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. It was in my freshman year of high school when I discovered my potential to accomplish great things and the ability to prove myself through determination and endurance. I discovered this when I earned my Black Belt in karate. The journey to the Black Belt commences at the White Belt stage. From there you rank up through a series of tests, proving your skills of martial arts until the level of "High Red Belt." As a high red belt, you start training for your Black Belt test which is separate from all the other belt tests. When I became a High Red Belt training for the Black Belt test promptly began. First I received a personal trainer to …show more content…
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
Winning states in wrestling is one of the best moments in my life. It was at this time in Flint Michigan at IMA arena the last match of the year was finally here. I locked eyes with my opponents, walked onto the mat, put on my ankle band on, and put my foot on the tape ready to start. We shook hands. The whistle blew, I locked arms with him and it began. Our arms were locked tight, so tight I could barely move. For a second I thought he might win. But then we broke up, and I tried to take a shot he blocked it, and our arms were locked up again. The whistle blew and the first period was over, and it was tied zero to zero.
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
I’ve recently become a huge fan of pro wrestling, if only ironically. The melodramatic promos, the ridiculous moves, the muscular men few Divas that don’t make my penis retract into my body. They’re all reasons why I love pro wrestling… at least, I did for a while…
I must say that my personal strengths lies within my determination, perseverance, and persistence to work hard and become a better person. Throughout my whole life, I have used individuals and their compliments to motivate myself to become better, faster, and stronger as a person, hoping to exceed their expectations. That might sound shallow, but those individuals are the fuel that keeps me from ever giving up. On the other hand, my personal challenges consists of the fact that I am a weakness to disappointment. Disappointment from a mentor whom I respect can stop me in my tracks, leaving me in state where that is the only thing I can think about. As a result, I work hard to not just stop disappointment but to prove them that their disappointment in me is just temporary. However, I hope you do not come to conclusion that my hard work is only to please other but to please myself and the personal expectation that I
As I’m sitting here typing this, I thought this assignment would be easy but it’s not. How do you explain who you are in a paper? Where do I begin? Well, for starters, my personality, ambitions, and what I love doing should be the best standard for defining my character. One should never be anxious if they do not know everything about themselves, as we are constantly learning and discovering new features of ourselves. Personally, I am satisfied knowing my friends are worth it and consider me an asset. I’m the shortest one in my group of friends which puts me somewhat the end of the ladder. Someone might judge me just because of the way I look or act but, if they could just get to know me even more and see my personality they can see me in a whole new way.
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
“Good job son, three more wins and you’ll have your black belt”. You don’t know how excited I am dad I’m going to work extra hard so that I can get my black belt. They soon left the karate match with such joy. While Scott was in the car staring at the ethereal stars, Scott’s dad was driving and his mom was in the passenger seat. Scott’s dad had seen a very suspicious car following them, out of nowhere the car swerves in front of them and I big buff guy got out the car with a double barrel shotgun and said “get out the car now!” Scott’s dad got out, “listen to me honey here’s my phone and no matter what you hear or what you see you stay under this seat” soon after that Scott’s mom got out the car. “You can have my wallet you can have whatever
To many, the idea of riding for the brand is just a cowboy thing with no meaning. However, personally I encourage myself to think a little deeper. To ride for the brand means that with hard work, respect, and trust in yourself and in others, you can persevere. When in look back today I realize that without even knowing it, I ride for the brand. But not until just years ago did I learn it to an extreme level. The sport of wrestling is one of the most demanding sports, physically as well as mentally. And in my case I have learned more about myself wrestling than in any other activity.
“Listen carefully,” he began to talk. I felt a hundred pairs of eyes on me, but as he stared at me and forced me to focus on what he was saying, the crowd began to disappear. I could only hear what I was being told. It was the only thing that mattered now. “If you break this, you pass. You become a black belt. If you miss, you are nothing more than you were yesterday. You may come back to try in three months, but that’s not you. You don’t need to come back a second time. You have never failed before. Don’t start now. Now, ask-”
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.
It all starts with commitment and perseverance. When I used to take Taekwondo classes I was doing everything I could to be prepared to earn my black-belt. Even though I was extremely busy with school and Track, I still managed to sneak my testing in late May. The main part that put my testing in a hiatus was the fact that I sprained my ankle terribly the week before the testing was scheduled. I still managed to push on because I was that committed and determined to get my black-belt and I was able succeed in the end.
All of my life I have been told my limits, and all of my life I have taken great joy in not listening to them. Accomplishment has been my forte to the point where my peers appoint me to lead projects so they will be successful. I love helping people, so I join every volunteer project and end up in one of the leader positions due to how hard I work during them. I want to see the world when I have barely left my state, so I join abroad programs and
Mastering yourself is true power.” This quote sets forth the idea that mastering oneself can be obtained by two different ways, that is, by using either natural or learned skills. However, copying qualities that others learn to perfect, is not preferred. When one realizes his natural qualities within himself and molds them into perfection, then he becomes much more powerful. Utilizing natural talents result in better leadership because one is innovating and has a clear vison of what he is best successful in doing. Embracing one’s inter qualities promotes mental and emotional well-being by creating a positive perception on life in daily activities. Mastering ourselves by using one’s natural abilities creates personalized opportunities that are bounding to their life. In conclusion, mastery that develops through natural born skills is preferred because it results in better leadership, greater mental and emotional health, and a refined sense of vocation in
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.
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