How Tang Soo Doo has helped me from my last Test.

By: Karina Slovitsky. 

 First off I would like to say that from my last test to this one, I have grown not only in body. But in mind and spirit. I have been given challenges that I never thought to of accomplished, and completed them with no regrets. With Tang Soo Do, it has given me many reasons to keep going. Many of the people who make black belt sometimes quit because they think that they made it to black belt and it is over. But I begged to defer, it is still just the beginning. There are still, so many things to explore and learn. It is like life itself, when you think you have lived it to its fullest and your time is almost done, it is never done because when something ends another thing begins. I have been taught many things, from my last test to this one more than I thought to have been taught. When I was taught and able to grasp the concept of it, I was happy to accomplish someone that I was ignorant of to start with. With knowledge come responsibilities that come with the knowledge and not to use it carelessly. I learned during the short two year a little bit of the fan, the dagger and new forms as well. I enjoyed every second of it, Tang Soo Do is a passion to me, and I will keep enjoying it. I was always had karate help me through a lot. Especially through tough times, times when I wanted to just quit because the stress and the expectations were too high for me to possibly catch up with. But I worked through all of it, many times, I just wanted to lose my very heated temper. I always stopped to think, what would I do as a black belt and not a hair triggered bomb? I always made the right choices many times. When people in my class at school would make fun at me, on countless occasions, would sometimes ignore them, or say a word like "Oh" and "Really". To stop the harassing in its tracks with such a simple but powerful word to make sure it doesn't continue, because I know that it is better to stop something before it happens. But there is another instance in which, in which I had to put what was right ahead of what I thought was right.
One day I had to help a friend in need, who really needed an adults help. I thought in my mind I could help him for which he was my friend and I would do anything to help him, but in this instance I need what had to be done ahead of what I thought had to be done. In the end I helped out him out and my other friends that I told, assured me that I did the right thing to help my friend and give him the help he needed. I felt proud of myself in that I put what was right ahead of what I thought what was right. Usually when I am in karate and what I think is right is not right, I really have to put aside my own thoughts and listen to what is really right, in what I am being taught or else I am not going to be able to learn the way I should. What can I say? I dislike criticism with a hot passion, but I have to push that away and learn what I need to know, or else I won't be able to move on. I try not to show my displeasure, but sometimes it is very hard. But Tang Soo Do, has taught me respect, humility and obedience and I have to abide by those values in order to become successful. Along with other matters, Tang Soo Do has also helped me out with family matters as well. When I have to help my mother out with her old age, I usually I help her out by teaching her some stretched I learned in karate.

It helps me mother legs as well as her back, because if you work out it will help you out in old age.
Also with my father in which, his knees are not what they used to be and I help him with certain stretches to put strain off of his poor old knee.

This letter is from one of my students after testing for her 5th gup in 2004, felt she had to write me this letter. She and 2 children all have some degree of ADDHD as well busy life as a married business woman.
I thought you might enjoy reading her letter and passing on her experience.


                     “Can-Do” Karate
              It’s An Attitude for All Ages

As a student of Tang Soo Do, I stand out, not because of my ability, but because of my age.  At 48, it both frustrates and amuses me to watch the kids around me breeze through routines that my body sometimes resists.

That’s why November 8, 2003 holds a special meaning for me.  That’s the day I broke my first board to become a Green Belt, 2nd stripe at the Gentle Palm Academy in Wilmington, De.  For me, it was a milestone because I feared I would fail – not so much at the board, but at the forms, the fundamentals that are to prepare you for the test – of breaking wood.  I knew that if I did the forms okay, I could break the board.

Sabunim may have had confidence in me, but I was worried.  While waiting to test, I sought reassurance from the children around me.  “Is this how you start Ki Cho Hyung Sam Bu?”, I whispered to them.  They thought it was funny, me asking them.  Though I was nervous, I did the three forms, especially Pyung Ahn E-Dan, Okay.  I was so relieved that when it was time to break the board, I was pleased – excited to do it, really.

It took me four tries, but I did it.  And like all things when you do them right, it was effortless.  I don’t even remember what happened in the split seconds between moving and impact.  It was just silence inside centered on desire and that focused desire was wood.  Then I heard the pop, like a champagne cork, of wood breaking.

But it’s not wood I overcame.  It was my fears.  It didn’t bother me that I didn’t break the board the first three times.  Instead of being flustered, I became focused.  The difference was my attitude.  I believed I could do it.

And that’s the secret of the Seven Tenets.  Work for what you want and you will be rewarded.  This is not about easy gratification or self-congratulation.  It is about effort and trying and the journey of discovery we seldom savor – so focused we are on external measures of success.  When we look for validation outside ourselves, we’re trying to break the wrong wood.

Why does Master Instructor Crawley Berry say we have to chop wood and carry water?  Because breaking the board is not the end of our progress, it is the beginning and a process we face daily in all our endeavors.  We still have to carry water and spill a lot of it, too, as we learn to break down our individual barriers to find out purpose, our skills, and our strengths.

Karate may seem, for young minds and bodies, to be a easy exercise, but it is far more than that.  It is a metaphor for the mind and for life.  If you believe you can break a board, then you will do it.  If there is a challenge you face, karate teaches you how to overcome it, not by brute force, but by force of will.

Success depends, not on how smart you are, but on what you do with those talents.  The will to succeed trumps innate intelligence any day, because the former assumes nothing, the latter assumes everything.  With the will to succeed, you can adapt to circumstances and situations because you know how to react to the unexpected.  You know the world may not conform to your every expectation, so you make room for the unexpected in your life.  It makes you better equipped to handle the worst and the best of times, as they happen.

Like life, karate can be hard and it can be fun.  Breaking a board may seem hard, but when you do it, it’s fun.  It’s all in your attitude and your effort.

Jane Miller

"The Gentle Palm Haidong Gumdo Demo Team did an outstanding job on Saturday, September 8th at the New Castle County Police sponsored Public Safety Awareness Day. The Demo team looked sharp in their opening warm up and continued to lead by example. Mr. Mike Ashmore (1st Dan Black Belt), Christian (CJ) Llagas (Red Belt), and Patrick Canning (Green Belt) performed Ssang Su Gumbup #3 and #2, doing an exceptional performance of both forms!  Evelyn Lucas (1st Dan Black Belt) and Anthony Butler (1st Dan Black Belt) performed a combination of a self-defense skit and Ssang Su Gumbup #8 and #9 which looked fantastic! Shane Ross (2nd Dan Black Belt) concluded the demonstration with a combination of Ssang Su #8, Yedo #4, and bamboo cutting which looked spectacular! Congratulations to all the members of the Haidong Gumdo Demo team for once again doing their best, and continuing to lead by example!"