A 'Why Not' Moment in My Life

My opponent is my teacher and my ego is my enemy. During the beginning of 9th grade I had always wanted to get a membership at a gym and so happen that my cousin started working at this new gym called UFC, she invited me to check it out. Monday in the afternoon, I went to the gym and from the moment I first stepped foot in that gym I loved the vibe there. Everybody pleasantly welcomed me. I first started taking DUT (Daily Ultimate Training) classes which worked more on strength and conditioning. Then several different classes, however the one class that caught my attention the most was the Brazilian jiu-jitsu class. Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) is a martial art and combat sport that teaches a smaller person how to defend himself against a larger adversary by using leverage and proper technique

Since the tender age of 9, my parents dropped me off at Karate America to take Karate lessons. I knew it was where I belonged the moment I step foot onto their “Karate floor”, which was 8 wrestling mats sprawled across the ground. I was always discouraged to do other sports, I could never throw, catch, or run as well as all the other kids, but I found solace on the Karate floor. Here, it wasn 't about whether or not you could throw, the only thing that mattered is if you gave it your all. Karate became one of the few sports I stuck with and I progressed with hard work and as much dedication as a nine year old could give beginning with nothing and progressing to a White belt, to Green, to Yellow, to Orange, to Purple, to Blue, to Red, and

At age 16 I was told that I was incapable of being an athlete, I was told tennis was not a sport, I was told I could never play “a real man’s sport”. That same year, I stepped onto a soccer pitch for the first time in my life, I lined up against young men who had been playing the sport for more than a decade.Yet, I went out there with confidence and challenged them along with the notion that I could not play a real sport. Although, I was scared to embarrass myself, I knew that this decision would be one of the greatest I would ever make because of the life experiences I would gain from leaving my comfort zone for the first time,

Friends and family who ask me about my karate training often ask, “Alec, what is the appeal in karate that keeps you going?” I usually tell about the great journey it takes from white to black belt, about the years of dedication it took me to get as far as I have today, and how I want to keep that going. In doing this however, I will usually avoid talking about the black belt itself, knowing that they probably expected me to talk about it. Outsiders who don’t have any extensive knowledge of karate often think about the goal of getting black belt, then finally getting it as being the most important part and end goal of karate, and I really don’t blame them. Very early on in my training I was extremely focused on the black belt like

Demonstrating my potential academic future to my relatives, I intend to show them that there are brighter alternatives to their lives that come with striving for a better education. Under circumstances vastly similar to those of my relatives, I too have faced many hardships throughout my life. However, I resent none of them. Such hardships have built the determination that defines my perception of self-worth. Regardless of how distant my goals appeared to be, my direction remained unwavering upon the path that I believed would bring me success. That winter day stands to be a significant milestone in defining my character. After countless hours of physical conditioning, I moved on to defeat numerous opponents throughout the wrestling season and became the league champion of the junior varsity division. Similar to my goals of obtaining greater educational opportunities, I never gave up on myself in the face of adversity. Not once did I view my socioeconomic status as an unconquerable obstacle, but rather, I welcomed it as a challenge that would afford me a greater sense of appreciation for what I could accomplish on my

Though I have dedicated a substantial amount of time and energy into a multitude of sports over the years, it has been easiest for me to be aware of the lessons that I have taken away from

After finishing this assignment, I found it quite intriguing. As I was doing this assignment it inspired me to write more. For this assignment since I was given five different topics, I went with the topic to talk about my personal goal.  Since I have a passion within the sports and gym industry, I decided to take this chance to write about my Taekwondo career within the "Personal Narrative Essay Assignment".

While many of my extracurricular activities have been fulfilling, taekwondo has been the most important to me. I started taekwondo when I was five because my mom felt that I needed to learn self-defense against bullying. Eventually, taekwondo became my favorite activity. I went to my first regional tournament in 2008, won the tournament, and thus started training even harder. Over the next four years, I competed at the annual national tournament, winning my first in 2009, and subsequent championships in 2010 and 2012. Through this period, I also got my first degree black belt in 2009 and my second degree black belt in 2012.

There is nothing that breeds more success than honest failures. I can remember the time, although it feels so long ago, where I had entered the dojo of Klotz Institute for Karate as a beltless novice. I can remember seeing the other students, whose ages ranged from half to three times my own, and admiring the confidence and the effortlessness of every technique they perform. I can remember the first time I put on a pair of gloves and a helmet. We were practicing a few basic combinations and I ended up being paired with an older man wearing a black belt. I put on best game face I could muster and pretended that I had done this a hundred times before. Well, he must have believed me because as

Today, Taekwondo is practiced and used in competition in over 190 countries as a sport and practiced as an everyday activity just like you would practice football or soccer. Also, Taekwondo is an international sport that is practiced everywhere by many different people who don’t have the same language, skin color, and religion. Furthermore, Taekwondo is an Olympic sport in the U.S. and everywhere else. Similarly, Taekwondo is practiced and used in the military as a sport and to train

Throughout my experience taking Taekwon-Do, I developed both mentally and physically; I improved my strength, balance, and flexibility as well as reinforced and refined the discipline and values I was introduced to at a young age. In addition to my personal growth, I also forged strong bonds with my instructors and fellow students. The members of my Taekwon-Do class soon became a second family and the dojang a second home for me, a place where I could take refuge in times of stress or turmoil. The bond I fostered with my instructors aided me in more ways

Fighting sports has played a major role in my life. I have been doing boxing for over five years and it has taken me places that I would have never expected. I have met countless professional athletes such as Evander Holyfield, Olympic Gold Medalist - Vasyl Lomachenko, and Manny Pacquiao. I got into boxing as young as four years old because I would always watch the fights with my father and grandfather whenever anyone was fighting. When I first began boxing, I was still overweight and I had my first sparring match which is the same as a fight but, practice. Before sparring, I was not as nervous as you would think I would be. I was actually confident as I had prior fighting experience from taekwondo and I thought I would beat my opponent, however it was the complete opposite of what I had expected. My opponent that I had sparred was a bit more experienced than I was of course and the match was a mess. Blood was everywhere and it was living hell during those three-to-four rounds. At the end, I had learned from my mistakes and I am now better than ever. From years of training I have gotten to a much higher level of experience and I accomplished countless amounts of goals I have set for myself in the boxing world, however I still do get beat by others who still have more experience than I do as most of them have won countless tournaments such as the Golden Gloves and have over one-hundred fights. At the end of the day, I will always get better and will always push myself to achieve higher

Judo has been a large part of my life since I was six years old. Twenty-one years have passed since I started judo, and the role that it has played in my life has transformed tremendously over the years. To me, judo has always been a sport. I have practiced countless of hours on perfecting the technique of my throws, sweeps, pins, chokes, and armbars, and my work has paid off in competition. I have competed in multiple tournaments on the national and international scope, and I have won awards in both shiai (sparring) and kata (form). However, judo to me changed into so much more after my experience at the 2015 Special Olympics World Games during the summer after my high school junior year.

“Take pride in how far you have come. Have faith in how far you can go.” This quote from an unknown author reminds me that even though I have worked hard to get to where I am, I believe that if I work harder, I can accomplish anything. My past experiences as a wrestler have shown me that even through tough times, I am capable of doing anything I set my mind to do.

Martial arts contain physical exercises, fighting techniques, and methods of mental discipline. (Frey,2005)People usually learn martial arts for self-defense, train for mental discipline, or want to do exercise. Actually, martial arts also can improve our confidence and self-esteem. This is the reason why martial arts become more popular nowadays. Martial arts have a long history, not just benefit to our health, improve our strength and balance, but also can learn the spirit of different kinds of martial arts. In fact, there are so many similar and different from Chinese, Japanese, Korean martial arts, included their history, spirit. Chinese Wing Chun, Japan Karate and Korean Taekwondo are the three martial arts this essay will