I started as a Tiny Tiger. After three long years, I became a Junior. By my sixth year of karate, I was finally just a normal student. And in another two years, I had learned all of the necessary curriculum to graduate to a First Degree Black Belt. That was the day that everything changed. When I was four years old, my mom brought me to the dojo for my first karate class. Since then, karate has shaped my life in a multitude of ways. It has taught me discipline and dedication. It’s given me friendships which are still strong. But for a majority of my time as a karate student, I felt like a little kid, which was displeasing to me even though I actually was a little kid. As a Tiny Tiger, we were separated from the Juniors and other students in the karate school, hidden away in a back room that had a window through which we could watch the “big” kids during class. Even after graduating to a Junior, I felt illegitimate compared to the regular students. That feeling changed with my trip to Colorado for my First Degree Black Belt …show more content…
All of the candidates, now comfortably fitting into the huge gym of a local high school, formed a circle, sitting criss-crossed by our fellow warriors. The head instructor, Mr. Packer, read the name of the candidate, who arose, received their monogrammed belt, and then jogged a giddy lap around the circle, high-fiving everyone. When my name was finally called, I couldn’t help but beam as I was handed my First Degree Black Belt, all of my hard work paying off. As I jogged my lap, happily slapping every hand raised in my direction, I finally felt like one of the big kids I watched through the window for so many years. I was no longer just a little Junior, anxiously awaiting to be a regular student. At last, I was a regular student, and being average had never made me so happy. That day in Colorado marked the beginning of my karate career as an adult, and it is one that I will never
The class begins with middle punches. This entails bringing the left foot out into a sitting stance where our legs reflect a person riding a horse. The hip is rotated backwards then propelled forwards as the fist on the belt twists towards our imaginary opponent in front of us. Then Master Copper pairs each student with a partner of equal height to practice kicks. When my partner extends his sidekick, the crusty dirt on the sole of his foot brushes past my eyes, and the speed of the kick creates a breeze of stale air. In the middle of class, we incorporate the punching bags into our workout. The low belts use the tall, thin sun colored bag, and the high belts utilize the thick, blood colored bag. However, the black belts utilize “Bob the Bully”, the tan, lifelike bag with dense padding and broad shoulders. After six hours of school and at least four hours of homework, punching and kicking the toned face and rippling abs of Bob brings a substantial amount of satisfaction. As my knuckles make contact with Bob’s rigid jaw, I grit my teeth and each blow connects with more power than the last. Beads of sweat roll down my face as Bob’s head shifts from side to side following each blast of force. The instep of my foot creates indents in the sides of Bob as my half turning kicks
When we first arrived I’d thought we’d taken a wrong turn and went to a traveling gypsy convention by mistake. The whole field outside the school was filled with tents of various sizes and colors. 200 wrestlers, about thirty of which were girls, filtered about the area. As my soon-to-be teammates and I headed to the first practice, anxiety gnawed at my stomach like a dog with a bone (FL). I wanted to impress everybody, and prove that I could make it in this sport. Before we started, the coach patted me on the shoulder. “I’ve got your back all right.” he told me. I smiled and nodded. At least one person was looking out for me.
I was able to apply these concepts in real life when I also started working with children. I was a student aide at a child care center for infants and toddlers and volunteered and shadowed OTs at a karate clinic for children with disabilities. This further put my abilities to the test to interact with children since it was on an ongoing basis. Seeing children progress through each developmental stage of life felt meaningful on a greater level. It was a wonderful accomplishment when an infant would learn to crawl, a toddler would have a bowel movement successfully in the toilet, or when an adolescent would execute a strong and skillful kata (structured pattern of movements and techniques) during his or her karate belt test. On a bigger scale, the daily interactions I had with the children at a young age helped lay the foundation for their future development, and I was happy to have served as a teacher and role model. These experiences and challenges validated that I enjoyed connecting with people and seeing them grow in emotional, physical, cognitive, and social development. Watching others accomplish their own developmental milestones made me feel like I had a
The workout portion was after all, the most strenuous part. The other forms and kicking combination portion was elementary memorization. Two months into training, I was extremely anxious regarding whether I would be ready for Black Belt test in time. But with Mister Alex's words of assurance I stayed headstrong and determined to pass the test. After working hard with Mister Alex as well as on my own at home for the minimum six months, Mister Alex said I was "definitely ready to take and pass the Black Belt test." When Mister Alex told me this I felt nervous about the veracity of his words. I had been in training for the minimum 6 months only. The average training period at my karate institution was actually 8 months. I felt under prepared for the test, but I was only kidding myself by undermining my
There is no other feeling like that feeling you get when the crowd is roaring, because of something you personally have just achieved. To get to those glorious moments in life that you have been dedicated to, whatever it is you are wanting to succeed in whether it is sports, music, acting, and so on, but when you reach that moment of glory you will remember that point for the rest of your life. It all began when I was in fifth grade when my dad was looking for a place that I could box at and could not find a club near us, but ended up coming upon a wrestling club called, Alabaster Youth Wrestling Association at the time which is now known as the Warrior Wrestling Club. So my dad came up to me that day I got back from school and said, “ Hey bud, I found a wrestling club in Alabaster lets check it out.” After that, practice my dad fell in love with the sport and I did as well, because I was a natural when it came to wrestling.
Going to class everyday without fail, reviewing and completely perfecting the five years of curriculum I had so carefully worked through, to the point where everything was completely automatic, and preparing for the fifty push-up requirement, were not enough. The black-belt test requires creativity through my creation of a personal kata and a self-defense to every attack I had learned. Beyond this, physical endurance and stamina are required in order to spar for ten minutes straight at the end of the four hour test, with a fresh opponent every minute. The black-belt test was the most physically grueling challenge I had ever faced and was much more mentally exhausting than any academic
After having a self-reflection of myself I realized that I wanted to be distinctive, I wanted to reconstruct the way I was living. I was tired of just the same repetitive schedule that I followed in high school. I would get up at six twenty in the morning which was the perfectly set time that I determined was necessary to complete my morning routine. I would then head to school which I went through the same repetitive schedule as the previous day. Then I would travel back home consume whatever was prepared by my mother, play some videogames for hours then tend to my my homework and finally head to bed to repeat another average day. It was until one day one of my friend invited me to go to the gym with him. He took me to the gym which was not too far away from my school and lead me to the doorway to bodybuilding. It was just after a couple of
Knowing that it would be four years of relentless pestering, I knew that someday I would surpass my tormentors; I would keep under cover of my books and study hard to make my brother proud one day. It would be worth the pain to someday walk into a restaurant and see my former bully come to my table wearing an apron and a nametag and wait on me, complete with a lousy tip. To walk the halls of the hospital I work in, sporting a stethoscope and white coat while walking across the floor that was just cleaned not to long ago by the janitor, who was the same boy that tried to pick a fight with me back in middle school. To me, an Asian in an American school is picking up where my brother left off. It’s a promise to my family that I wouldn’t disappoint nor dishonor our name. It’s a battle that’s gains victory without being fought.
In one of the more commonly portrayed stereotypes in film, Asians are often portrayed as great martial artists. Martial arts seem to come less as a skill and more a natural ability to someone who is Asian. Somehow, it’s right in our blood. Actors who have contributed to t...
As the cessation of the century approached, Rhee had accomplished more than he had ever hoped, garnering awards and apperceptions virtually too numerous to count. He had been denominated one of President George Bush’s Daily Points of Light. His ebony belt students included not only Members of Congress, but eminent figures like Tony Robbins, Jack Valenti, and Jack Anderson. He had appeared on the cover of Parade magazine with Cheryl Tiegs. And he had been designated by Ebony Belt magazine as one of the top two living martial artists of the 20th Century.
In the beginning of the novel, one of the first scenes that happen is Anna winning a karate match. She ends up winning a trophy, which puts her on the track to winning a black belt, which was her dream. Her plan was to eventually become a Physical Education teacher, and for her, getting a black belt would be the right step towards that goal (Orr, 1997). In a way, winning the black belt would be a sort of rite of passage for her. A rite of passage is a type of ritual that transitions a person from one stage of life or social status to a different stage or status, especially the transition from adolescence to adulthood (Steinberg, 2011). For Anna, the black belt would ...
Once upon a time, I qualified for the Tae Kwon Do State Championships, to go to the Tae Kwon Do Junior Olympics in Orlando, Florida. It was my second year at the Jr. Olympics, and I was competing in two events. Sparring and forms. Forms has always been my favorite, partly because I was pretty good at doing them. Sparring was okay. I guess.
In my first years of life, I was the diva. I was the star. I was the only one that my mother ever paid any attention to. I was the bomb. Although my father worked very long days to provide my mother and me with a means of sustenance, there was plenty of love from my mom to nurture me as I grew into a bubbly young girl. Entering kindergarten at 4 years of age, I was similar to every other little kid. I was rambunctious, playful, naughty, and unstoppable. If I did not fall sleep in class, I would play with my dolls as the teacher lectured. Sure enough, I was reprimanded and given “time out” every time. But it was all right. My grades were average but I scored high enough to please my parents.
For those who do not know, I am a mixed martial arts fighter. Mixed martial arts fighting is “a sport allowing a wide range of fighting techniques that include striking, kicking, and grappling.” (www.merriam-webster.com) It is a compilation of forms of different martial arts. Two fighters will face each in the rings (known as the octagon due to its shape) for three to five five-minute rounds. I started taking martial arts classes when I was six years old. I wanted to be a mixed martial arts fighter all my life. I loved the thought of stepping into the octagon and pounding somebody senseless as a sport. My mother and father, at first, did not want me to take the Taekwondo classes because of this fact. It took a lot of begging to finally convince them to let me do it. They realized that it is very important for any child to learn some type of martial arts. It is essential to use for defense. Mixed martial arts are the thing that helped me cope with my rough childhood and mold me into who I am today. Over the past twenty years, the sport of MMA has revolutionized and has become very popular throughout the world. Despite this being said, other people very hesitant about accepting mixed martial arts. The sport of MMA is gradually becoming a safer sport. Even though it is considered a dangerous sport, other sports at proven to be more dangerous.
My opponent’s name was John Doe. There were other competitors at the tournament, but they had never posed any threat to my title. For as long as I had competed in this tournament, I had easily taken the black belt championship in my division. John, however, was the most phenomenal martial artist I had ever had the honor of witnessing at my young age of thirteen. And he was in my division. Although he was the same rank, age, size, and weight as I, he surpassed me in almost every aspect of our training. His feet were lightning, and his hands were virtually invisible in their agile swiftness. He wielded the power of a bear while appearing no larger than I. His form and techniques were executed with near perfection. Although I had never defeated his flawlessness before, victory did not seem unattainable. For even though he was extraordinary, he was not much more talented than I. I am not saying that he was not skilled or even that he was not more skilled than I, for he most certainly was, but just not much more than I. I still had one hope, however little, of vanquishing this incredible adversary, for John had one weakness: he was lazy. He didn’t enjoy practicing long hours or working hard. He didn’t have to. Nevertheless, I had found my passage to triumph.