I am glowing from the lingering awesomeness of my Tae Kwon Do exam this past weekend and want to tell you a little bit about love and kicking ass.
As a group, our school’s blackbelt students and red belt/black stripe students (aspiring blackbelts) test twice a year. It is during this test that we perform all of the skills we have learned in hopes of being promoted to the next higher rank or belt. During all of the days in between tests we live, love and train…and so I see our lives as a practice of love and kicking ass.
Last night I was testing, and was promoted for a class rank that moves me closer to third degree. Each test moves me closer to that goal. Three of my colleagues were testing for their first blackbelt, and three others for full degree promotions. As a group, we kicked ass last night. What I mean by that might surprise you.
Really the only opponent you have in a Tae Kwon Do exam is yourself, even when you are sparring against another student. It is your mind that is your greatest challenger. So I see two “tests” going on during these nights. One is me against me…can I battle my mind and do my best without letting fear or fatigue paralyze me. The second is how the group tests, as a group.
Last night our group kicked ass. Everywhere I turned, every word I heard, I experienced love. In a Tae Kwon Do exam? You might wonder where love comes into the picture of beating the crap out of each other. But it does…in a test where coming together as a group becomes slightly more important than me against me.
There is an energy about this and we had it last night. It may have been a factor of the three blackbelt candidates present. One, a working mom in her 50’s, and the other two teenage boys that we have watched grow up in the dojang. The group rallied around these souls kind of like parents…cheering them on, getting them to bring out the best in themselves, and not letting them quit.
Nobody could fail last night because we all had each other’s backs. We all felt the love and kicked ass because of it. With our presence, and energy, we held each other up and managed to persevere for seven hours, without falling, without quitting, without failing. Failure ceased to be a word in my dojang last night.
For at least three tests, for the board breaking portion, I have been attempting to break four boards without success. Last night I decided to try again and it was my night. But the success wasn’t just in the act of my accomplishment alone. My family had my back. It was in the determination of my board holders to get it right after they had held countless boards for my colleagues, sometimes with bruised fingers as a result. It was in the rest of my colleagues good vibes as they stood and watched. And it was in my Master’s confidence in me in the moments beforehand.
Love. And kicking ass. This has got to be one of the most profound combinations of awesomeness there is.
This group of people has become a family I never imagined I would have. We live, love and train together and on test night it becomes plain to see that it matters, a lot, to all of us. I often get asked why I do Tae Kwon Do, especially the sparring piece, where there is always a risk of injury…people want to know why I “fight.”
When it is this kind of family you are training with, you stop thinking of it as fighting and start calling it fun. You don’t think about what you are risking, you think about what you are gaining. This kind of family makes you want to be a better person.They push you to be your best self. They kick your ass to get you to see what you are made of. That is love.
That kind of kick ass love trickles out into the world, into all of our separate families, friends, acquaintances, loved ones and co-workers and starts to change the world.
That is why I do Tae Kwon Do.
Thank you to my TKD family for the best test ever last night, for the friendship and love, and for giving me a fuzzy feeling that will last for a long, long time. Congratulations to all of our new blackbelts and to our new degreed blackbelts, you guys kicked some serious ass last night and were an inspiration to all.
Live, love, and kick ass my friends…with everything you do!
Laura Probert, MPT is the owner of Bodyworks Physical Therapy and a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do under Master Holloway at Gentle East Tae Kwon Do. She has been training in life, love and kicking ass for many years now and is just starting to write about it. Find info about her healing, writing and kicking passions here: www.bodyworksptonline.com
