My Philosophy
And thanks.
I remember the feel of the ball with my foot. I remember how it looked with its design. I remember when I went to soccer practice in the fall seeing the bright yellow sun light up the leaves with so many different colors. I also remember hearing myself running through the leaves. And hearing the rustle of the leaves as my shoes crunched over them. Dribbling passing and kicking the soccer ball in soccer practice with the other kids most of who I did not know. I also remember the beautiful leaves lighting up as the sun was setting. And I remember playing in soccer games all the different colored jerseys our teams and the team we were playing against. The running to keep up with the ball as it curved and was passed to another player. Feeling the frustration not being able to get the ball. But also feeling myself kicking the soccer ball out of my opponents grasp. And I remember dribbling the ball toward the goal with that white net. I remember kicking it in. And the satisfaction of victory and the bitter taste of defeat. I also remember quitting soccer after playing two years because I got bored with it.
Then I remember the gym bleachers not yet taken out for the crowd to sit in. The gym floor as I ran and the squeaking sounds of my shoes as I pivoted and paused with a basketball in hand. I remember looking at the basketball net feeling myself just slightly jumping more like a little hop as I stayed where I was. My arms coming up then my hands then my fingers releasing the basketball. Seeing the basketball go up toward the white net and I remember the swish as it went in. I remember I and the team I was with running from one line of the gym to where we had started at the beginning and the end of the gym. Then running to another line of the gym and back to where we had originally started we called these killers. We kept doing killers until we had gone to every line and back sometimes we started over sometimes five times other times ten sometimes even twenty. I remember the crowd on the bleachers. At the basketball games I and my team would play at I remember running to try to steal the ball from my opponent. I remember the feel of the ball as I swiped it from my opponents grasp. I remember the feeling of the basketball as it hit the gym floor. As I dribbled it I relaxed the mussels as my legs were pumping I pivoted around an opponent. I kept one hand on the ball dribbling it. And the other hand in front of me to guard the ball. I ran to the basket and tensed my mussels jumped and took the hand with the basketball in it and made a point with a layup. I remember the swish of the basketball as it went in. I remember passing the basketball to my team mates. I remember the feeling of joy when success of winning a game had come. And I remember the feeling of frustration of losing a game. I remember quitting basketball after I had played it for five or six years. Because I had been playing it for so long and I did the same thing over and over again every year for practice.
I remember running through the halls of my high school with the other wrestlers at least six to eight times we ran through each hallway every night of wrestling practice. I remember being on the mat in the wrestling room working on keeping our partner on the ground for as long as we could. I remember going to wrestling meets. And looking at the large crowds of other schools with their school t shirts including mine Lynnville Sully in big bright letters with a blue hawk neck a white hawk head yellow eyes and a sharp beak. I remember the dull taste of defeat. I remember the coach saying everyone had to watch all of our team mates wrestle. Then we could leave. I remember quitting wrestling after one year because I was sick of it.
I remember my parents asking what do you want to try next Troy? My response I don't know maybe nothing. I remember my parents finding a Tae Kwon Do website. And I remember they made me look at it and check the website out.
I still remember to this day walking into that dojang in Grinnell Iowa. I remember stepping foot into the dojang with my brother and my parents after I took my shoes and socks off. I remember feeling the carpet beneath my feet. And looking around at all the different kinds of shiny medals and trophies. I remember some medals were bronze silver and gold. Some trophies I remember were big while other trophies were bigger. I remember each medal looked different and unique in its own way. Some had a person in a fighting stance or a chumbee stance. Some were doing sidekicks. And then there were the trophies. Some had people doing a sidekick. Others had two people doing sidekicks at each other.
Then I remember a man approaching my brother and I. this man had somewhat of a military haircut. His hair was brown and his front hair was spiked a little with the front spiked hair a blonde color. He was wearing from what I could tell in an instant was a Tae Kwon Do uniform. With a black stripe down each side of the uniform of his pants. He also had two black stripes in the shape of a v on the shirt of his uniform. He had two patches on each top side of the shoulder of his uniform. On one shoulder it said master and on the other shoulder it said instructor. And on the lower side of his right shoulder there was a South Korean flag patch sewn on. And on the other side of the lower shoulder it had an American patch sewn on. Then on one side of the shirt of the uniform of the chest. It had someone kicking at someone's head in the air with a flying side kick. And there was another person blocking the side kick with an x block. Around the patch it said Jung's Tae Kwon Do Academy. And around the outside of the patch it had what I later learned to be Korean symbols that translated into Jung's Tae Kwon Do. On the other side of the uniform of the chest on the uniform it had two black belts bowing to each other with an eagle in the center of the black belts. And around the patch it said World Black Belt Association. And around the outside of the patch it had again what I would learn later to be Korean symbols. That translated into World Black Belt Association. And finally he had a black belt around his waist with four red stripes around one side I learned later the red signifies that this person is an instructor and owns a Tae Kwon Do school. And that the numbers of the stripes signify the Dan or degree. And on the other side of the belt were what I later learned to be Korean symbols that translated into Forest Gibson. Mr. Gibson introduced himself to my brother and I. and my brother and I introduced ourselves. Mr. Gibson then started asking my brother and I questions like if we had any martial art experience. After the questions Mr. Gibson gave my brother and I a brief explanation of Korea's history. Mr. Gibson then taught my brother and !the basics of Tae Kwon Do from that first night as it will be forever I became Mr. Gibson's student and he became my teacher.
The only reason why I put the sports in this paper is because they were a part of my journey. And what little I know now has come from mistakes trying my best to correct my mistakes if possible. With and without the help of the black belts Mr. Gibson My wonderful Tae Kwon Do family teachers parents role models and by myself. And with the five tenants of Tae Kwon Do Courtesy Integrity Perseverance Self Control and Indomitable Spirit. Questions answers to questions. Practice sweat injuries and humility one of my mistakes I have learned from is losing. I have learned losing is not losing unless made so in ones mind. (Bruce Lee) and losing is not losing it is a learning experience. (Bruce Lee) One of the biggest mistakes I made was having a pain in my stomach that I ignored every night last year. This pain would sometimes stay the same or sometimes get worse. But I ignored it. And one night I collapsed to the floor and I could not get up. I felt the pain in my stomach the sweat rolling down my face. The mussels cramping up. And then my vision started to get blurry. But I stuck to the tenant of perseverance and indomitable spirit. And stopped myself from passing out. My girlfriend Veronica begged me to go to the hospital. I refused and I finally caved in. She helped me up where I then felt my mussels cramping even more and a tremendous pain in my stomach. My dad took me to the hospital and she came with. As my dad drove every bump every turn ever stop made the pain worse. I had felt the pain before but not like this. My vision saw blurry signs grass road and cars. And then it saw the hospital. And I used perseverance to get a hold of myself. I basically crawled in the hospital. The doctors checked me and they then told me I was lucky. Because I had an infection in my stomach and it was moving quickly. The doctors said if I had waited a few more weeks it would have moved to my heart and then poof no more Troy. The sad thing I hate to admit is I was going to wait and not go to the doctors because I thought the pain as nothing. Veronica saved my life and I thank her for that. There are no words for how grateful I am for her.
My philosophy.
Although I have many philosophies I have one philosophy that sticks to me. There are no limits there are only plateaus. And we must not stay there we must go beyond them because If we don't then it will cut into our physical activities and our lives. (Bruce Lee). Another one that sticks to me is anything is possible as long as you believe in yourself. Like I said I have many philosophies and in the future I hope I can share some of them.
My thanks. I would like to thank my Tae Kwon Do family for always being there for me. Sometimes I felt different because I was adopted the reason I was adopted is a dark past with my birth family. And my Tae Kwon Do family has not treated me any differently. And I thank you all for this. Although I do not know all my family members including my birth family. I hope I am making my ancestors who have gone before me and died proud of me and all that I do. I also hope I am making my Tae Kwon Do family proud. And I know I have so much more to learn and I hope Mr. Gibson and all the black belts and students can help me learn more and more each day. To reach my goal of being an instructor once I get out of high school. I would like to thank Grand Master Jung for being the great person he is. And Mr. Gibson for building me up more and more. And I would like to thank all of of my Tae Kwon Do family and my family as well Kansamida.
