My Taekwondo Story

Warning: this is going to be long. Kind reader, I advise you to grab some popcorn and a coke, or well, diet coke, bottled water...you get the idea.

Years ago, I had an Internship at the local NBC affiliate, WPXI. One of my jobs was to read a program summary for certain shows, and write 10 second promos, which would later be recorded by an announcer. Usually, these were of the sleazy tabloid variety such as "Men find out if they are the father...today on the Jenny Jones Show." But one summary paragraph for the TV show, Hard Copy, piqued my interest. It was about Bridget “baby doll” Riley…a top female kickboxer, who was only 2 years younger than me. "Hmmm…kickboxing…that sounds neat!" I thought. Boxing had never interested me, but the thought of executing fancy kicking techniques, in addition to punching made it different and exciting. As time went by, I would pass martial art schools while driving, and think about stopping in to ask about classes, but didn’t. Here is an embarrassing truth: it was after the internship that I discovered the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Like the title would imply, the chief character, "Buffy," would protect the world, or at least her fictional California town, from vampires and other evil creatures. During the fight scenes she would use martial arts style kicks and punches to “vanquish” the demons. This soon became "appointment TV" for me, but I enjoyed the fight scenes most of all. I was definitely going to try martial arts because I wanted to do these cool jumping, kicking, and punching techniques (minus the whole killing of vampires thing).

Kali Beginnings

I finally decided to put this martial arts plan into action, and signed up for an 8-week Kali self defense class at the local Community College. In this class, we would do warm ups, then learn and practice defenses against various attacks. We also worked on short staff techniques with a partner, starting with one staff, then two staffs at a time. The instructor, Hal, was not a big huge guy…he was actually about my height and weight, which made me realize that it wasn’t about size. He was down-to-earth, nice and most importantly, patient, showing students how to do something if they needed help. He also offered constant encouragement. These were qualities that I continued to appreciate in an instructor during the span of my martial arts training. One of the things I dreaded about class was the presence of a few “know-it-all” men. Although Hal would observe me and tell me I was doing well, several of my partners would try to correct me even though they had no more experience than I did (and quite frankly, their technique just didn’t seem at all superior to mine.) Did they feel the need to help to poor helpless woman? I don’t know, but I hated it!

After the class ended, I thought about joining the school, but decided it was too far from home, and held off on making a decision.

Kickboxing Katastrophe

My next foray into the martial arts took place after I moved from the suburbs to a Pittsburgh city neighborhood. My Aunt introduced me to her friend Stephanie, who took a kickboxing class in my new neighborhood and offered to bring me to a class. It was a kickboxing class for ladies only, but that wasn’t why I wanted to try it, and possibly join. It was all about the convenient location. My first impression of the instructor was not good. When Stephanie introduced me to him, his reaction was nothing less than apathetic. He didn’t smile, or even shake my hand with enthusiasm. The guy could have cared less that I was taking the class. Despite his lackluster reception, I was looking forward to kickboxing. We did some warm up exercises, and stretching. Then he had the women (of varying levels) stand in line to kick or punch (or both) a target that he held in his hands. Some of the more experienced ladies got to kick AND punch the target. Since I was the newbie, all that I got to do was punch the target ONE time with ONE hand. Was I supposed to be excited that next week I might get to hit the target with my left hand and my right, or was that too advanced? While we were performing this "drill," the instructor was holding the focus pad with one hand, and was having a chatty cell phone conversation with the other. Obviously, my impression of this school was unimpressive at best. I expected an instructor to treat the participants like Hal had, and encourage them. However, this instructor’s attitude gave the impression that he was just teaching a bunch of females to put more change in his pocket, not to help them stay in shape and more importantly, learn to defend themselves.

Kung Fu Kicks

Fortunately, this bad experience did nothing to quell my desire to pursue martial arts. Instead, it solidified my expectations for prospective schools, and intensified my desire to find one. I called upon two schools that were close to my apartment. The first one wanted money up front, which included a free uniform. However, I am a proponent of the "try before you buy" philosophy so before making any decisions with this, I telephone the second school, which taught kung fu. I was invited to try it for free, so I quickly scheduled my first class. The instructors were friendly and enthusiastic. The school had classes every day of the week except Sunday, and I quickly made them part of my weekly routine. I attended the school for almost 3 years, earning my black belt in May of 2001. I continued to study for about another year. At the black belt level, the techniques became more focused on joint locking and pressure points and less on kicking, and other more physical aspects of martial arts which were my favorite part. So I took a break from martial arts. I thought that I eventually I would rejoin the school, but this was not to be. While on this break, I took a Pilates class, which wasn’t martial arts based, but was a learning experience because it taught me all about core strength, which certainly relates to strength and balance in martial arts.

Taekwondo Beginnings (AKA: The Short Version of My Essay)

In December of 2003, I had a major life changing event. After almost a three year battle, my mom passed away from Cancer, and I moved back in with my dad in the suburbs to help take care of the house and the pets. During the whole time my mom was sick, I had exercised, but had virtually quit between December 03’ through February of 04’ Once I had completed all of the drudgeries of moving, I didn’t really do much of anything at all except go to work, come home and eat takeout. I had exercised all of my life, and the fact that I wasn’t was taking its toll. For the sake of my health, but mostly sanity, I had to get back into a routine of exercise. It was then when I thought of taking martial arts classes again. Convenience was once again a factor. The first school I checked out was close to home, but only offered two classes per week at almost $90 per month. This seemed expensive so I continued my search. I don’t remember where I spotted the Allen’s Red Tiger advertisement, but the location was ideal, so I called. When I scheduled my first class, Sabumnim Allen, and everyone else, was upbeat, friendly, and welcoming. The class was all male, but fortunately, I was used to that from previous classes. However, it was still not easy because I was walking into a situation where I didn’t know anyone, or what to expect. At first it was strange that the students would yell out "Eyyahhh" (or some variation of it) every time they threw a punch or kick, or would exhale loudly instead during certain moves. This was SO weird!!! I had never done this in any of my previous classes…in kung fu, I had been as quiet as a ninja. Although it was all new and different, I enjoyed the class activities, plus, of course, meeting Sabumnim Allen and the other classmates. My confession is that I also didn’t want a class comprised of all males to think I was too intimidated to come back! But I believe that it doesn’t matter why you start, it’s why you stay. After the second or third class, I was given a dobok and I felt like I was officially part of the class... no hard sell. Soon, I approached Sabumnim Allen to sign up on my own, I was never pressured, which I appreciated. He figured wisely that if I student liked class, they would sign up, and trying to thrust a contract in someone’s face is not the way to be successful. As the months went on, I tested for my first stripe, and soon afterwards competed in my first tournament. This tournament was a memorable experience. While I had done sports and performed in front of an audience many times in my lifetime, I had never sparred one-on-one with another person, or performed my pattern all one, with people watching and cheering. It’s an adrenaline high like no other.

However, there are far more important things than the tournament experience that I have gained from Taekwondo. Optimal health and fitness is one such benefit. Sabumnim Allen stresses an all around healthy lifestyle. I’ve never had a problem with the exercise aspect of it, but have to confess that it took awhile for the healthy eating thing to finally stick. Two, sometimes three Taekwondo classes a week wasn’t enough because I was still eating too much, and my nutritional habits were poor. So I stopped sleeping in and got into the routine of going to class on Saturdays. I also added cardio kick class 1-2 times a week. Plus, I began to eat healthier foods, plus made other positive changes to my life. With these changes, a year an a half later, I dropped 20 pounds. Mine isn’t the only success story. Many of my classmates have their own weight loss stories as well.
My own experience with Taekwondo inspired me to assist in teaching both Taekwondo and Cardio Kick. I took the Instructor’s Course in January of 2006, and in August of 2006, after months of studying, became a ACE (American Council on Exercise) Group Fitness Instructor. Had I not been so involved with my dojang, I don’t believe that I would have been pursued these goals.

Perhaps one of the most important benefits of attending my Taekwondo school is the friends I have made. I have met many great people. But the adjective "great" just doesn’t suffice. Specifically, during the course of my martial arts experience, I have met few people who are as dedicated as the students at my dojang. They exemplify the tenants of Taekwondo, notably, indomitable spirit and perseverance. They face injuries, from bruises to broken bones and continue to pursue Taekwondo, when most people in their situation would abandon the art completely. When their boards don’t break the first, fifth, or even twentieth time, they keep trying. Personal issues may keep them from attending class, sometimes for long periods of time, but they come back. They are welcoming and courteous to new students, and of course, each other. Although it sounds clichéd, the school truly has a family atmosphere with a charismatic, kind and talented leader, Sabumnim Allen. I can’t imagine, nor do I want to...a life without Taekwondo.