Black Belt Reflections: Christopher Haupt (part 2)
[This is Part 2 of Christopher Haupt's essay on the topic of "What Taekwondo Means To Me" which was written as part of the promotion requirements for his second degree in Taekwondo.]
Wow, was I out of shape. I was internally embarrassed that I was out of breath in minutes, and having trouble keeping up with the energy of my six year old!
But, you know what? He loved it! He was thrilled to be doing this with his father, and he was my first, best cheerleader. "Come-on dad!" How can you possibly give up with that support? Of course, the rest of my family, as well as my wonderful classmates of the time and instructors, were just as supportive.
I could literally feel the tension in my forehead, neck, back, and generally across my body just melt away when I went into class. After a few weeks, I noticed I wasn't huffing and puffing quite so much. I was loving learning new ways to stretch and ease my body into those initial techniques and form. After a couple of months, I was finding that it was coming to me easier and easier, and it was at that point I was ready for my first testing.
OK, I admit, the stress, or rather, a kind of stress, emerged at that point. But this stress was different. It was the nervous energy of doing something new, performing in front of others, and worrying a bit about letting myself down. My admittedly analytical, and self-critical personality has always been prone to not caring so much what others think of my public activities, but caring a LOT about how I did against my own internal (and sometimes unrealistic) expectations.
And who would have believed it? That testing went great. It was fun! It made me proud to watch my son perform. It was a happy occasion for what was becoming my larger Auburn Taekwondo family.
If I wasn't hooked before then, I certainly was at that point. I hadn't spent as much quality time on a single activity as I had with my Taekwondo with my son. As a bonus, I had started to "move the dial" on how I felt, at least mentally. Here was something that I could use all of my physical and mental energies on that was so consuming, I was able to forget the outside world's worries for an hour. It was fantastic.
After that, weeks became months, and new techniques were learned, new forms were memorized, and new friends were made. More tests came and went, and I found myself progressing through my colored belts.
Even more critically, I noticed I was shrinking. A trickle of weight loss turned into a steady and regular progression of pounds leaving my body. I wasn't out of breath during class, and I wasn't hurting after long car trips (or, at least not as much...there IS only so much one can take of sitting in a boring multihour car drive with marginal-at-best seats, after all).
[To be concluded in part 3]
Add Your Comment