Taekwondo

Dear Taekwondo,

I remember the first day I found my passion for you. It all started one afternoon when I was watching a movie starring Bruce Lee and I would pretend to be him by imitating his moves. My parents found a Taekwondo training facility called Phoenix Tae Kwon Do in Ashburn, VA and I loved it ever since. I got my first degree black belt when I was 5 and my 2nd degree when I was 8. The next year when I turned 9, I won the U.S. National Taekwondo Championships in Chicago, IL.  Recently, January 2015, I won the U.S Open Championships in Orlando, FL.

I see people getting kicked in the face, getting bloody noses, and sometimes kids getting knocked out. Everyday at home, I visualize myself sparring and demolishing my opponent. I would always see pain, torture, and sweat when I train which is about 11 hours a week. It’s so rewarding to see myself win and succeed in the tournaments I compete in. I visualize the gold medal around my neck motivating me to win.   

I can smell all the stinky and sweaty gear from sparring like I am in a swamp. Some people accidently smell other people’s feet while getting kicked in the face.  I can smell victory before I enter the ring. This year, I am getting my third degree black belt and I can smell my achievement from a mile away. After all of my hard work with the uniform, the scent smells beautiful after a heavy duty wash. I imagine smelling food when I have to cut weight to make my weight division.  

I kick people so hard right in the face that they sometimes can taste my foot. Sweat runs down my face sometimes going into my mouth and it tastes bad, but it’s necessary when training hard. Between rounds in a sparring match, water tastes so good because my mouth is dry. If, you’re training for a national or an international competition, losing weight is the hardest thing to do when training. The sweet candy and salty meat that you love will all go away. Your tastebuds will have to get used to veggies and fruit, because that’s usually all the things that you can eat. When it comes to tournament you have to make sure that you are less or right on weight otherwise you will be disqualified. You get 2 chances to weigh in and not an ounce over. That’s how hard sometimes Taekwondo can be.

My shins and arms can sometimes feel really tight when all that gear is on me. It feels really sweaty and slimy against my skin when the gear is on for a long time. Sometimes my hands feel like that when I hold the targets for my partner. My chest guard is tight when I slip it on for the first time, but eventually loosens up when I get kicked really hard.  When I wear my helmet, I can feel the sweat roll off of my head making it feel greasy. The amount of impact can sometimes hurt my body. I continue to feel the pain after the day I got kicked which can last up to 2 or 3 weeks, depending how hard I got hit. It’s like I’ve been on a life time punishment. I would kick them in the body and feel something hard go against my foot.

In tournaments, I hear people cheering for their children and arguing for a stupid point or penalty. The only person I listen to in a fight, is my coach. he would tell me to do something and I would do it and make a pop sound when I hit it. You’ve got to make sure that when you’re at a tournament, you have to listen very carefully when you’re being called up because there is a lot of noises and the voice over the speaker is like a little whisper. I can always listen to the booming sounds of targets when kicking it. I sometimes hear these weird and hisses from kids and people when they are doing forms. I guess it’s something that the judges give extra points to. There are many different types of shout’s that I can’t keep track of how many I can hear! Shouting is a very important part of Taekwondo. In the ring, there are too many noises.

In conclusion, I love Taekwondo because it’s a fun and competitive sport. I always have fun no matter what. This is a sport that is my life.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Char