Going strong, never backing down!

by Tiago Costa
(Portugal)

Hi everyone!

It's been a while since I posted anything here and it was about time I posted something. In the past few months I've had the opportunity to try a different kind of Hapkido, Hoijeon Moo Sool and Haedong Kumdo (gotta love this last one :D), also participated in a tournament, and was given a chance to give a few training sessions on my own to my fellow "Tigers". The journey for me seems more beautiful and compelling than ever. But unfortunately it ain't all roses...

One of the things that most of us who practice martial arts come across is convincing our friends/family or just others in general, that the practice of martial arts is something that can bring countless benefits to someone. Because we love our friends and family and we only want the best for them we try very often to encourage them to give martial arts a try. I don't know how it worked for you, but I can't seem to be successful.

First of all, I practice Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo at the only school in Portugal that does that, and there are a lot of things from different arts that we take in our training, but in the end we are only doing our best to improve ourselves as martial artists. This is something that gets me really excited and when I try to tell someone, it seems that those people only want me to shut up because they don't care. Even those who love to watch MMA and other fighting sports, though I thought they would be willing to give it a try, they don't care for martial arts at all. Sitting at home practicing TeleCouchDo seems way better for them.

Most of the times I can't help but feeling a little powerless for not getting through to my friends. Also my family almost never realises the importance of martial arts had in my upbringing and how it helped be face bullying and other problems I encountered, so none of the children in my family does martial arts.

When I look back I see how important it was for me, but now I start to get the whole picture. I was promoted to 1st kup in Dezember, one of the best moments in my TKD life, and more than ever I'm an example for our little "Tiger cubs", and I know that the best I can do is to show them why they shouldn't quit, how the art can make one happy, how it is important in one's life. It is so much more than reaching black belts and getting medals, it's about living each day, like our best training session, we give it all, we leave it all in the mat, and when it finally ends, we feel happy, releaved and satisfied, because we left it all in the mat.

Peace be within your warrior hearts and souls.

Deb's Reply

Hi Tiago

You are so right about martial arts not being about the black belt but about how you integrate it into your life.

I must admit though, I'm in the live and let live camp. I think martial arts is not for everyone and I notice people generally find their art when they are ready for it.

Thanks again Tiago

Deb :-)