The Black Belt

Through my life I’ve had many special accomplishments, but the one that meant the most to me was the time when I got my second degree black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do. I currently am a second degree black belt with 8 years of consistent training. My journey through this experience was not at all easy. In fact, I had to go through much dedication, time, and sacrifice. My training involved me going to practice 4 days a week, not including tournaments, weekend practices, and times when I went to practice when I wasn’t required to. All this training prepared me for tests that I had to earn in order to get my next belt; many people have failed, but I’ve never failed a single test. In my preparation for becoming a second degree, I’ve also had to assist

My sweat and tears mixed to make my belt color darker and darker, which has proved to everyone that I can do Taekwondo as well as any other boys, or even better than them.

Failure can be a very difficult thing to cope with. It can be something that makes you or breaks you. I have learned that failure is what defines a person; it shows your motivation to bounce back when things get rough. I have learned from my failure instead of dwelling on it and making myself weaker.

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

When you think about the words "black belt" you likely think about karate, judo, or some other martial art. If we were talking about the MMA, you would be right. However, in the world of U.S. business finance, the term black belt refers to southern states once known for the rich black soil necessary for the cotton industry and now heavily populated by African Americans including Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Much like the current supreme court rulings have not been kind to residents of the Bible belt, federal business practices have not been kind to many in the black belt. In fact, despite the high number of blacks living in those states, only one, Arkansas, is

A failure I had was when I was not able to cover my bronc in a rodeo for 8 seconds. This incident had shown me that no matter how much you train and work for something it will never come easy. The end goal for anything is always near but getting there may seem impossible at some points.

Being a black belt means to set up a good example. Younger belts look up to you and do what you do. If you fool around, the lower belts fool around, if you talk and be lazy, they talk and are lazy.

During my black belt test, I and twenty other candidates were testing for black belt. All of us passed the test and became black belts. The next day, I went to my first black belt class, but only saw half of the candidates who tested with me. Soon, after a month, there were only four of the candidates left. All of these people left, telling me that they have become a black belt and there is nothing else to learn. Others told me that black belt was too challenging. After two years of black belt training, I was testing for my second degree in black belt. However, I was alone. Then, I passed my second-degree test, but I was left with a decision, to leave or stay.

These classes are the original categories for the fighters. Throughout the 20th century, numerous sub divisions came into play when fighters of various between weight classes were involved. These divisions became known as “super,” “junior” and “light” classes. Many clubs and organizations even use these classes to help student learn, gain skills, and improve their knowledge of the sport as a whole. The fathers in the boxing wanted their son(s) to grow up and be fighters as well or at least be able to protect themselves or the family without using weapons. Many even taught their son(s) at home or put them in clubs to train. At this time, people actually fought or disputes and did not run to get a

A man with a deep and raspy voice stated over the loud speaker that “Matthew Kosednar should report to the scales and see a mat coordinator”. There was no turning back. This was it. I swallowed any bit of fear inside me, for what might be my last chance to do so. I stood on the scale and was given the all clear. Making my way to the mats, I would endure the longest five minutes of my life. Finally, a mat was available for my opponent and I. Oh wait! My opponent. I glanced to my right and he had just made it off the scale. One of the largest men I had seen in my entire life stepped forward. A man of seventeen years of age, with remnants of a beard and washboard abs, stepped forward. I tried to stay positive. I told myself that I got this, that I could do

As I stepped on the bright red and black mats, I could hear my heart beating through my chest. I sat there stretching my arms while attempting to memorize my techniques. The thought of forgetting a technique or part of my form paralyzed me with fear. Uncertainty ran through my head. Questions like, “what if I freeze and don’t know what to do?” and, “what if I can’t defend myself from the black belts?”. I began to regret spending time outside instead of practicing more. I knew I had to perform the techniques as best as I could. A few minutes passed, all five of the black belts

Failure is widely viewed as negative. While this portrayal of failure is justified, it does not tell the whole story. Failure is a learning experience because it explains the errors made, and then the person figures out how to fix the mistakes. The way individuals respond to the failure is a great way to evaluate his/her character. There

My ultimate goal is to obtain my Black Belt to help reduce our expenses by $Yb by assigning a monatary value to our workflows and having the knowledge from the Black Belt courses and my statistic knowledge, I can determine $Xa abd $Xb that impacts $Yb. To obtain the Black Belt, I first need the Green

The word “failure”, by definition, is the condition of not achieving the desired end or ends. However, this standard definition does not come close to summing up the countless other meanings of failure. Every person, regardless of status, color, or sex, has had to deal with this issue at least once in their lifetime. Even so, each person’s definition of it can vary depending on their personal experiences. The interpretations of failure may differ, but failure itself involves not putting forth effort, being a disappointment, or not succeeding in a task.

As my first semester of college is coming to an end, I would like to reflect on my experience here within the Honors 120 and 121 class on Failure and the Question Wheel. I chose this class on failure because I have always held myself to such high standards that I hoped to be able to find a way to accept failure in some instances. Within our first week in class, we made claims about failure. My favorite claim was that every failure is in some way a success. Although this claim was not very debatable and incredibly generic, I was able to really let my mind explore what it was trying to say. Throughout the semester I experienced failure after failure, but that allowed me to see that success can still be achieved within failures.