Breaking Through More Than Just Boards

by Ms. Kimber Summers

Back in the "olden days," which for me means the 1990s, before I had to step into a professional career, I used to teach taekwondo. Full-time. All the time. It was both my job and my life. Although my appearances at Denton Taekwondo Academy are sometimes few and far between, my spirit and heart are never far. From the moment I did my first down block in my first class, taekwondo has been a constant force in my life and has helped to mold the person I am today.

Back when I taught taekwondo every day, I touched students' lives on a constant basis, always giving my comments and thoughts on possibilities for improvement. As I learned something in my personal workouts, I would share it with the students over the next few days.

Now when I learn something in my personal workouts, I don't have as much opportunity to share it with you on a regular basis. It is my hope to share some of what's been in my head lately in the taekwondo workout room and maybe even its application to general life, and I hope that you will be able to get something out of it that will improve your own workouts, both in class and at home. (You are working out at home, aren't you?) That said, this first article is about breaking through barriers—as an example, I'll use what I think was the turning point for me in my taekwondo technique.

At testings and demonstrations, we break through boards to show that we have the speed, technique, focus, and concentration to perform when the time calls for it—whenever it calls for it. Your instructors will remind you that life calls for you to rise to challenges constantly, no different from the challenges you face in taekwondo. The actual physical act of breaking a board is such a liberating experience—if you haven't done it yet, get working on making that red belt!!!

There are other things we break through in taekwondo, however—our own personal barriers. These barriers can include a lack of flexibility, a lack of strength, past injuries, and just plain not being able to make your body do what your brain is screaming at it to do!

Oh, how many times in class as a red belt did I hear Mr. Rogers and Mr. Eric Corum (a legend in Denton Taekwondo Academy history) tell me "bring your knee farther into your chest" when chambering for a side kick? It must have been hundreds by the time I made it to red belt. In fact, maybe I had heard it so many times, that it meant nothing to me by then. I'd already been breaking boards, so I must have been doing something right, I thought!

There I was, in line, doing a side kick drill of some sort and the instructor would walk by and say, "bring your leg a little farther into your chest," or "chamber a little tighter on that side kick." My mouth said, "yes sir," and my body would react—a little bit. Although I really was trying to chamber more tightly because the instructor said to, the improvement in my chamber was probably minimal. I guess I didn't think I could really bring it in any farther.

Then, one time, I just pulled it in much farther. I was amazed by myself. I couldn't understand why I hadn't done it better before. I believe now that I just reached a level of higher commitment. I was now going to give everything I could in each workout. You see, I, like all taekwondo students who go through the ranks, had just gone through blue belt level. Remember what it says on your study guide, blue belts? Patience. And it does take a certain amount of patience to make it through Blue Belt. I just couldn't understand why I was now progressing one stripe at a time, and some of my classmates were still blowing through two stripes at a time. But when I strapped that red belt on my waist, and Mr. Rogers told me about the responsibility of being a red belt, I felt a new sense of commitment—I was going to be the best martial artist I could possibly be.

And suddenly I was chambering tighter, kicking higher, and sparring harder. Breaking through that mental barrier and recommitting was more important than breaking any board. It didn't matter anymore how other students did—it mattered that I gave it my all in every class.

My message to you is that we all have barriers. Most of us have physical barriers. But all of us will encounter mental barriers in our taekwondo training, whether it's with back leg turning side kicks as a green belt, trouble getting through blue belt, or facing your first board and not being able to break it. The "going" is gonna get tough, if it hasn't already. And when you get through it, you will be all the better, as a martial artist, and as a person.

More About Ms. Kimber Summers-Sabulsky

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