Dear Master Brian, Master Joyce, Master Bryanna, Master Benecia, parents, students, and friends here this afternoon. Thank-you for coming to my taekwondo third-dan grading.
It is for the third time that I stand in front of all of you to talk about my taekwondo journey. My first taekwondo journey essay from going onto first poom was all about how I started taekwondo because of my brother Matthew as a fun after school activity. When going for my second dan with my sister Charli, my second taekwondo journey essay focused more so on the qualities attributed to being a good confident black belt leader. Today, as you can see, I stand here on my own. As a relatively long-time member of this sport and of this club, marked by the prestigious title of registered student number one at Weiwu taekwondo, I wanted to share with you a couple thoughts and insights on what taekwondo really means to me as a person now that my journey has a couple more years added to it.
Having had taekwondo as a part of my life for around nine years, minus a hiatus for year 12 studies, one could say that it is definitely a huge part of who I am now. I like to think that taekwondo can be split into four main elements: sport, leadership, art, and balance.
Firstly, let’s look at taekwondo as a sport. If it’s any sign of my physical fitness, the three things that taekwondo has highlighted for me are my quavering cardio fitness, my unreliable ab strength that tends to always leave me specifically during warriors training, and my questionably existent muscles especially when it comes to holding a side kick that is nowhere near vertical. But those aside, taekwondo has always remained an important reminder to keep up my fitness in check, acting as the base for my older passion for running when I was younger. Thank-you to Master Benecia for teaching and encouraging me during warriors training each week, even though I have started to sit out more often nowadays after getting tired more quickly.
Not only can taekwondo be attributed to exercise, but it has also grounded into me the qualities that make a good leader. Each week I am granted the opportunity to help instruct classes of students, particularly those of much younger ages than myself. It has in fact taught me the qualities of being very patient and understanding as not everybody learns at the same speed, and also confidence as students will more likely follow a leader who is sure of what they are teaching as opposed to someone who is unassertive and afraid. Thank-you to Master Joyce and Master Bryanna for constantly ensuring that the black belt programs of our club are in order and flowing well, being able to still learn beyond blackbelt has by far shaped me into who I am today as a young adult. I have even had the chance to take on these skills in many situations outside of taekwondo, such as in my part-time job as a tutor as well as many accounts during high school.
Most importantly for me, taekwondo is an art. I’ve come to learn in recent years that I am a person who is very drawn to small details in things out of habit, almost a perfectionist one may say. I have come to appreciate taekwondo for its infinitely abundant intricacies and niches in the techniques I perform. It is through these I feel as though I can truly connect to the art of taekwondo, and there is always something new that I can work on to improve and become what I’d like to think is a true taekwondo athlete. Thank-you to Master Brian for guiding me through the perfection of my patterns, which I hope to proudly showcase at my next poomsae competition and onwards when I eventually return to compete next year. Although my kicks are incredibly low and I may not execute these small details, probably my favourite part of taekwondo is learning about what I am really doing in each step of my patterns as if I were fighting in real life.
And finally, taekwondo has taught me about balance. And not just balance as in standing on one leg in crane stance with a diamond block, but balance in my daily life and the comradery fostered in this sport. I enjoy coming to training knowing that I get to train and instruct with a taekwondo community I have grown close to over the years. In my busy full-on schedule each week, taekwondo allows me to take a break from the impending pressure of upcoming exams, university life, work and more. Thank-you to my fellow black belts Charlotte L, Earnest L, Geri L, Ray Q and Keanen T for keeping me company on this length of my journey. Having taekwondo there for me as a hobby and a social outlet has always kept my head up during tough and stressful times, which was particularly evident during my small break for the year 12 schooling year where I found myself missing being here to train.
I must not forget to thank my parents for sticking around after so many years to continuously support me and drive me around to my various training sessions. I want to once again thank all the masters for their ongoing support as well, and for always being ready to answer my many weird and random questions. I hope to be able to continue my taekwondo journey after this grading as it has determined who I am and my personality. And who knows, maybe I’ll get to tell you about my taekwondo journey again for the fourth time!
