How Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo has Helped Me in School

By Elizabeth Hawkins, 1st dan, CTI Masters Club Member

I’ve had my fair share of school struggles in the past, but Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo has helped me to overcome them, and even turn those situations into a learning device.  I’ve always been energetic, but before studying MSK Taekwondo at the Colorado Taekwondo Institute I had little to no attention span.  I constantly wandered off, and I never listened to directions.  MSK Taekwondo has helped me to become a more focused person with its regimen.  Not peeking and focusing on poomse turns into allotting  myself time to do homework, and ignoring any distractions; and building my endurance has become having the mental fortitude to go through a mentally exhausting day of school and still doing four hours of homework before Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo.

Taekwondo classes have also helped me with my overall work ethic.  I am certain that had I not been in CTI Classes, I would not be in the IB program, or even in any advanced classes.  The iron will that comes with improving your body, along with the willingness to learn, can take you far in life.  Again, the hours spent practicing easily turn into hours studying, even though each takes a very different skill set.  The attention to detail I’ve experienced in MSK Taekwondo easily translates into getting all of my homework done on time, and when revising essays knowing that the small details do matter, and focusing on them.

Most importantly, Taekwondo classes at the CTI built up my confidence, without causing arrogance.  I know that I can always be better, and I am willing to change in order to get there, but I can hold my own in stressful situations.  I’ve been taught how to lead, making me valuable in group projects and to overworked teachers.  I’ve learned to be a self-directed learner, to keep my composure, to be disciplined, and to do what I know is right.  Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo has taught me many things, and how to excel in school is one of them.

The Choice

By Bruce Dean, red belt

Random acts of kindness takes will. “How” is the important underlying motivation or facilitation when performing random acts of kindness.

Consider the question of, “How does someone climb Mt. Everest?”  In most simplistic form the mountain climber puts one foot in front of the next until it is downhill on all sides.  But that is what they did to get there, it is not “how” they got there.  For the example of Mt. Everest, the “how” question is that the climber’s will persevered and overcame – the climber’s will asserted that the goal would be achieved and that failure was not an option.

On a smaller scale (about 15,000 ft smaller) I climbed my first 14er last summer.  And although at the time I was closing in on 3 years of Moo Sul Kwan training at the CTI, I was also coming off a 5 month hiatus courtesy of a third surgery on my left arm.  Suffice to say that I was about 20lbs heavier than normal and had only been back to Conifer Campus jumping jacks for about a month.  Yes, “fat and out of shape” pretty much sums it up.  But from the moment I took the first step east on the trail head for Mt. Bierstadt, failure was not an option – and that also meant that death or serious injury was not an option, since that would have resulted in failure.  And yes, the “face” of Bierstadt was tough, but I spoke positively during the hike and had fun speaking with people who were coming down.  And after a little more than three hours we were on the top.

And so “how” did I accomplish my random acts of kindness this last month?  The same way.  By setting my mind to it.  But also by being an “agent” of kindness.  In other words, to share kindness one must possess enough kindness so that they have enough left over to share.  One must set their mind to generating kindness inside themselves: generating so much that it spills over naturally.  The same can also be said about love and goodness and compassion, etc.  To be an agent of good, rather than simply on the side of good, one must fill himself with goodness until the goodness/kindness overflows.  The overflow – to the person overflowing – is simply the result of the will to be kind being noticed by the outside world.

But to the outside world the overflow appears as random acts.  After all, why did that man compliment the lunch checkout lady on her sunny disposition?  He had no real reason to.  It must have been some random act.  Not true.  He did it because he was overflowing with kindness and had to share some.  So, “how did I accomplish the random acts?” I CHOOSE to. I CHOOSE to be an agent of kindness.

Perseverance

By Collin Kreutz, red belt, age 12

Perseverance is when you are dedicated and set on achieving a goal, and you keep pushing hard and trying to achieve that goal, no matter what stands in your way and how hard it will be.  Perseverance is very important to succeed in achieving your goals.

Perseverance is very important in order to achieve my goal, getting my 1st dan black belt in Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo.  I need to use perseverance to make my way through the testing cycle, including the written test, physical test, and other difficult parts of getting your black belt.  Every student in Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo at the Colorado Taekwondo Institute uses perseverance to achieve their MSK Taekwondo goals.

Perseverance is also important at a CTI Taekwondo Tournament.  In order to win a trophy or medal in a division, you must use perseverance to try your hardest and your best.  Otherwise, you won’t be as effective in your power and technique because you will be thinking about something else, instead of pushing to the limit and doing great in the division.

Perseverance is also used for your goals in life.  You could use perseverance to get good grades in school, win a basketball game, and many other goals. You must persevere and go as hard as you can to achieve any goals that you have and want to accomplish or achieve.

The reason I think perseverance is very important is because if you don’t persevere and try harder than normal, you most likely won’t ever achieve any of your goals.  Perseverance plays a very large part in accomplishing anything you want to in life.

Perseverance may be the most important thing to achieve any of your goals, along with dedication and confidence.  Whether your goals are in Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo, or outside of MSK Taekwondo, it is always very important to persevere to get those goals.