Convention Time!

By Zach Greaves, red belt

The trip to the AMASEA National Convention is an adventure and a voyage for students here at Colorado Taekwondo Institute.  We travel to Missouri to understand more about our fellow martial artists and to learn what they have to offer. Taekwo
ndo, Judo, and Hapkido are the main focus of the convention along with advanced self defense, sparring, and poomse.

Rotating master after master—it’s a lot to remember but being there and absorbing all these techniques was a really rewarding experience and should be part of any Moo Sul Kwan students training.  Working every day to improve, getting stronger, getting smarter and maintaining constant vigorous training. Discipline; integrity; perseverance; loyalty: to train hard and to train well.

The sunrise on a new day with the vibrant hue of oranges, reds, and pinks shine in our van of eager CTI students, to exemplify that this convention is going to be full of bright energy, excitement and dedication. The City Museum, in St. Louis, was on the horizon and the fun was about to begin.  The first of many activities was a maze.  It was like stepping into a new universe with infinite possibilities. We walked into a cave where holes in the walls and floors lead to new worlds--it was a labyrinth.  We left bruised and cut but with smiles on our face and laughter in the air.  We slept well that night.

The dawn broke over the horizon and it was time to leave for the National Convention.  We loaded up and headed out, it was time to train hard and learn.  Working out with so many masters, it was challenging to keep up and to really understand every technique that was presented. I started to realize that the simpler techniques were easy to remember and they were sometimes the most effective.  After the last rotation was done, it was time to meet my impending doom. My stomach sank when I approached the final ring.  Great Grandmaster Shin entered the ring like any other person--but the capabilities he possessed were incredible.  Great Grandmaster Shin was now our teacher and a feeling fell over the group almost immediately with the acceptance of being weak and the growing fire to get stronger. Experienced students know the feeling.  We worked out hard and were very sore the next morning.

Throughout the convention we worked, flexed and condition not only our bodies but our minds and our well-being. We learned so much in so little time and it was a really great trip.