Sometimes in life you arrive at a place or a time, either physically or mentally, to which the extent of the journey is not immediately obvious. Always aware of the destination, yet focused more on immediate challenges, at some point you look up and realize just how far you have gone, and think “How did I get here?” This essay is a brief chronicle of my personal journey into the ranks of Tang Soo Do toward Cho Dan, of how Tang Soo Do philosophy has incorporated itself into my life, and what it means to me to become a part of the Tang Soo Do black belt community.
I’ve never been very good at sports. It didn’t seem to matter whether the sport was an individual or team effort; most of my sporting endeavors have been short-lived to say the least. …show more content…
I ride my bike to work because it saves a few bucks and it’s a good thing to do, but I am no fan of the ride. I have two young daughters. The older daughter found her athleticism and sport at a very young age while the younger proved much more difficult to find an activity for. We tried dance, soccer, softball, swimming, and track. While she did well enough in all of them, there was nothing in them to keep her attention. We came across Coastal Canyon Tang Soo Do in the activities listed in a recreational center flyer. I was introduced to Tang Soo Do at my daughter’s third class. To this day, I’m not sure what happened or how, but I found myself enrolled with her, attending class on a regular basis, and taking the first steps toward the first major accomplishment of my life since graduating college. I subconsciously measured progress by the number of one-steps we had learned, tested when recommended to do so, and re-enrolled at the end of every session. Something had finally stuck. My focus was always on the current challenge with the ultimate goal always seeming far off. Now, I find myself here, accidentally, yet …show more content…
This is important and helps to guide, inspire, and drive our success. I had barely started my journey and yet two of the tenets, integrity and perseverance, were already beginning to work into my daily life.
I believe the first fundamental principle, integrity, is the most important of the tenets. Without integrity, the other tenets have little meaning. Integrity is a personal choice to consistently honor and uphold values and principles and can be exemplified by some simple concepts such as: do the right thing for the right reason, be honest to yourself and the art, consistency in choices and actions, and acceptance of views and needs beyond your own. Integrity is a foundational tenet on which the others are built – I expect it is for this reason it is listed first in the list of tenets.
Integrity is most directly embodied in my personal life as a role model for my daughter. I can’t make excuses or miss class because I’m too tired after work. I can’t give up because I think something is too hard or complicated. She was – is –
I’ve never been very good at sports. It didn’t seem to matter whether the sport was an individual or team effort; most of my sporting endeavors have been short-lived to say the least. …show more content…
I ride my bike to work because it saves a few bucks and it’s a good thing to do, but I am no fan of the ride. I have two young daughters. The older daughter found her athleticism and sport at a very young age while the younger proved much more difficult to find an activity for. We tried dance, soccer, softball, swimming, and track. While she did well enough in all of them, there was nothing in them to keep her attention. We came across Coastal Canyon Tang Soo Do in the activities listed in a recreational center flyer. I was introduced to Tang Soo Do at my daughter’s third class. To this day, I’m not sure what happened or how, but I found myself enrolled with her, attending class on a regular basis, and taking the first steps toward the first major accomplishment of my life since graduating college. I subconsciously measured progress by the number of one-steps we had learned, tested when recommended to do so, and re-enrolled at the end of every session. Something had finally stuck. My focus was always on the current challenge with the ultimate goal always seeming far off. Now, I find myself here, accidentally, yet …show more content…
This is important and helps to guide, inspire, and drive our success. I had barely started my journey and yet two of the tenets, integrity and perseverance, were already beginning to work into my daily life.
I believe the first fundamental principle, integrity, is the most important of the tenets. Without integrity, the other tenets have little meaning. Integrity is a personal choice to consistently honor and uphold values and principles and can be exemplified by some simple concepts such as: do the right thing for the right reason, be honest to yourself and the art, consistency in choices and actions, and acceptance of views and needs beyond your own. Integrity is a foundational tenet on which the others are built – I expect it is for this reason it is listed first in the list of tenets.
Integrity is most directly embodied in my personal life as a role model for my daughter. I can’t make excuses or miss class because I’m too tired after work. I can’t give up because I think something is too hard or complicated. She was – is –