Archtkd
3rd Black Belt
Its easy for those of us who practice Taekwondo to lose heart, given the state of the nations economy and all the politics and intrigues afflicting our martial art and sport. But every once in a while, we get a jolt that shakes us from our stupor and reminds us why we stick with Taekwondo and do what we do. Such a jolt came to me recently in the form of a gentleman in his mid-50s, who signed up at my dojang. He said he wanted to resume his Taekwondo life after a 12-year hiatus. He told me he had trained for nearly four years with a well respected local grandmaster, rising to 1st Gup, but quit before promoting to 1st Dan. He also said he had recently recovered from a minor injury on the big toe of his left foot.
I was stunned when the gentleman reported for his first class. He appeared not to have ever practiced Taekwondo. He couldnt do basic blocks, punches, kicks, or stances. He showed up for class a second day, and displayed the same lack of basic Taekwondo knowledge during that one hour of training. This wasnt ring rust. It was total memory loss. I was stumped and after class, I asked him if he had a hearing or vision problem. No, he said. Any major illness that might affect mental and muscle memory? No. A stroke perhaps? No. Anything I really should know? Nope.
Yesterday the gentleman came for his third session at 10:30 a.m. Being Good Friday, I wasnt really expecting any one, so when the gentleman walked into the dojang for a class which Ive designated for seniors 60 and up I was a little irritated. I got to work nevertheless, determined to earn an honest buck and stick to my personal motto of trying to learn something new every day. We warmed up and stretched for a good 15 minutes. We followed that with 45-minutes of work on basics, broken down to the nitty gritty: Punches and blocks in slow and fast motion, with explanation and demonstration of Newtons Third Law of Motion For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. We worked on basic stances, also in slow and regular motion, emphasizing foot and weight placement, spacing of feet, etc. We practiced two kicks low front snap and low roundhouse. We practiced breathing and kiap. The gentleman had problems with timing the kiap. His kicks were off. His punches and blocks were out of sync with footwork. But we kept working and reworking.
At the end of class, after the bows, the gentleman said, Its all coming back, slowly. He then pulled from his gym bag a framed 1st Gup certificate signed by a local 8th Dan GM that I know, a red/black belt and some certificates showing he was once an exemplary Taekwondo student. No more words were exchanged, but I realized something profound happened to this gentleman. Whatever it is, he doesnt want to talk about it now and maybe never will. But he wants to get back to Taekwondo and I will do my best to help him achieve that goal.
Often that is really whats its all about, when the jarring noise and loud shouting about Taekwondo and its politics dies down. Whatever badge we wear WTF, Kukkiwon, ITF, ATA, USA Taekwondo, USTC, USTNT, etc., I think we can keep learning and help other people learn or relearn.
For all of you good MT folks, Happy Easter, Passover or whatever you are celebrating.
I was stunned when the gentleman reported for his first class. He appeared not to have ever practiced Taekwondo. He couldnt do basic blocks, punches, kicks, or stances. He showed up for class a second day, and displayed the same lack of basic Taekwondo knowledge during that one hour of training. This wasnt ring rust. It was total memory loss. I was stumped and after class, I asked him if he had a hearing or vision problem. No, he said. Any major illness that might affect mental and muscle memory? No. A stroke perhaps? No. Anything I really should know? Nope.
Yesterday the gentleman came for his third session at 10:30 a.m. Being Good Friday, I wasnt really expecting any one, so when the gentleman walked into the dojang for a class which Ive designated for seniors 60 and up I was a little irritated. I got to work nevertheless, determined to earn an honest buck and stick to my personal motto of trying to learn something new every day. We warmed up and stretched for a good 15 minutes. We followed that with 45-minutes of work on basics, broken down to the nitty gritty: Punches and blocks in slow and fast motion, with explanation and demonstration of Newtons Third Law of Motion For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. We worked on basic stances, also in slow and regular motion, emphasizing foot and weight placement, spacing of feet, etc. We practiced two kicks low front snap and low roundhouse. We practiced breathing and kiap. The gentleman had problems with timing the kiap. His kicks were off. His punches and blocks were out of sync with footwork. But we kept working and reworking.
At the end of class, after the bows, the gentleman said, Its all coming back, slowly. He then pulled from his gym bag a framed 1st Gup certificate signed by a local 8th Dan GM that I know, a red/black belt and some certificates showing he was once an exemplary Taekwondo student. No more words were exchanged, but I realized something profound happened to this gentleman. Whatever it is, he doesnt want to talk about it now and maybe never will. But he wants to get back to Taekwondo and I will do my best to help him achieve that goal.
Often that is really whats its all about, when the jarring noise and loud shouting about Taekwondo and its politics dies down. Whatever badge we wear WTF, Kukkiwon, ITF, ATA, USA Taekwondo, USTC, USTNT, etc., I think we can keep learning and help other people learn or relearn.
For all of you good MT folks, Happy Easter, Passover or whatever you are celebrating.
