Taekwondo Benefits:

Learn Taekwondo as an additional activity during your day off and in your spare time.
Build Discipline
Increase Stamina
Improve Muscle Flexibility
Enhance Self-esteem
Build Confidence
Teach you how to defend yourself
Discover your potential talents and overcome your fears. If you are passionate, diligent and patient you will achieve your dreams.

What is Taekwondo?

Taekwondo (also known as Tae Kwon Do) is the art of self-defense that originated in Korea. The name was selected for its appropriate description of the art: Tae (foot), Kwon  (hand), Do  (art).

And Taekwondo has five tenets
1. Courtesy
2. Integrity
3. Perseverance
4. Self-control
5. Indomitable spirit

On this blog I will share with you about my journey being a taekwondo student.

When I joined taekwondo, I didn’t expect to get this higher belt. At present I had a Blue Belt in my waist.

My journey began when my close friend asked me to have a free try out class. It doesn’t come to my mind to go further or to enroll in the class, not in my dreams to become a taekwondo member. First in my mind the training is so hard, you have body pain after the class but still i go with her as a friend.

Try out day, Sunday morning 8am to 10am, it’s really a trial day because on that day it was announced in the weather forecast that there was a red rainstorm warning.

Still, we went together despite that weather situation, because it was our first time in that place were the training was held. We needed to find the sports center, finally we found the venue and guess what, alas we both wet, shoes and pants.

Inside the sports center we changed our clothes, and we’re only tryouts we are not wearing dobok (Dobok is the uniform worn by practitioners/students of Korean martial arts, Do means “way” and bok means “clothing.”). We are wearing a comfortable dress like shirt with leggings, jogging or any loose pants to do the stretching /warm up and we join together with the present taekwondo students and the instructor during their training session inside the dojang (Dojang is a term used in Korean martial arts, such as Taekwondo, that refers to a formal training hall/room. It is typically considered the formal gathering place for students of a martial art to conduct training, examinations and other related encounters). Within two hours of tryout training, the session ends. So, before we left the sports center, we decided to buy our own dobok for the next training session and enrolled as a taekwondo student. But for me in myself I kept questioning if I am ready to face the task as a martial arts student.

The training session is every weekend during our week off, that means every Sunday of the month. And yes, we go together for training sessions, meet new friends as our team and our belt teammates.

Months passed so quickly, and it was time for upgrading to a Yellow Belt after three months as a White Belt. Excited because I am stepping on the next belt level but nervous as I can’t memorize my poomsae (A poomsae (also Romanized as pumsae or poomse) is a defined pattern of defense-and-attack motions). As our instructor says just go on either you memorize or not believe in yourself that you can do it.

Yeah, we received our new Yellow Belt taekwondo student, yellow means we grow up and come out in the world as White Belt is a seed. Stances and blocking are a bit the same as the White Belt. When we are yellow belt, the number of cases of covid 19 was raised and the Hong Kong government temporarily closed the sports centers due to pandemic, despite of that we continue to our training sessions outdoor, we need to follow the protocol of social distancing and of wearing of face masks, if you have your goal, there’s no hindrance can stop you.

Here comes a day of our next level up to Yellow Green Belt, we have leaves now. Our poomsae added more hand blocking and stances. During this time of our belt, we celebrate the branch team anniversary. Every taekwondo student from White Belt to Black Belt was a participant in poomsae competition and it was divided into different age brackets in every belt level. Everyone keeps practicing in the park after our training sessions for the preparation for the coming competition.

Now the day of competition is here. All participants got an award; gold, silver and bronze medals, everyone went home with a smile on their face because we are all winners on our own. Our instructor awarded us all. She says that she wants all of us to experience how to join the competition and be awarded.

As we go through farther, we continue the training session in the sports center as it was reopened to the public but we need to register first before we can enter the center by using the Leave Home-Safe, Mobile Apps Scanner which was installed in our phone.

We upgraded to Greenbelt from Yellow Green Belt, we are now adding more leaves which are ready to shine or to mold to be a better student / to have more knowledge on how to use the proper blocking and stances. It was also the time that we learned sparring techniques, hand block, punch and kicking.
Green Belt to Green Blue Belt, we are now categorized as senior belt students.

The Blue Belt is halfway to Black Belt.

Am I proud of the belt in my waist?
The answer is NO, why because every upgrading /belt level up I always says ” I will stop na” the training is getting more harder and the commitment.

But I am proud to become a TAEKWONDO student. “If you have goal even how hard it is , you will pursue it”

The taekwondo student oath are as follows:

Observe the tenets of Taekwondo.
Respect all seniors and instructors.
Never misuse Taekwondo.
Be a champion of freedom and justice.
Help to build a more peaceful world.

Note to our dear readers:
Continue to follow us and enjoy reading our blog posts. And stay tuned if I will become a Black Belter holder in the future posts. Thank you so much for the love and support.

Have a happy kicking and a wonderful stretching everyone.

The post is submitted by Cornelia Camiring, Follow The Mood Recipes for more blog posts and articles.