Missing the first seven years of my girls lives with working away, Taekwondo gave me a chance to spend time with my children to build relationships, to build trust, to build goal setting and to achieve goals together.

There are not many sports that allow such a wide range of ages to be all involved together.

In the beginning I began to bring my daughters to our local Taekwondo centre, for  them fitness, but for me, to spend time with my children. I had been coming for four years but never graded, then my middle child Kaitlin asked me to grade with her, so I did.

Now today some eight years on both her and I are going to grade to 2nd Dan together. Not a bad achievement, her and I joining her older sister to 2nd Dan with her younger sister not far behind.

My second reason to family time, and a bit of fitness was to teach my daughters goal setting. Short, medium and long term goals. The youngest, Jennifer at twelve to have spent seven years to achieve her Black belt. More than half her life training, has taught her and her sisters goal setting and the sense of achievement for the hours put in. To set a short term goal, your next belt level. A medium goal, red belt in two years. Long term goal, Black Belt by thirteen years of age. This goal setting at such a young age aids them in every area of life for when they get older. To learn the principle of goal setting aids us in paying off a car, having a family, going to university. All areas of life where short medium and long term goals are so important.

My third reason is bodily situational awareness, human movement and space around you. Judging distance and hand eye coordination come naturally with Taekwondo. To be able to judge distance from yourself to another object. To judge speed, timing  and distance of a subject to you.

This ability to be able to judge distance between you and another object aids us in all avenues of life. From driving a car to hitting a ball or just walking through the kitchen without kicking your toe.

My fourth reason is Confidence. Confidence to public speak, to run a class, to share learned knowledge giving a wonderful sense of achievement. Public speaking is the number one thing people are afraid of. For the girls to either assist or run a class has helped them in leaps and bounds with confidence and with public speaking.

So what does Taekwondo mean to me? Time with my children, goal setting, human movement, situational awareness, hand eye coordination and confidence.

Taekwondo in the Dojang is continued achievement in our chosen art, the challenge of always refining. For me Taekwondo has been a means by which to show my children discipline, achievement, and consequences for actions.

Taekwondo outside the Dojang aids us in situational awareness of your surroundings, a sense of giving my three daughters a better chance of survival in every day life.

My wife Nicole would say people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. In Taekwondo people such as Lee Golby, Shane Buckley and Steve Ruru have all played a part in refining my family.

To do Gradings in front of Master Tan is nothing short of nerve racking. It’s not the grading or Master Tan or Instructor Steve. It’s the fear of failure. The fear of letting everyone down and the fear of failing in our own eyes. The very real fear of all that work being for nothing.

Even at 44 I still get nervous, Justine going to the toilets throwing up so scared when both asked to direct a grading and before her 2nd Dan grading. Kaitlin doing her probationary black belt grading with a sinus, middle ear and chest infection then spending ten days in bed. Kaitlin when directing a grading for Master Tan so nervous she forgot how to count to ten. Myself landing badly and doing my Red 3 grading on a popped left hip. Jennifer so nervous at her Black Belt grading she nearly couldn’t speak and before the grading forgetting the first move to basically any of her patterns.

In all this I am so proud. At the moment of truth we all did it. We all faced our fear and won. We all overcame the thing holding us back weather physical or psychological and came through to achieve.

For my girls to be given the opportunity to direct a grading is a big deal to me. I don’t know how many random kids in a class on the coast are used to direct a grading but I don’t believe it would be too many. For my girls to be given this opportunity, I appreciate it.

Along with the physical I do enjoy the history. Taekwondo being outlawed in the war when Japan invaded Korea but still being taught in private. The development of the Choosun Yun Moo Kwon in 1946, a name change to Jidokwon in 1953. The World TKD centre in 1973. All this history finding it’s way to Roma Australia. To me to see how history falls into place where me and my girls become one tiny part of it is really interesting.

To me it’s about being a dad and using this wonderful art to teach my girls so much             more than how to kick a pad. For me there is a quiet sense of achievement. There is very little in my life that I do for me. My life is for my family. Work and rebuilding three houses after four floods in two years has taken its toll on me physically and mentally. Organising to move to the Gold Coast at the end of the year has been a huge undertaking. In all this to try for a 2nd Dan is one of the only things for me. So to achieve this goal will be something very special to me.

In closing Taekwondo will always hold a special place in my heart as we journey along lifes path. Thankyou Taekwondo and all that it encompasses, thankyou for everything.

 

Philip J Macfarlane      Roma        2nd  November  2013