If martial arts have given me anything, it is a fighting spirit; the spirit of a warrior exists in every Hwa Rang student and teacher, and this warrior is fearless and capable of the most incredible feats of strength and agility. Each new student begins at a different level of awareness of this fact, and it can often take years to fully realize what it means. These students that become warriors are brimming with confidence, as they have the power to train and fight their heart out. I was jumping out of my skin with excitement the week before Grandmaster Lee’s Midwest Seminars. We trained our hardest at class and were ready to take on new material and challenges. That morning I had woken up early to prepare myself with a good breakfast and some stretching. While I went through my morning routine, I kept in mind that it would be a long drive to Minneapolis. While pouring some milk into my cereal, my dad came into the kitchen and casually said, “don’t forget to set your clocks for daylight savings time.” My heart stopped. After a second to take it in, I understood that I was an entire hour behind schedule. After cramming the cereal down my throat, I double and triple checked that I had all my gear, printed a map to the dojang, and headed out the door. While I was driving, my mind wandered to the kinds of things people would think of me, say to me. I had been late to a class before, but this was my first seminar; I had to have it perfect. My black Hyundai has a surprisingly good engine, so keeping thirty miles per hour over the speed limit was not difficult. As I cruised down the highway, I kept music playing to calm me down and try to forget about for the time being. The screen on my cell phone was consistently li... ... middle of paper ... ...stately than with interrogation. “I am sorry for being late to class. I feel as though I have failed you.” “You have not failed me, you have failed yourself. It’s what is inside that is holding you back. You have nothing to fear but greatness and confidence.” His words were like the collapsing of a dammed river, the torrent washing away uncertainty to leave behind a cleansed mind and spirit. Grandmaster taught me that true confidence comes from within, and only I can make it happen. Every great warrior has faced their own fears and limitations to become what they want to be. Since those seminars, I have had more passion for everything I do in life. From playing music to keeping up on my training, I have confidence that has me on a straight path. Look inside, and realize that limits that exist are only there because you haven’t done anything to remove them.
The Warrior Ethos, by Steven Pressfield depicts the warrior’s mentality from ancient times to the present through a variety of different aspects and stories. In The Warrior Ethos, Pressfield states that men are not born with the certain qualities that make a good warrior, but instead are inculcated through years of training and indoctrination, stating at an early age. He shows how different societies have been able to instill the same or very similar ideals throughout history while maintaining their own unique characteristics. Things have changed from ancient Sparta, where parents would be enthusiastic about their children going to war, and even more elated upon learning they died valorous in battle. These days, most parents are a lot
On that note, I shifted my truck into reverse and vacated the parking lot of the college I was dual-enrolled at. The thirty minute ride to my high school could not be over soon enough, as my destiny for the upcoming summer was at stake. The multitude of emotions I experienced on the seemingly endless car ride overcame me as my speedometer pushed the speed limit. Feelings of nervousness, excitement, optimism, courage, and anxiety crept into my mind.
Elia, Randy. Peter Kwok’s Kung Fu Academy. Masonic Temple Lodge, Westwood, NJ. 17 March 2014. n.p.
Before earning my black belt, I never saw myself as someone who could accomplish great things. I always undermined myself by not using my full potential. I rarely tried to prove myself correct when someone else shot down my statement because I did not know I had the tenacity to take action.
Most people think of someone using their cell phone while driving when they hear distracted driving, but it it much more than that. Distracted driving is when someone who is behind the wheel get distracted by either taking their hands off the wheel or take their mind of driving, which can cause them to get into an accident (paragraph 2). Distracted driving is broken down into three main parts, manual distractions which is taking your hands off the steering wheel, visual distractions which is taking your center of attention off the road and cognitive distraction which is when your mind is not focused on driving and just starts drifting away (paragraph 3). Cell phone use is easily the biggest cause of distracted driving compared to eating, talking, and others because using your cell phone requires visual, manual and cognitive attention from the person behind the wheel and in a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, the amount of people who break the law and use a handheld device behind the wheel increases every single year. An estimated amount of more than, six hundred thousand people use their phone while driving. Distracted driving has quickly risen and developed in the past few years and is becoming an enormous problem. In a recent study, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), showed statistics of approximately three thousand, one hundred fifty
“To conquer frustration, one must remain intensely focused on the outcome, not the obstacles.” I still remember this quote from Within I Rise by T.F. Hodge because this specific quote has helped me through my long and winding journey toward the black-belt. It started with my friend in fifth grade showing me what he learned in karate class the day before, and me asking my mother if I could join. My brother and I went to our first class and I instantly fell in love with the sparring, grappling, fighting combinations, self-defense, and of course, learning to use nunchucks. It was not long before I had my eye on the black-belt, but there were many obstacles ahead. Less than one percent of all students at my karate school end up getting to
There is a high percentage of people that spend a majority of their day sitting behind the wheel of a vehicle. Whether it is commuting to work, taking the kids to school, running errands, or simply going out to eat one may feel that their car has become a second home. With so much time spent behind the wheel, drivers become comfortable and incorporate distracting activities while trying to remain focused on the road. Our inability to put our cell phones away while driving is inexcusable. Drivers who choose to use mobile devices are endangering people’s lives and property with associated risks that are not acceptable. No one distracted driver is better than the next. Do to rising accidents
Philosophy is one of the most important aspects of any traditional martial art. The philosophies of many martial arts such as Taekwondo, Kung Fu, and Karate are based off of Confucianism and principles from Confucius’s The Analects. Although traditional martial arts contain philosophical teachings, modern martial arts have lost their meaning, or “art.” The popularity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has contributed greatly to the loss of meaning in modern martial arts. By examining the philosophy’s importance in The Analects, one can see how martial arts is more than a physical set of skills.
The car was hot and stuffy when I slipped back into the driver's seat. I found the most depressing music I owned and drove out of Glenwood as the sun started to set. Two more hours until I was home, two more hours of thinking what a terrible day I had gone through, and two more hours of cussing myself for being so naïve. The drive was a long one.
National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year. To illustrate, Deianerah Logan was described as a popular 17-year-old high-school senior with a promising future. Although a sheriff claimed that Deianerah’s “life was taken way too early,” the only person who apparently “took” it was Deianerah, who was texting when she crashed into a school bus and died. You must drive for yourself and everyone around you. In fact, texting while driving leads to a decrease in reaction time by 37 percent. A driver’s reaction time makes a defensive driver, it includes the following: recognizing the light has changed, deciding to continue or break, or applying break. Shockingly, texting drivers take their eyes off the road for each text an average of 4.6 seconds -- which at 55 mph, means they were driving the length of a football field without looking. 4 seconds if all it takes to take a life or two
Sun Tzu was, weather a made up ghost or a real individual, was a truly wise man. He not only was able to win battles with these tactics, but was able to create teachings that can be applies to just about anything. Sometimes there are more battles than just war, sometimes there is the battles within us, or just in our everyday lives. Jobs, school, family, friends, anything can be the enemy we are fighting in this battles. Through Sun Tzu’s teaching we can become victorious and win our obstacles. Not everything relays on our physical strengths but rather the mental strengths. We too have to think like Sun Tzu in order to obtain success. Like said before, sometimes our strongest muscle isn’t our outer body, but our brain.
Have you ever been beaten down by your own confidence? It is supposed to help you succeed, but instead, it once made me blinded from the fact that I am not perfect. There is always a chance of failure if I don’t try my best. In fact, I did fail getting into my dream high school.
It rises even more when you start to successfully spar and win against people. Discipline comes from listening to your instructor. Asking questions such as “Do I face my fist this way or that”, questions like these are what you should listen to. By listening to and doing what your sensei says you will learn discipline. Integrity comes from showing up every day and doing your best, even win your instructor is helping someone else. Honesty comes with this as well, when you admit your mistakes on the exercise it helps you know that honesty is right. Enlightenment comes from knowing there is a higher power and following the Way. Timing is a skill that takes both mental and physical disipline. You must learn to read your opponent’ rhythm and use a rhythm they don’t expect to get in them in your critical distance line and
“You didn’t try hard enough. These grades are still subpar. You are going to go to march up to your room and study. We are very disappointed.”
In 2009 24,000 people were injured because of cell phone distracted driving (1). The biggest risk of all that is associated with the use of cell phones while driving is death of yourself or someone else. No message is that important that you should risk your life or your education to receive it. Some of these behaviors need to be changed by a personal choice to improve their lives while other changes are being forced upon us to keep the road ways safe for everyone. By making just one of these changes during the day you will feel as though you have a new freedom from being attached to your cell phone.