The Little Black Belt
Part 2: The Beginning of the Journey
Almost every year in the fall, my family and I would go to a festival where different companies in the town would set up booths and we could win prizes. We stopped by a booth that was for a taekwondo studio, and there was a wheel of prizes there. My brothers all spun the wheel to see what they would get. One of them got a free month to go train at the school, so he filled out a form and we made plans to start his free month.
When his first day of class arrived, our family piled into the van and drove to the studio. We were greeted by a lady who took my brother’s information and gave him a free t-shirt. She also offered my other two brothers a free month to train with their gym, and they happily accepted. She extended the offer to me, but I declined. I told her that martial arts weren’t really my thing, and I didn’t want to join. She kept asking if I was sure I didn’t want to join, but I continued to decline. I felt a little put-off by how pushy she was, and I couldn’t understand why she kept trying to get me to join. My stubbornness won out in the end, and she finally relented. She tried offering me a free t-shirt, but at that point, I was irritated with her so I refused the shirt too.
I sat next to my parents to watch the class, but I couldn’t ignore the little twinge of curiosity that I felt as the class began. That twinge quickly faded as I became uninterested in the class. I desperately wished I had brought some entertainment because I was bored out of my mind the entire time. I never went back to that studio to watch any more classes.
By the time my brothers’ free month was up, two of my brothers had quit before the month was over. They were bored with the classes and they quickly lost interest. The third brother loved the experience and wanted to continue, so he began working to raise money to go back to the school. After a while, however, taekwondo was all but forgotten by everyone except my brother.
A while later, my dad and brother discovered this small taekwondo gym near where we lived, and they decided to check it out. My dad had heard of the people who ran the school because he had trained for a while under someone who was affiliated with them. He told me a little bit about the school and the people who ran it. I still remember him telling me about the incredible people who were in charge of the school and thinking that they sounded like some of the coolest people. I desperately wished I could meet them.
They drove to the school to stop in and see about possibly signing my brother up to start classes. They walked into the school to check it out and walked out having paid for the first month with a new uniform in hand. Just like the last time my brother started taekwondo, we all piled in the van and went to watch my brother’s first class. I packed my bag full of entertainment because I was anticipating experiencing extreme boredom while I tried to watch the class, but I never even opened the bag. I was completely fascinated the entire time I watched the class. I also got to meet the lady who ran the gym. She was (and still is) one of the sweetest, most amazing people I have ever met. She didn’t try to push me to join, but she encouraged me to come back whenever I wanted to watch a class. After that first day, I constantly begged my dad and brother to go with them to watch class after class.
After a while of sitting and watching classes, the lady who ran the new gym asked if I would want to join. I felt excited at the prospect of getting into martial arts, but I was also a little scared. I had a long debate with myself before I made up my mind to join. I made myself promise that I would at least get my black belt, whether I liked taekwondo or not. The last thing I wanted was to tell my kids and grandkids about taekwondo and have to tell them that I quit before getting my black belt.
On the first day of class, I felt like I was in a dream. I was excited but nervous to actually be starting this journey. It was so unlike anything I had ever done before that I felt like someone else had somehow convinced me that this would be a good idea. I had butterflies in my stomach the whole way to the gym, but at the same time, I felt like I could jump up and down from excitement.
During the class, we started off with the main group, but then one of the black belts took us to the side to learn the basics while the instructor taught the rest of the class. The movements felt foreign to me and I had a hard time with some of them, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed doing the class. The lady who ran the gym was incredibly supportive of us and she was constantly encouraged us as we learned new skills. As we got closer to testing for the next rank, she kept telling us that the real fun was about to begin. I was excited to continue.
