“I started doing Taekwondo when I was in kindergarten and have been doing it for twelve or thirteen years. At the beginning my parents put me in Taekwondo because they wanted me to exercise. But as I continued and grew older, I learned more about the different philosophies I could learn and the different ways to lead my life through martial arts. I learned a lot of social skills through it, alongside bettering my physical health.
I think teaching Taekwondo and mentoring others after I became a black belt has translated a lot to my own learning. First of all, I’m able to articulate my thoughts in a way that other people can understand. My self-confidence has grown as a result of talking to a larger audience. I gained more confidence that way and I’m a lot more outspoken now.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve branched out to the many different aspects of Taekwondo. For example, we have normal training and then I also have teaching, coaching, and competitions. I’ve really grown to enjoy it; more recently I’ve been going to more national and international competitions. It’s really fun to see different cultures from other parts of the US and even in places like Korea. I’ve learned a lot from just trying to absorb all these different teaching and training styles.
When I first started, I didn’t have too much pride. But since then, I have branched out and accomplished more things. I’m able to see how I impact other students, especially as a teacher or coach. For example, I get to see my students get gold in competitions or feel really proud of themselves after competing. I also get a sense of pride, since I was able to help facilitate this growth and am part of their Taekwondo journey. I believe that I’m paying homage to the black belts before me who have also helped me on my journey.
When it comes to the sport, my favorite thing is sparring because I like controlled fighting. I also enjoy trying out new different types of kicks and sparring because there’s just so much you can do to score points. I like always changing up how I approach a match every time, whether it’s in a competition or just normal training. Sometimes I’ll be more focused on defense, and then other times I’ll have a more playful style.
The best memory I have of Taekwondo was this summer, when I went to Korea for an international competition with my team. It was a different level than competing nationally, especially in a country that values Taekwondo way more than the US. During sparring I had to fight in the center ring and having the camera on me while I’m standing there in front of tens of thousands of people was such a surreal moment.
Even though I do Taekwondo every day, I never saw it as something that was taking away from school time. I saw maybe a little bit more on other extracurriculars, but in terms of schoolwork, I usually just try to get it done during school, and if I don’t, then I’ll finish it at home. I haven’t had many problems balancing schoolwork with Taekwondo.
People always see Taekwondo as just a fighting style. But you also have to remember there’s a lot to the sport — you don’t have to solely focus on the physical aspects. Of course there’s physical benefits, but I think the mental benefits I’ve gotten, like boosting my confidence, having a higher self-esteem, or knowing my worth, are also really important. I’ve grown a lot through Taekwondo.”
