What Tae Kwon Do Means to Me
To start with, I want to establish what Tae Kwon Do (TKD) is not to me. TKD is not a place to work out my frustrations, my anger, or my hostilities. True, the workout is a great way to relieve these byproducts of a long day at the office, but that’s not enough to drive me to complete just over 300 regular classes and 45 brown belt classes at the time of this writing. I think it’s best to leave those emotions at the door of the dojang, as it takes nothing less than full concentration of physical power and spirit to benefit fully from a class. Carrying that extra “baggage” also only impedes the true spirit of competition that should always be demonstrated in interaction with other students and instructors.
TKD is also not a method of “getting tougher”, at least in the typical worldly sense. I also feel that it goes completely against the spirit of TKD. While training in TKD over the past 27 months, I have realized that my physical strength, power, and focus have increased tremendously. If not conscious of my actions, I now have the ability to seriously injure or even kill someone. But, that achievement also comes with great responsibility and duty. I now feel the responsibility to protect others and the duty of “jumping in” to protect the weak. I know that I can not just step aside when trouble happens, even if it’s not my trouble. I must do something about it, and do it without second thoughts. That doesn’t mean that I need to jump into every fight that comes along.
That’s another thing that TKD is not to me. It is not a license to fight, or look for situations to try out my kicks, punches, and other techniques. On the contrary, it gives me the power to be able to recognize that I have choices in every situation. I now have the ability to strike swiftly and with
deadly force, but I also have the strength to look a situation “in the face” and “control” it. That means having the confidence and personal strength to discourage and diffuse a situation, while being ready to engage physically.
To me, Tae Kwon Do means so much more than its literal translation. TKD is about personal development – “the harmony and balance between the mental and the physical”. Even if I never have to strike someone with intent to disable, I have developed a more refined control over my body and that in itself brings about a sense of well being, even with the occasional bruises!
TKD is also about commitment and perseverance. Only through making the commitment to work hard at every class, and sticking with it, do you get anything out of it. As the senior belts are aware, you only get out of TKD what you put into it. You can hold back in class and not throw every
punch or kick like its for real, but you’ll fall way short later.
One of the biggest things that TKD is to me is what I will call community. Although TKD is not characterized as a “team” activity, I have found that it is very much a team effort. As I have progressed in my rank, I have become increasingly aware of the influence of other students on my
style, my thoughts, and my results. I become better at sparring through my sparring sessions with other students. I better understand my board breaking techniques by helping other students in their struggles with their techniques. I have also realized that students are a product of their instructor(s) and just not a result of our environment. My success is a direct reflection of my hard work and my instructors’ diligent “coaching”.
One last thing that I want to mention about TKD community is something that I’ve heard Grand Master Jung talk about at a few of our tournaments: “We are Tae Kwon Do people”. As we train together, on the same drills, forms, and techniques that thousands of others have also practiced, the connection starts to become more real. We are a part of a very large group, and it’s a good thing to be a part of.
I feel that I can not close this paper without giving some credit to those who have made it possible for me. First and foremost, I must thank my God for blessing me with opportunity to begin my martial arts training and the health to stay with it.
Secondly, I thank my family for their patience: listening to my reports on what I did at class; seeing what boards I broke; patiently watching during tournaments; and, more often than not, listening to what I didn’t do so well. I also want to thank them for sharing my time with them so I could attend
classes when I already have a very full work schedule as a small business owner.
I owe a great deal of thanks to Mrs. Watson and Mr. Olson as my primary class instructors. I thank them for their commitment of being there to teach class on those many times cold, sometimes very dreary mornings at six o’clock when I’m sure they would have rather been sleeping in bed. I also thank them and Ms. Voshell for their (what sometimes seemed relentless!) push to constantly build and refine my skills.
I want to thank Master Wells & Mrs. Master Wells for operating the school and for their master guidance. Without them, none of this would be possible and our school would be nothing more than “a place to work out”.
Finally, I wish to thank all of the other Black belts & students who I have trained with in the past two plus years and will continue to train with in the future. As a junior belt, I looked to the senior belts and found that they demonstrated active examples of all of the tenets of TKD. I now find junior
belts looking at me expecting to see if I reflect the same tenets in my attitude and actions. I will do my very best to always show what Tae Kwon Do really means to me.
