When you’re going through hell – keep going!

Photo by Elina Lieltiruma, used under Creative Commons licence.

I’ve been talking about how I came to know and love taekwondo. To start with, my journey in the martial arts wasn’t an easy one. 

One day I saw a guy practising kung fu in the park. I didn’t know that martial art existed at the time. I saw the moves and asked him what it was about. He said, “It’s Wing Chun kung fu.”

I asked my dad if I could join. He said yes. I joined it and I liked it. It started to impress me. I liked the moves. And back at that time, this was very unusual;  no one else was doing it. I remember people saying to me, “What’s that? Ballet?”  This was the pre-Bruce Lee times; people hadn’t seen these kind of martial arts moves.

When you’re on the right path, you’re carried further

So I got really into it and it became a passion of mine. When you’re on the right path, you’re carried further along.. and so another friend of mine was doing another martial art style called taekwondo… so I moved again.

And the rest is history.

What did my dad say?

My dad told my first taekwondo instructor that this boy has been through two styles of martial arts and boxing. “And he’s given up all three”, said my dad, “So now hje’s going to stick at this one. If he misses a lesson, he’s in trouble. If he turns up late, he’s in trouble. We can make a decision on that right here.”

Some people think that if progress is slow, it means it’s time to stop

So for the first few years, it was hard work for me.

Some people think because they’re not moving forward fast, then it’s time to stop. But the time to stop if when you’re not moving forward at all – then it’s time for a new direction.  But  if you’re moving forward, even slowly, keep moving forward. One of the five principles of taekwondo is perseverance.

There’s an old saying, if you’re going through Hell, keep going… because why would you want to stop in Hell? That’s the same thing with martial arts. Don’t stop: carry on.