Black Belt Exam Essay

As a part of my Tae Kwon Do Black Belt Exam I was required to write a five page essay on the following questions. The test is December 15 and 16 at Seattle Tae Kwon Do. I have decided to post my essay here.
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What are my short and long-term goals in Tae Kwon Do? And, What are my Actions Steps toward achieving them?

By Jeffrey Lageson

My entire Black Belt experience was kind of an accident. My son Jacob had been talking about taking a martial art for some time when we found ourselves with a Richards’ Tae Kwon Do “Gold Card” that we won through a King’s Elementary School fundraising auction. It was originally really going to be just about him, but since I had the opportunity to try it out too, and he asked if it could be a father and son thing, it was the proverbial no-lose situation for me. I decided to give it a chance and take the first steps with him, even if I did not know what to expect.

I have always been in competitive athletics; playing soccer in college, running marathons and triathlons, and trying my hand at everything from football to wrestling while in school. I even spent several years on bowling teams. Somehow in there, martial arts had never found its way in. Opportunities to take Karate in college notwithstanding, it simply had not worked its way to the front burner, while fencing lessons and basic ballet had (Beginning Ballet is a single credit PE class at Washington State and since I was a goalkeeper for WSU it seemed like a good idea at the time; and the “A” I earned is a part of my permanent college transcripts and GPA).

I have to admit I was very wary of starting something like Tae Kwon Do for a couple of reasons. First, if I am into something I know that I will go into it until I have accomplished something. I am what they call goal-oriented. If not interested, I will dabble, set it aside, and consider it a lesson learned and a box checked off on the “to do list” of life.

After a couple of classes a funny thing happened, I felt better. My back felt better. My thumb was turning out to be able to handle the stress. I had needed surgery to have my left thumb screwed back together with titanium that is permanently in place less than two years earlier. I was looking forward to class, not just to have a father and son thing to do with Jacob, but also for me.

I am fortunate that Tae Kwon Do has had a duality for me; that of a father and son activity and something that is also personally satisfying and something I can take pride in for myself.
The whole experience has somehow managed to be a floating short and long-term goal. Each belt has proven to be a short-term goal with the big picture goal being the black belt that will be waiting for me to hammer fist through a stack of boards to grab on December 16. Suddenly, the long-term goal has become the short-term goal. But, I do not intend to stop right here and right now, even though I also do not know how far I can and will go in Tae Kwon Do. Part of it is physical. Even though I feel better, I have unfortunately broken, torn, and separated enough bones, joints, and muscles that at times it is a real struggle.

What I do know is that I will continue to take color belt tests in Thai Kickboxing as well. The opportunity to achieve a black belt in separate martial arts is very tempting to me on admittedly aesthetic grounds. The opportunity to promote in black belt into international and higher ranks strikes me as worthwhile as well. Many factors will go into the decisions I make. However, there is also plenty of time for me to make decisions, train and grow. Much like the marathon has become a way of life in how I take care of my diet and exercise throughout the year, Tae Kwon Do will be a part of what I do in various capacities as long as I am physically able to do it. I have added a heavy bag to my carport to give me a private training area and have purchased other equipment to assist me in private training.

The three years I have been training have been physically and personally challenging for me. Tae Kwon Do has provided much needed continuity in various transitions that have taken place.
When I had the surgery on my torn abdominal muscles in May of 2005, coming to class to stretch and work my hand techniques and forms got my strength and mobility back much faster than the surgeon had expected. I found myself back sparring again much sooner than I had hoped. The first time I felt contact to my midsection in sparring was a much need jolt and simultaneously a boost of confidence in my ability to get through the physical rigors of black belt preparation. Even if, in retrospect, eight days after surgery to return to class to do the aforementioned stretching was a bit quick, I knew I had the opportunity to use aspects of Tae Kwon Do in conjunction with other physical therapy to bounce back so long as I was careful. The surgeon was pleased with how I went about this as inactivity would have been far worse for me than almost anything else as it would create much more muscle atrophy and therefore a longer rehabilitation period. I tested for my Brown Belt on time as a result of focusing on forms.

The previous example is included here more to show the use of floating short and long-term goals in conjunction with the long-term black belt goal discussed earlier. It would have been easy for me to stop there and use the injury as an excuse to stop training and move on to something else, but having the short and long-term goals has proven to work for me. I cannot even begin to describe how banged up I feel at times. Yet, in fact I feel so much stronger than I did three years ago.

It was necessary for me to also find a way to keep Tae Kwon Do fun for me. At the time of my first classes my hair was much longer than it is now and I found it was falling in my face. It became necessary to take care of this problem in the short-term by wearing a bandana. I grabbed a white bandana to match the uniform and belt and went about wearing it. At the time of the first test I decided to purchase a yellow bandana and brought it along with me. By the time of the Orange Belt I had cut my hair, but decided to keep getting matching bandanas. It became expected that I would have and wear the matching colored bandanas. I have continued that “tradition” throughout the process and in Thai Kickboxing. I also procured a brand new black bandana that I have had pinned to the wall in my apartment for some time, which is not to be worn until after I have achieved the Black Belt. I look forward to unfolding it and wearing it for the first time on December 16.

After the first year of Tae Kwon Do training I set a personal record at the Seattle Marathon . I was a full twenty-eight minutes faster than I was six years earlier, which also means I had been six years younger. The upper body strength I gained from Tae Kwon Do assisted my posture and form as I ran through some of the more difficult parts of the course. My overall physical improvement also can be credited with how quickly I bounced back after the race.
The build up to the Black Belt Test has been more stressful for me than I would generally care to admit. I have tested for and passed all of the previous forms and questions so the review of material should not have provided me with as much work as I had expected. Of course, a case can simply be made that it has been a lot of work because there is so much to cover, but that is a bit beside the point to me. The point to me is that I have already been tested on this material so that it should be a review.

What it comes down to is that it is simply not enough to go through the motions. I do not want to simply get by or survive the test. I want to actually feel the energy of the form as I perform it at testing time. I want it to be something that I remember fondly, so I have had to set aside the stress of simply “finishing” in order to focus on the most important thing, which is “thriving”. The obstacle for me in forms testing is that I get claustrophobic with so many students so close that I have to be mentally tough enough to block out what my peripheral vision is picking up to maintain my own form.

I never expected to look in the mirror and see a Black Belt staring back at me. When I began this I have to admit I assumed that I would begin it with Jacob, but that I would end up watching him finish. I have had the opportunity to find things out about myself during this process. I have also been able to grow with my son. The value of the Black Belt is not in the object of the belt itself or the certificate. The value of this has been in showing my children the importance of goal-setting, follow through, commitment, and perseverance. I have to admit that it is personally satisfying to witness the reactions of my friends and family to the black belt.

In the end, my short-term goal is what was once the long-term goal, that of the black belt. The long-term goal is now incorporating what I have learned from this experience into other areas of my life. It was what is often referred to in the sciences as a “happy accident”. If only I could have more of those.