August 10, 2013
My Story
Well where do I begin? Tae Kwon Do is an art made from the body with the hands and the feet. You can be graceful, but yet powerful at the same time. It takes hard work and a lot of dedication to learn everything there is about Tae Kwon Do and its' teachings. In fact, there are so many teachings, I know that I still have much to learn about them, but I have certainly come a long way to get to where I am today.
I first started off as a white belt just like everyone else who joins. The reason with it being white to signify purity, being defenseless, and being a beginner. After being first brought in by one of my friends, who stopped at their brown belt unfortunately, I watched the class for the very first day. I watched from the beginners up to the black belts, and I was amazed with the differences between each level. From the height, speed, power, and concentration, I could tell how much everyone there had a heightened sense of focus when they advanced upward. When I first started, I was short, chubby, and not the best looking, but then I thought to myself, "What could I become into if I stuck with it? Could I change into something that I can't even think of? There's no way." But I decided to accept that challenge and see what I could become. And sure enough, it became a part of my life that I will never regret, and I became a stronger person in more ways than one.
As I was going through Tae Kwon Do, I began to notice little changes I was making, not only in my physical appearance, but in my spirit as well. My body became stronger, faster, more durable, flexible, and an overall better improvement from the person I was before physically.
Mentally, when I first started, I wasn't very confident in myself. I was usually nervous about everything. I would worry about what would happen if I did something wrong even if it was the littlest detail. I wasn't always motivated to do something when I was younger. But through Tae Kwon Do, everything became clearer. I gradually gained my confidence, my self-esteem, my motivation to keep going, and I would push myself to my limits toward anything I would put my mind to until I couldn't push anymore. It not only delved into my work in the dojang, but to everwhere else I go. Whenever I am faced with any kind of challenge, I accept it and go at it with everything I have, whether it be at work, school, or everyday life. I learned that there are no limits, but plateaus. We have to constantly try to exceed those plateaus with everything we have, for that's what it means to be dedicated.
Tae Kwon Do has a lot more to it than meets the eye; a lot of it dealing with our mentality. There is still much all of us can learn from Tae Kwon Do, no matter what age, or what Dan of black belt any of us are. There is always something we can learn. but it's with Tae Kwon Do that it becomes a much easier task through our morality. My life has been made easier through my development in Tae Kwon Do, making me into a better person that I ever thought possible.
