Summer at Nadeen’s

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The school year has ended, and we are now practicing outside at Master Nadeen’s home in Livonia, at 14901 Harrison St., Livonia, MI 48154. This is a different experience for the students, since many things are different practicing in grass instead of on a tiled floor.

Remember to bring water! Water is provided, but containers are not, since the wind can make cups tip and fall. It can be hot, but not so hot as to make practice impractical. And sometimes if it gets hot, a sprinkler may be set up!

Classes are 6pm to 7:30pm in the summer. When Grandview Elementary opens again in September, classes will resume from 4pm to 5:30pm.

Coronavirus update

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Following the instructions of Governor Whitmer, Livonia Public Schools has directed that the tae kwon do program at both Coolidge Elementary and Grandview Elementary must be suspended at least until April 5, 2020. We will keep everyone up-to-date on the unusual schedule.

Please take normal precautions to stay healthy: wash your hands after using the bathroom, don’t touch your hands or fingers to your eyes or mouth without first washing your hands, and keep physical contact with others to a minimum. Instead of shaking hands, try bumping elbows.

No talent necessary

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As with anything else, if you have a talent for tae kwon do, you will learn it faster and perform better. But you don’t need talent to learn it. Anyone can learn it, except for some physical disabilities, and even then you might be surprised what you can overcome.

The key to learning tae kwon do isn’t talent, but persistence. If you enjoy it, you will work hard at it, and it often won’t even seem like work. The more time you spend doing it the better you will get, even if it doesn’t always seem that way.

If you have a talent for tae kwon do, you may find it easy to make progress. You may think you don’t need to work as hard as others. This is true, but if you don’t, then you squander your advantage, doing only as well as others when you have the chance of actually being great.

Do your best in practice, every time. Be your best. If you drop out, you will get rusty, and forget some things. Even if you have the talent, you won’t accomplish as much if you drop out as someone who stays in. And before you know it, 20 years will have passed, and you will be amazed at how far you have come if you stick with it.

This doesn’t, of course, only apply to tae kwon do. If you have a talent for something and enjoy it, you can go very far with it. If you only enjoy it, you will still go far, much farther than someone with the talent who quits doing it.

What a belt means

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A belt is, of course, something to hold your pants up. What difference does the color make?

Many people aspire to get a black belt. But anyone can get a black belt. Just go to an appropriate store, or web site, and buy one.

Some people say a black belt must be earned. That’s close to the truth, but it is more accurate to say that one who has earned a black belt has mastered certain things about the martial arts, and should be respected for the accomplishments needed to do so.

If you simply buy a black belt, how good of a fighter does it make you? Does it make your tornado kick impressive to see? Can you stand on one foot for five minutes at a time once you put it on? Does wearing it give you the power and technique to break concrete bricks? Does it give you the focus to hit where you aim?

We often say in class that you are always testing, that we won’t let you promote unless we see you are ready. We can’t, for example, let you take a new belt unless you can do your pattern well enough to demonstrate to someone how to do it correctly. How could we let you wear a belt of the wrong color, and give people the impression you know how to do things you don’t know how to do?

Getting a belt before you are ready would be like printing yourself a college degree. You could even print something fancy, indicating you are a doctor. But what would happen if someone knows you have this doctor degree and needs your help because they are sick?

Don’t concern yourself with your rank at all. Do the best you can at everything you do, including class. The instructors are watching, and will know when you have earned the right to wear a new belt, to show everyone in class what you have accomplished. And when you stop worrying about your next promotion, are truly are not concerned and just work your hardest in class, your next promotion will come up before you know it.

Tae kwon do is a martial art

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Martial, according to Webster’s dictionary, is “of, relating to, or suited for war or a warrior”. What, then, is a martial art?

It’s the art of fighting. Tae kwon do teaches unarmed fighting, which was once used to break the wooden armor of enemies. But martial arts in general also make use of weapons. Traditional weapons, such as a knife, bo staff, or sword, even nunchaku.

Everything we teach in class can have an application for war. Sparring, of course, but also one-step sparring, kicking targets, and self-defense. Even patterns are all imaginary fighting practice against more than one opponent.

All techniques we teach should all be practiced as though you were fighting someone. You should always use power enough to hurt your imaginary opponent, with enough precision perform the technique correctly, so as to use the least effort to get the most effect. When performing a one-step sparring defense, anyone watching should be convinced your opponent would have been unable to hurt you, and no longer willing to try, yet with enough control in your technique so as not to actually hurt your pretend opponent.

When you perform the techniques with power and precision, you will start to feel the essence of tae kwon do. You are unlikely to need to use tae kwon do in real life to fight, but practicing the proper way of fighting will give you mental discipline and self-control that you can use every day in ways you may not see now. Without even using any of it for war!

Promotion test coming

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We have a promotion test scheduled for Thursday, May 16, 2019, 6pm at Coolidge Elementary. If you are testing, may you have the best of luck!

Remember to wear a white uniform! It usually would be black uniform day, since it is the third Thursday of the month, but for promotion tests, you should always wear a white uniform.

Remember also to come to class even if you aren’t testing. Bring your gear, in case you are called upon to spar.

Beginner’s Mind

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As you train in tae kwon do, or anything else really, you learn more and more and become better and better. But as with many things, progress is relative.

You may learn the Chung Ji pattern, and learn it well enough to test for yellow belt, and easily pass the test. So you have mastered the pattern, and only need to remember how to do it, right?

Not exactly. As you learn more about the motions, you will realize you weren’t doing some motions correctly, or they could be improved. Maybe your punches aren’t always aimed at the same location. Maybe your heel comes up when you punch. Maybe your stance is too narrow for front stance.

Even as a black belt, you will still have more to learn even from Chung Ji. To an outsider, you may well look to be performing the pattern perfectly and beautifully…until they see someone of an even higher rank performing it even better.

The beginner’s mind is a concept where you are always learning, even about things you already know. With the mind of the beginner, you are more open to learning, and can improve faster. It also keeps you humble, knowing how much more you have to learn even about things you already know.

This also applies outside of the martial arts. You think you are good at math? You know how to add and subtract? Have you tried doing it in a number base other than 10? Do you even know what a number base IS?

Rather than be disappointed in how much you have to learn, realize you ALWAYS have more to learn, and rejoice in the limitless possibilities ahead of you. You will never be perfect, but get closer and closer to perfection the more you practice.