The Journey To My 2nd Degree Black Belt
hen I failed to break my boards at the regional testing, I knew there was a very high chance that I would receive a no-change. My form and sparring weren’t good enough to pass me unless I got a perfect score on both, which I knew I didn’t. So, what surprised me that day was my board breaks. When I was training for the regional, I broke my Superman palm heel on a blue board every single time, and it was my step reverse sidekick that I didn’t break. But somehow, the tables turned that day, and instead of failing to break the reverse sidekick, I broke it! On the downside, I didn’t break the blue board with my Superman palm heel strike. This was just one of the testings that I hadn’t passed, but still part of my journey.
While I was at World Championships, there was a lot of competition that I had never seen before. I was astonished by the amount of people, the competitiveness, and mostly by the amount of skill that I was seeing. In my ring, during sparring, I was up against a guy with amazing flexibility and speed. Although he didn’t win sparring, he got 1st place in forms, which is pretty impressive. My skills have improved since then, and he is one of the people I have set goals to beat. Although I may never see him again, I will keep training so that I will be prepared that if I ever do meet someone like him again, I will do my very best and beat them in whatever discipline where I was against them.
I have obtained one of the three titles you can currently get: Provincial Champ, District Champ, and World Champ. As of this point, I have not yet earned the title of District Champion (although I have attended district championships and almost got the title twice), nor World Champion. These are two of my goals that I will work towards to one day achieve. To get the Provincial Champion title, you must have the most points in a discipline at the end of a tournament season. Because I had the most points in my division for combat weapon sparring, I became the Provincial Champion.
Just in the time of being a 1st Degree Black Belt, I was unable to test twice. Both of these instances were caused by injuries before the testing. One being a sprained ankle and the other being a sprained leg muscle. Both of these injuries were caused by playing California Kickball and kicking the ball. But while I was recovering from the injuries, I didn’t let them discourage me because I had a positive mindset. As soon as I was fit to continue training in class, I would go back to my normal schedule of training: 5-6 days a week, 1 hour to 2 and a half hours. If I had stopped my Taekwondo training just because of my injuries, I wouldn’t be here right now, in the flesh. All my hard work and persistence paid off because here I am, in front of you, with a 2nd Degree Black Belt around my waist.
Songahm Taekwondo has changed my life. I have learned discipline, life skills, and the way of the hand and the foot. Finally, I would like to give a huge thanks to everyone who has helped me along my journey. People like Mr. Chelaidin and Ms. Reshad pushed me in sparring to help improve my skills. My instructors Mr. Bytek, Mr. Raphael, and Master Davidson have taught me so many things. But most importantly, my parents who have supported me all throughout my entire journey no matter the circumstances. Whether I was injured or not or struggling with something, my parents have always been there for me all the time. One of the biggest things I have learned in my journey to 2nd Degree is never to give up, no matter how tough things may be. ‘Today not possible, tomorrow possible.’