For our first dan promotion in kumdo, we each wrote an essay and read it aloud at the test. Here's mine.
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Martial arts mean a lot of different things to a lot of people. To some, it is a way to simply fight. To others, it is exercise, and to still others, it is no more than a cinematic vision based more upon movies and television than anything else. When I first got into martial arts as a child and later as a young adult, that was how I saw it. A way to fight and all the cool cinematic stuff from movies and literature. At that time, the ninja craze was at its height. Since then, the martial arts have become much more than that.
I first came to this dojang when my son, Connor saw it and wanted to take the class. I had always been into swords and have experience in SCA fencing and heavy weapons fighting. In years past, I took karate, through the rec department and at Jhoon Rhee as a child, and as an adult at a dojang in Rockville in the late eighties.
Connor's desire to try out kumdo brought me into the world of kumdo, an art I had always been interested in but never knew where to go for training. The class was a lot of fun and Master Kim and Master Choi proved to be excellent teachers. Master Kim was always encouraging with all of the students, and Master Choi was always fine tuning our technique and pushing us to get better and to give it our best.
At the beginning, and even up to sixth kuep, the first dan test seemed like it was far off in the distance. Now, two years later, the test is at hand. Sparring is a much different affair than it was at the beginning, and it has been a great thing to see Connor grow in his forms and technique. My older son, Patrick, thought the class was cool and wanted to join, as did my friend Robert.
Over the years, I have started many projects, from band projects to other musical projects. A lot of things that I had planed did not turn out the way I had wanted them to, and many things, for one reason or another, simply didn't turn out at all. But getting back into the martial arts, and getting into kumdo especially has been a change in that. In years past, I always perceived martial arts as a start at white belt, get blackbelt and you're done affair. But I have found that martial arts is a way of life. In following through with my kumdo and taking the blackbelt test, I find myself not at the end, but at the beginning. It has provided a much needed physical outlet, but it has also provided a way of looking at life outside of just kumdo.
The principles of kumdo are applicable in daily life as well. Kumdo teaches mental stamina and follow through. It teaches staying with something and putting in the best effort, even you aren't feeling your best or things are rough. Loyalty, honesty and integrity are a big part of kumdo. But the most descriptive word for kumdo is commitment. Without commitment, one cannot succeed in kumdo. Without commitment, one cannot succeed in anything. One must be committed to their family, to their marriage, to their job, and to their own selves and their beliefs. It is in this that the true art of kumdo is found. It is in this that kumdo truly is a way of life.
Tags: Essay First Dan Blackbelt Kumdo Kendo
