This journal is going to be about one of the biggest things that changed my life, Taekwondo. Taekwondo is the Korean martial art and are teacher or master taught us the way he learned in South Korea. For me taekwondo was more than a martial art and a way to defend myself, it taught me to stand up for myself. My taekwondo friends are more like family then anything else. One thing that is taught is that we win together, and we fail together. That is an important life lesson.
I started taekwondo in the eighth grade so around 13 years old. For about 5 years I worked hard to work my way up the belt levels. There were times where I wanted to give up, but Master Ha would not let me. He taught me even if I cannot do it now I will later. My hard worked payed off and now I am a second-degree black belt.
When I started I was shy, very unsure, and I did not trust Master Ha fully like I do now. I found out that you must earn your white belt at Majest. You must do the basic movements in front of the entire class and you must speak loudly. Looking back on it I was not as loud as I could have been, and I believe that Master Ha new that I need more time to warm up to him and the others before I could work at my full potential.
One thing that you find out the hard way is that, every belt comes with its challenges and each challenge is different. White is probably the scariest of the first three belts, because now you must remember the form, kicking combinations, breaking, and go through a “interview” to receive the next belt. The first time is terrifying and as you move up the forms, kicking combinations, breaking, and the questions they ask become increasingly more difficult. Then they tell you after you get your yellow belt you now at sparing to the mix. So, sparing is basically fighting with padded gear and a referee. At first it is hard, but then you realize if you make to bo black belt and black belt you must spare with more than one other opponent.
I not only worked my way up to be a second-degree black belt, but I was also on the Leadership team and the Demo team. Each team had their own meeting times which were mostly Saturdays. So, a good portion of the Saturdays for the past 5 years I spent at taekwondo from 8:30am to about 2pm and I loved it. I meet many of my second family during these times.
You may be wondering why I am writing about this, well I will tell you straight out. When you have a past like mine where people abandon you or hurt you like its child’s play it, becomes a little much sometimes and feeling like the only people you can trust is your family can be very lonely. So being able to break out your shell and fight back and have a way to stand up to those that hurt you is amazing. My family and my second family have stood by me and have help me grow into a better person. The moral of this journal reflection is that sometimes you may hide or give up from your problems, but you must find something that will help you grow and find your people/second family. I would not have received my second-degree without support from the others at taekwondo. That second-family will help you fight the battles that sometimes are a little too hard to fight alone.