Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Laisee Shakespeare--Temporary Black Belt

June 1,2013
My Tae Kwon Do Story

"To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first." William Shakespeare said this quote, and now I, Laisee Shakespeare am saying it again. This quote describes my tae kwon do experience. The steep hills that we are all trying to climb are our goals. What we want out of life. To go more in depth, my steep hill in tae kwon do is getting my black belt. A black belt isn't something that you can say that you got and that's it. Once you become a black belt, you will always be a black belt. The belt itself doesn't mean that you are a black belt. It's just a symbol, symbolizing all that you have learned, and what you are made of. The person wearing the belt has to determine that. Living by the tenets of tae Kwon Do is something that every black belt should do. I myself try to live this way, but at times it can be difficult.

Going to class every week and being able to remember everything that you have learned the week, month, or even year before can be challenging. We all have other things that we need to climb, and do as well. Going to school and having to get all of your homework done, writing essays, memorizing speeches, and being involved in other things such as sports. When I go to tae kwon do, it's a break from everything. No deadlines to worry about, except for tests. Not having to worry about anything else, and a break from all the running around. A time to get all of the frustration from your everyday life out.

The slow pace doesn't need much explaining. It has in deed taken a slow pace to reach this point. We started Tae Kwon Do in 2007, when I was in 3rd grade. We started because my brother was getting picked on at school. We started as a family with my brother, mom, and me in it. After a few years, my brother lost interest in it, but I wanted to continue. My mom said that she would continue with me if I wanted to, so we did. In the summers, our class time dwindled down. We didn't go as much because it was nice out, and we just didn't want to go. We took the summer off, and had a hard time getting ourselves to go back coming fall again. When we did go back, the things that we had learned weren't as sharp and precise as they had once been. This pattern went on for a while, and then one year we didn't make it back to class. At least a year went by before I suggested that we start back up again. While we were off though, tae kwon do didn't leave me. I thought about tae kwon do constantly, it didn't matter where we were. One day in church I leaned over to my mom and asked her how many tenets there were and was trying to remember them all. It has always been important to my life. During this process of on and off, we had changed instructors multiple times. We would start in one place, and then if we didn't like what was going on there, we would move onto the next.

Somewhere in this running around and changing of instructors, we found Master Mr. Dowell. We moved again after a few years, but then found ourselves coming right back to our home in Edgewood.

At Master McDowell's, it is like a family. Everybody knows everyone like a family does. We help each other out when each other need help on something, and are always there for each other. If a lower belt needs help on something, a higher belt will help them. Master McDowell cares about all of us immensely. If we are having problems with something, he will gladly help us out until we get it and understand how and what we are doing. He teases and jokes with us, which makes it even more fun to go. Part of the enjoyment of going to class, is having fun. You don't have to mess around and goof off while you're supposed to be paying attention to have fun. It's fun just going to class and seeing the people that you don't see anywhere else but in a dobo. They are your family, and it's good to see them. There are some inside jokes that we have developed within the dojang. If anyone outside of tae kwon do were to overhear us talking about them, they wouldn't understand them. Some of the friends that I still have today I have made in tae kwon do. They may not be from our dojang, or they might not still be in it, but we are still friends.

Being a black belt isn't something that you get; it's something that you become. You have to live everyday as a black belt would. Going to class and being able to remember everything can be challenging, but in the end, it will always be worth it. Attending class and having fun and enjoying it is also part of the experience. If it's not fun, why do it?