As a young Korean boy, I was thrust into Taekwondo training by my dad after being bullied at school.
“Don’t want to be bullied at school? Learn to fight back.”
-Korean Dad, Motivational Speaker Extraordinaire.
Taekwondo was a great way for parents to send their kids to get their ass whooped by someone else. After a long day at work, no Korean parent wants to come home and see their children full of energy and life. Sometimes, they’re just too tired to whoop your ass after 8 hours of work stress. Sending their ADHD children to a martial arts school was a great way to relax and let someone else do the labor of disciplining them.
Instead of being taunted of getting my ass whooped at school, I also got my ass whooped after school at Taekwondo training. It wasn’t until I started to get good at it, higher in belt rank, and longer times away from home, that i started to actually enjoy the sport.
Our dojang had weekly sparring training on Fridays, but if you were a Black Belt, or just really good, you’d get an invite for sparring training on Saturday mornings. This meant I had to cut my weekend cartoon watching by half. It was indeed tough to come to the decision to choose training over cartoons. Well worth it, tho.
Thought I was so cool seeing that I was able to hold my own against Black Belts. Nope! Went to my first tournament when I was 13 and got my ass whooped and eliminated in the first match.
When I was 16, I was forced to take a hiatus from Taekwondo training because of reasons.
Enlisted into the Marine Corps in 2002. After Boot Camp, Schooling, Training Deployments, and two Duty Stations, found out there existed the All-Marines Taekwondo Team at Camp Lejeune. Tried out and made the team in 2006 and 2008. Didn’t make 2007 because I was in Iraq. Competed in the CISM Qualifiers for US Military Team, received Silver (’06) and Bronze (’08).
My time with the All-Marines Taekwondo Team was the pinnacle of my Taekwondo journey. Even after my hiatus, I was very much eager to train and improve my skills in sparring. During my time with the team, I was very fortunate to be trained by world renowned coaches; Master Missy Caan and Master Patrice Remarck. Through competitions, I met many notable athletes of the sport, and learned much from their ass kickings.