Taekwondo Speech

Taekwondo has been a huge part of my life ever since I was five. Throughout my years of training in the sport not only have I grown as an athlete, but I have also grown as a person. Taekwondo has taught me so many important life lessons, from being able to defend myself, to being a good person.
ATA, the martial arts school I go to, has become a second home for me. It is so comforting to be able to enter a building and feel like you have just come home to your family, for that is what my peers and instructors have become to me. The head instructor, Mr. Kinoshita, started teaching the same time I started training when I was five. I guess you could say I was his guinea pig (and I must have been a pretty good one too, because he is now an amazing …show more content…
They are all around the age I was when I started, and I just get such an amazing feeling every time. There are so many little moments that remind me of myself when I was first starting out, I mean, they even still have a lot of the same equipment from when I was little. It is always so nostalgic and brings back so many good memories. This sport means so much to me and it has taught me so much, and now I have the honor of passing that down and teaching my students the same things. It’s just an amazing feeling. Not to mention the fact that working with young children is so much fun! They are always so perky and happy and just that alone is enough to make a bad day good. Plus, they get excited about anything and everything and want to share as much as possible with you. They are just so dang cute and …show more content…
Heck, I wouldn’t even be able to teach. Throughout my training I gained confidence and my shyness improved. When I first started I was so scared and shy that I would start crying and I did not want to do anything. Now, I can comfortably teach and speak in front of the whole congregation at church and even sit at a church council meeting and feel completely comfortable even though I am the only youth on council and I am sitting in a room full of adults. I am honestly not exactly sure what they did to get me where I am, but I am thankful for it. One reason it was all so effective I think is because I pushed myself, which is what they encourage you to do at taekwondo. Is something like speaking in front of a sanctuary full of people nerve racking and even a little scary? Absolutely, I still get nervous, but I know that once I get past that nervousness, I am a great speaker, so I push myself to follow through and it pays off. The more I do it and push myself, the easier it