My Taekwondo (teaching) philosophy is based on my experiences as a student of the art that I first started to learn at Tropic Lightning Taekwondo under the thoughtful guidance of my first instructor/teacher/role model/mentor/friend/Ohana Master Dan Sugita, on the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii. With that, my philosophy is not only deeply influenced by Master Dan, but also by those beautiful Hawaiian concepts of Aloha, Ohana (Family) and Ha’Pono’Pono (to make things right) that he embraced as a teacher, a person and lifestyle, that goes hand in hand with the tenets of Taekwondo: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit.
I have been involved with Taekwondo for more than a decade: first as a mother who watched her sons from the sidelines, and then later as an adult-beginner student of the art. The reason I started to practice Taekwondo was to lose weight and I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. At the time, I did not understand what my then instructor meant when he said, “Taekwondo is a lifestyle, you will see.”
While belt-testings and promotions were not even on my radar, I tested, every time my instructor felt I was ready to do so and after years of hard training I became a black belt student of the art, and now teacher. The journey was not easy and it was not a straight line forward. At times, it was one step forward and three steps back. It was at times both exhilarating and frustrating, sometimes it was easy and sometimes I did not think I could overcome the hurdles in front of me: like having to learn to live with an autoimmune disease that I was diagnosed with after I started to learn Taekwondo and only years later realizing that I have been battling some sort of cancer for the majority of my training.
Over time, I have come to believe that Taekwondo gives students an attitude and mindset that helps them to not shy away from difficulties but rather, gives them tools to learn to overcome them through perseverance and indomitable spirit. I believe that students who are learning the art can become mentors to others, as they will learn to teach those who are below them in belt ranking and that by doing so, students-teachers learn to understand the meaning of “paying it forward,” and thus embrace a great element of leadership and mentorship. Given my own experiences I also embrace the ideas that higher ranking students can relate to junior students through their own experiences with compassion, empathy and understanding. Being a student of the art has taught me to step out of my own comfort zone so many times and with that, I feel that I can relate to new students because I have been there and done that and I am still doing it, despite autoimmune issues.
I believe that learning Taekwondo teaches humility, because after all, each student is a work in progress and nobody knows everything. While we strive to give our best any given day. there are always new skills to learn or old skills to be improved. As I have learned from many who outrank me, one should not brag to be the best but strive to become one’s best, whatever that means on any given day.
At this point, I would like to come back to the statement from Master Dan, that Taekwondo is a lifestyle. Yes, it is, and it is a transformative journey as well. A journey that strengthens values a student already has and that reinforces the virtues of this art: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit. Learning the art of Taekwondo also teaches students to be humble, patient, to have honor and a sense of commitment and, have courage to overcome hurdles and to step out of one’s comfort zone. To me personally, one of the most important life and social skill that is learned (especially by younger students) is leadership with empathy and compassion, because after all, everyone was a white belt at one point and we can relate how new students regardless of age feel, because we share the experience.
I honestly believe that Taekwondo has made me a better person and helped me identify obstacles along the way and taught me to patiently find ways to conquer them. I am a work in progress and believe in the authenticity of what I am trying to teach others, especially those, who like me, live with medical conditions that they have not much control over at times. I believe in mastery of skills, at each person’s level, because let’s be honest, not many will be Olympic athletes or Bruce Lee.
What I did not know when I started to practice Taekwondo, was that my body was fighting an odd form of skin cancer, and I learned later through my journey, that I have an autoimmune disease (discoid lupus) with connective tissue involvement. But instead of quitting and let the disease define me, I pushed on. I believe doing so, has made me well-suited to help others, whose experiences mirror mine.
As such, I thrive to be a transformational teacher who accompanies follow adult students on their transformative journey learning the art of Taekwondo, especially those, who are coping with health issues, because Taekwondo can give you back balance, strength, confidence and most of all, leave you with a feeling of empowerment and increased confidence.
My motto is “I meet you where you are,” and I promise that as your coach, I will never see you as a customer or client, I will be your partner along the transformative Taekwondo journey towards empowerment, balance and harmony.