Today, I had the honor and privilege to be evaluated for the next step, at the endorsement of so many in support of this journey in the martial arts. It was a culmination and testament of our work as students and teachers in the Art of Tang Soo Do, as well as the many unprecedented challenges of these strange times and circumstances. I tested alone in a room, but when this uniform is on, there’s no alone. I rediscovered today when and from whom each artifact of my training came from. Each mechanic had an origin beyond me, each, with permission to make my own, and all of these old conversations starting pushing out the nerves and feeding me energy. There was vacancy in the dojang, but it’s the same floor I teach and learned on, and felt the presence of every student and instructor who’ve ever stepped foot here, and that was unique and special. Every moment of these 23 years of training has been an assessment of character, always has, by those who’ve pushed me forward, and most importantly by myself, and I get that now. The day I remember walking shyly onto the North Athletic Club floor in State College, a timid 13-yr old, nervous and anxious in life, in school, in my own skin. I remember so badly wanting to do something about it. We are, and always will be, our first student.
My teacher, Master Scott Merrill
(thank you sir) constantly reminds me, “Be who you are.” That can be the most difficult thing in our busy, distracted lives, but there’s no peace in being anything otherwise. That’s the real, true bottom line, the big lesson I'm crossing this threshold with. Tang Soo Do’s ultimate goal is to 'be one with nature,' and can prove to be a lofty and nebulous enterprise, but in recent years, it started taking shape for me. We often look outward, around, projecting and superimposing ourselves on our multitude of environments and the rules of the world in struggle, and forget to trust the nature within. I began to interpret that goal as accepting one’s own humanity to be whole, regardless of all the broken ways you may be or see yourself. Social media is a strange landscape that may or may not be appropriate for this personal reflection, but I know there are individuals out there who this might resonate with, both martial art practitioners and non, alike. Because I learned this through you, with you, in, and beyond the dojang.This was an amazing way to celebrate the first anniversary of
. A special thanks to Master Roy Uttech
for his encouragement and crucial guidance through this year’s sessions, for Master Becky Wolverton
for her continued mentorship and endorsement, and of course Master Susan Strohm for her continued lessons on life and instructorship. Thank you Kwan Chang Nim Strong
for the opportunity to demonstrate for you who I am as a student, and who I still strive to be as a teacher of this art.
Soo!
