Just turn up. The first belt teaches you everything you need to know.
See the timetable →First class free · Free uniform when you join
Find your route in
Who Taekwondo is for
If you can show up, you can start. Everything else is taught.
Kids (8+)
For the child who hasn't found their thing yet, or has tried and stopped before. The quiet one in groups. The one who needs something active that isn't a screen. Taekwondo gives kids real skills, focus, and confidence, without expecting them to have it on day one.
Book a kids' free trial →Under 8 or not ready for contact? See Dragons (ages 4-7) or Cadets (7+, non-contact).
Adults
For the adult who's been saying they'll start something for months. Who doesn't think of themselves as a gym person. Who finds the hardest part is walking in. No one starts fit. No one starts confident. You don't have to either.
Book an adult free trial →The essentials
What you need to know
Where & when
Ages
What to wear
Your first class
What a class actually looks like
No two are the same. That's the point.
A class isn't a script. What gets worked on depends on who's in the room, what needs sharpening, and what's coming next on the calendar. The structure flexes around the people training, not the other way round.
That said, every class has shape.
Warm-up.
Mobility, footwork, getting the body ready to work.
Foundations.
Patterns, technique drilling. The slow, careful work that builds the layer underneath.
Application.
Striking, sparring, defence drills. Putting what's been drilled into practice. This is where most of the work lives.
Cool-down.
Stretch, breathe, recover.
If a grading's coming up, the class tilts toward the syllabus. If a new student's struggling with stance, we slow down and rebuild it. If everyone's sharp, we work harder. The training serves what's needed: that week, that day, that hour.
What you'll learn
The skills you'll build
Six skills the syllabus builds, at your pace, in order.
Kicks
The kicking arsenal Taekwondo is known for, from beginner stances through full Olympic range.
Strikes
Jab, cross, hook, uppercut. Hands-up combinations under controlled pressure.
Close-range defence
Frames, exits, and how to handle close-range situations a kicker isn't usually taught.
Staying on your feet
Practical self-defence focused on staying upright. Controlled escape techniques if you're caught up close.
Sparring
Controlled, graded sparring. Beginners start light. Contact increases as your defence does.
Conditioning
Mobility, coordination, explosive power. The fitness comes free.
Every one of these is on the grading syllabus. You build them in order, at your pace.
Your progression
Your path through the belts
Belts mark progress. Here's what each phase looks like.
Belts are how you show what you've learned. You grade at every belt, with monthly opportunities to test. Most students grade at every opportunity in their first year.
Your first year
Building foundations
Monthly gradings. Minimum 12 classes between each grade. You'll move through several colours in your first year. That's where the steepest learning happens. Most students grade at every opportunity when they start.
Through the middle belts
Adding depth
Technique sharpens. Sparring becomes more nuanced. Self-defence drills add controlled pressure. Class minimums creep up as the syllabus deepens. Each belt asks a little more.
Black tag and beyond
Giving back
At the higher grades, training stops being just about your own belt. You start putting hours into helping new students. Coaching becomes part of the progression. By the time you grade for black belt, it reflects what you can teach as well as what you can do.
Monthly gradings keep the path visible. There's no skipping ahead. Your belt always reflects what you've actually earned.
What you're signing up to
Why train here
What you're choosing when you choose Vortex.
Two decades of coaching
Andy started teaching at 15 and has been coaching ever since. Hundreds of students taught by name. Double figures in black belts produced. The method has been refined over nearly twenty years of working out what each student actually needs.
A class environment built around progress, not pressure
Every class is supervised, structured, and run to the same coaching standards. New students aren't thrown into hard sparring. Contact is graded. Confidence builds before challenge does. Most people who walk in nervous walk out wanting to come back.
A recognised system
Officially recognised by the British Martial Arts and Boxing Association (BMABA), an independent UK martial arts governing body, as a distinct system with a documented syllabus, grading structure, and coaching standard.
Built on real competitive experience
Andy competed for Team GB in Taekwondo, and across kickboxing and MMA. That background shapes how the class teaches: methods refined under pressure, taught in a way beginners can build into.
Read more about the system →Before you ask
Common questions
- Dragons (ages 4-7) , our youngest class, built for early starters.
- Cadets (7+) , non-contact Taekwondo for kids not yet ready for full contact.
Reviews
What parents say
From a parent whose son has been training with us for three years.
“Andy is a great Taekwondo coach. He's engaging and makes the lessons fun for the kids. There are tiered age classes so they are age-appropriate. My son has been going to classes for three years now and his skill and confidence have grown significantly under Andy's guidance. Would highly recommend.”
Emily F., parent
Google review
First class.
Free.
One class. No commitment. See if it's for you.
You'll be in the class, training with everyone else. Ask questions, take it as easy or as hard as you want, walk out with a clear answer. If you want to come back, your first uniform is on us. No joining fee. No contracts.