Taekwondo (meaning foot hand art), is a Korean martial art. Taekwondo teaches many different things like, self discipline, self control, self confidence, and of course, self defence.  Taekwondo, like many other martial arts, has ranks in the form of a colored belts. In 2008 I started as a white belt and moved through yellow, orange, green, purple, blue, brown, red, deputy, (half red, half black) and finally black belt in 2011. In May 2014 I will be testing for my second degree black belt. However, different martial arts have a different number of belts. In Taekwondo there are four stripes in a belt, they each have their own meaning and when you have all of them you can test for the next belt.

Like I said, Taekwondo teaches many other things aside from self defense. There are five tenets of Taekwondo, courtesy, integrity, indomitable spirit, perseverance, and self control. Taekwondo has also taught me how to set small goals, for example, getting the next stripe for a belt, and big goals that are challenging and far away, like getting a new belt.  At the beginning, you start out not knowing much but as you go on and progress through the belts you learn new techniques.

A lot of things in Taekwondo can’t be achieved fast and easy. This picture is of a kick that took a long time to practice and master. This kick can’t be taught in one day, like every sport you need to work hard and master challenging things. For instance you can't just memorize moves, you need to focus on how it looks, being crisp (not sloppy), and how much power you put into your moves.

I like Taekwondo because it is a different sport. It is a supportive and challenging learning environment, where I have met nice and supportive people. When I was a white belt I used to look at the instructors and want to help the class like them. Now that I am one, I get to share my knowledge and teach the colored belts.