How To Karate Changed My Life

Much of my life has been influenced by the sport of wresting. My father is the head wrestling coach of the high school I attend; my whole life I have watched the sport, and spent time with his past teams. In the fifth grade I told my father that I no longer wanted to continue wrestling; we made a deal that when I reached high school I would join the team and if I still felt that wrestling was not a sport I wanted to pursue, I could quit again and end my career. When I entered high school, my brother had already been attending the same school and wrestling for my dad on the school team, so adapting to high school and high school sports was more simple for me than other students. The winter of my freshman year I was, as I had promised my father, out for the wrestling team.

My karate journey started when I was 4 years old. My parents enrolled me in a few activities including karate, piano, and later chess to foster growth and development. But, I wouldn’t know how much of an impact karate would have on my life at that age. My parents knew that karate taught discipline, confidence, self-defense, and most important of all, kindness and respect. But then again, why IBBA? Well, there are many other schools out there, but they do not require the same perseverance and resilience needed to get a black belt like IBBA. They do not have the same sense of family and friendship that you have at IBBA, for they are run like a business, not a true dojo.

Everyone knows that there is always a risk to playing a sport. You put so much hard work and effort in to maybe make the team. From eighth grade to the end of the first semester of my junior year, all of my time was devoted to volleyball. Basically any free time I had I was at private lessons or a skills camp. I put so many hours into this sport that I forgot about other things in my life that are important. Up until the club season of my junior year, I have never been cut from a team and I felt confident that I would not ever because I have already made it that far, but all it takes is one bad night to throw all your hard work away. The night of club season tryouts for 2014 I simply could not focus and was overall out of it. I got cut and to say I was devastated is an

3 years ago I was a green belt in taekwondo. I liked taking taekwondo lessons and my goal in taekwondo was to reach a black belt. But my mini story is about when I was a green belt at a tournament at the Northglenn High School gym. Tournament day was a really fun day because all the taekwondo schools in the district got together to spar, and show what we learned to the other schools. The sparring was my favorite part of the tournament, I was not the best at sparring because I wasn’t aggressive enough as the other teachers told me constantly. But today I was doing really good in the sparring tournament and was beating all the opponents that I faced. I was getting really excited because if I kept doing really good I might get to the finals and win

I used to do a martial art called So Bahk Do. I used to have fun, feeling proud and strong when I was doing it. It had gradually evolved into a task I participated in reluctantly rather than a hobby I looked forward to. As I walked up to the studio, which had been like a second home to me for seven years, I realized that I was frustrated and angry. Angry that I needed to give so much time and effort for something I had no desire to do. I could feel the constant weight of always going to So Bahk pushing down on my shoulders. I felt that it was finally time to lift that weight. I marched in through the front door, confident and resolute. Every component that my senses encountered- the voices, the starched white uniforms, the laughter, the familiarity -chipped away at my anger storm. When I saw my teacher, my emotions were suddenly hammered back into me. I was so familiar with her smile, her eagerness, and her air of peaceful confidence that I lost my train of thought.

Wrestling has and always will be a big part of my life, that’s not to say I have had a pleasant nor a fair time on the wrestling mat, but I guess life’s not fair. I have always enjoyed wrestling from the first time I stepped foot on a mat in kindergarten in my singlet that was 2 sizes too big, from the last time leaving the mat as a junior in high school limping off the mat in some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. It’s been in my family for as long as I can remember. My uncle has not missed being mat side, yelling for his favorite wrestlers at the Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament in 20 years. My cousin wrestled for Iowa State University before coming back to his hometown in Mankato and suffering a career ending injury as well.

Athletics had not always been a flauntable aspect of my life as they are now. In grades 1-4, I was uncoordinated and far too lanky to produce and store any muscle. I often ponder about what changed in the fifth grade, for I became very agile and have exercised almost every day since the beginning of that year. I did not pick up the sport of swimming until the seventh grade and I cannot imagine myself not swimming, not only as a source of exercise but as a source of pure pleasure.

Two years ago i received my black belt in taekwondo,my mother decided i was responsible enough to get a dog as a gift. I was very happy,i’ve always wanted a dog. My neighbor's dog had given birth to puppies a few months earlier, so that was perfect timing.The puppies were old enough to be away from the mother. All the puppies were brown except for two. All the dogs were female,i’ve seen them only a few times the mother was very protective of them when they were newborns.The taekwondo test lasted four hours i was extremely tired i had protective gear on which was kinda heavy and kept heat in so i was sweating a lot.

From the age of three, my life was nothing but Hockey. With a father who was a hockey player and a brother 3 years older already playing hockey, it was clear which sport I was going to get into. Once I started walking, my parents put me on the ice to learn the game of hockey. I instantly fell in love and I have continued playing to this day. Once it came time to play high school hockey, it all got serious. I was a freshman on the varsity team with my brother, who was a senior at the time. This was nothing but an emotional year for me, it was my first year in high school and my last year to play on a team with my brother. Once my brother graduated, he decided to go onto Juniors hockey, which is what I would do once I graduated. By the time I graduated high school, my brother would exceed the age limit for juniors hockey, so

On the drive to Highland Ranch Elementary School, I started recalling how I started karate. I began in fourth grade as an afterschool program. Our small class only had five people. I remember that I was the only one able to go to the studio and test for the next rank. Thinking back, I was really glad that I was able to test because I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t have continued if the teacher didn’t tell me that I could test for the next belt. Continuing karate helped

Dynamy has changed me in so many ways. I used to be quiet and never speak up. I had to be asked to speak up in class, at Dynamy and even at home. I was very shy and even though I wanted new experiences, sometimes my shyness kept me from them. I always had an excuse not to do something in order to hide from the spotlight. I asked myself if I would fit in and I was scared to step outside of my comfort zone. If you had told me last year that I would be standing here in front of you today giving a speech, I would have laughed. There was no way I would have accepted. Dynamy has helped me overcome my shyness in a lot of ways. It has been like my second home. I got to do community service, step out of my comfort zone through new experiences, and

In sports you often think about going pro, very few of us will in fact make it there.

My instructor told me it would take at least four years to earn my black belt. I thought I could get it much quicker- I was wrong- EXTREMELY wrong. It took me four and a half years and some just to get my first degree black belt! Sparring was the most challenging; all aspects of my martial arts skills would be put to the test. In addition, wearing protective gear slowed me down, and tired me out more!

“From holding in our urine the whole day, my friends and I felt a great sensation from releasing. As my friends and I pee together, the officials from the Peninsula Athletic League watched us like an hungry bald eagle staring at it’s prey. As they stared, I thought to myself is this what we are always going to do, pee in front of the officials?” This moment was very awkward, but fortunately for me I could “go” while others couldn’t handle the pressure to “go”. I can remember this moment clearly since it was the beginning of my life changing for the better.

Many say they would, many say they wish they could, and many say they would not change their past. We are all unique containing different experiences and lessons all of which have shaped who we are today. People try to be who they want to be by taking control of their lives. I realized I needed to control my life after always putting people's needs before mine (use something else that relates more to the essay).