A Karate Girl in a Taekwondo World

Very early in orientation, taekwondo became one of my fourth points. If you are not a fulbrighter in Korea, you may not know what I am talking about. A fourth point is a thing that you do to keep your life balanced. The other three points are professional, personal and self. But your 4th point is something that is something you do that balances the rest of your life out. I have seen many peoples points being very different. Some do exercise, some volunteer, some travel and one even person does swing dance. It can be anything. My biggest and most important one is Taekwondo.

As many people know, I have studied karate since the age of 12. I have earned my way to my 2nd-degree black belt. For those who don't know, karate, in its origin, is Japan. Therefore in many ways is in direct confliction with taekwondo, despite having similar roots. When I decided to apply for my Fulbright grant, one of the ways that I wanted to really interact with the community around me is by taking taekwondo lessons. I just didn't realize how hard it was going to be when I actually started lessons.

Don't get me wrong, I have had experience with taekwondo before. The past two presidents of Martial Arts Club in college were black belts in it. Therefore, going in, I knew there were going to be some initial conflicts with what I did purely by habit after 10 years, and what the master was trying to teach me. I just didn't realize quite how not ready I was. 

For one, taekwondo is very kick heavy and they rely a lot on kicking high and kicking fast, which I have difficulty doing since I lost a lot of my flexibility and my stamina during college. But that is not the problem; I can improve that in time. What gets me are the things that I have been doing a certain way for 10 years, and now I am being told to do things I have never been allowed to do before, like short stances or dropping my hands when I kick. 

This is still going to be something I stick with, however. I really want to, and it makes you a better martial artist to know multiple forms, even if one will be your main. I definitely think I will go back to Shotokan when I get back to the states, but for now, I a working on breaking my habits, improving my speed and flexibility, and working towards my black belt test in March. We'll see what happens. Wish me luck!