Coming Full Circle
On Saturday my wife and I went to a dinner to honor a great man. His name is Ik Jo Kang. He is, among many other things, a martial arts Grand Master. He has trained hundred of students in Hapkido and Ji Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do, many of whom trained long enough with him to obtain a black belt. I am proud to say that I was one of his students.
The first time I met Grand Master Kang was at his school on Main Street in White Plains. I was ten and my parents brought me there to help me gain self-confidence. I was picked on terribly in school and lacked the physical and mental ability to defend myself. Master Kang was small and gentle and could barely speak English, yet he had a confidence that seemed to come through his pores. He also had a smile that I trusted instantly.
From 1981 through 1988 I studied under Grand Master Kang and great students of his, including Master Walter Eddie -- the instructor who taught me how to use what I had learned in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido. Unter their tutelage, I went from a scared little kid to eventually becoming a 1st degree black belt.
Then, Grand Master Kang went back to Korea and I went off to college. I hadn't practiced martial arts since, nor had I seen him. Occasionally, I saw Master Eddie, but by 2004 so many years had passed that I had all but forgotten the forms and techniques of Ji Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido.
In November, 2004, we enrolled my son in Tae Kwon Do in Milford at World Champion Tae Kwon Do, under the leadership of Master Sejin Park. He and Master Kiye Cho have been teaching Jonathan for over a year now. And with each class I watch, or promotion Jonathan gets, I feel more and more like something has been missing.
I wanted to become a student of Tae Kwon Do again.
Three weeks ago I signed up for classes at World Champion Tae Kwon Do. I have started over. I am a novice, having set aside my black belt as this is a different style of Tae Kwon Do.
Circle back to Master Eddie, who met my son at my parents' holiday party just before New Year's. Jonathan was thrilled to meet his father's master and to be able to perform for him. Master Eddie told me about the dinner for Grand Master Kang and encouraged me to go.
I'm glad I did. I saw people I hadn't seen since 1988 -- some even longer. I got a chance to honor someone who meant a great deal to me in my troubled youth. I was able to walk that path of nostalgia.
Most importantly though, I learned something once again. I may have taken a long hiatus from the dojang, but I have never stopped being a Tae Kwon Do student. As I write this, I am even more invigorated to continue my training.
I'm much older now, and the challenges I face in the dojang are far different than the fifteen year old being told to fight an adult much larger than himself. Today, I struggle for physical fitness and flexibility, things that came naturally to me then. But I am older, wiser and more patient.
The foundation of my training was laid many years ago in an often hot dojang on the second floor of an old walk-up building in downtown White Plains. I'm once again training at a dojang -- learning, exercising, building my physical, mental and spiritual being. I'm studying under a different Master now, with a new style and new building blocks.
But, thanks to Master Eddie and Grand Master Kang, the foundation is solid.
The first time I met Grand Master Kang was at his school on Main Street in White Plains. I was ten and my parents brought me there to help me gain self-confidence. I was picked on terribly in school and lacked the physical and mental ability to defend myself. Master Kang was small and gentle and could barely speak English, yet he had a confidence that seemed to come through his pores. He also had a smile that I trusted instantly.
From 1981 through 1988 I studied under Grand Master Kang and great students of his, including Master Walter Eddie -- the instructor who taught me how to use what I had learned in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido. Unter their tutelage, I went from a scared little kid to eventually becoming a 1st degree black belt.
Then, Grand Master Kang went back to Korea and I went off to college. I hadn't practiced martial arts since, nor had I seen him. Occasionally, I saw Master Eddie, but by 2004 so many years had passed that I had all but forgotten the forms and techniques of Ji Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido.
In November, 2004, we enrolled my son in Tae Kwon Do in Milford at World Champion Tae Kwon Do, under the leadership of Master Sejin Park. He and Master Kiye Cho have been teaching Jonathan for over a year now. And with each class I watch, or promotion Jonathan gets, I feel more and more like something has been missing.
I wanted to become a student of Tae Kwon Do again.
Three weeks ago I signed up for classes at World Champion Tae Kwon Do. I have started over. I am a novice, having set aside my black belt as this is a different style of Tae Kwon Do.
Circle back to Master Eddie, who met my son at my parents' holiday party just before New Year's. Jonathan was thrilled to meet his father's master and to be able to perform for him. Master Eddie told me about the dinner for Grand Master Kang and encouraged me to go.
I'm glad I did. I saw people I hadn't seen since 1988 -- some even longer. I got a chance to honor someone who meant a great deal to me in my troubled youth. I was able to walk that path of nostalgia.
Most importantly though, I learned something once again. I may have taken a long hiatus from the dojang, but I have never stopped being a Tae Kwon Do student. As I write this, I am even more invigorated to continue my training.
I'm much older now, and the challenges I face in the dojang are far different than the fifteen year old being told to fight an adult much larger than himself. Today, I struggle for physical fitness and flexibility, things that came naturally to me then. But I am older, wiser and more patient.
The foundation of my training was laid many years ago in an often hot dojang on the second floor of an old walk-up building in downtown White Plains. I'm once again training at a dojang -- learning, exercising, building my physical, mental and spiritual being. I'm studying under a different Master now, with a new style and new building blocks.
But, thanks to Master Eddie and Grand Master Kang, the foundation is solid.
posted by E-Luv at 8:49 AM
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