She Was Only 7, Little and Shy

In the Macarthur area of Sydney, we hold a grading around the mid-year point. The
latest grading was due to start in the hall and every student was either being trained
by an instructor or practicing by themselves in preparation for their assessment,
except for a little girl in the front row.

I turned to the branch instructor and asked him to tell me a little bit more about this
young girl. He replied, “She is very nervous”. I asked him where her parents were
and the instructor pointed over to my right and added, “She is also very shy, and she
might cry and run over to her parents”. I thought about this for a moment and then
shouted “GU MAHN which in Korean means to stop, come to attention and get
ready for the next instruction.

I said, “All students move in including all black belts and instructors”. I further
instructed them to “Line up for a white belt grading test”. I made sure she was
positioned in the middle with strong students surrounding her to build up her
confidence. We repeated all the basic hand and foot techniques over and over until the
young girl displayed great technique and understanding. The final part of the grading was a seven move pattern called right four directional punch (the first pattern all students learn).

The pattern relies on the person moving the right foot forward and punching with the
right hand, then turning to the left 90 degrees and moving the right foot backward
and blocking with the left arm downward towards the left knee. You then repeat the
process five more times finishing with a punch at the end (and a loud shout).

We repeated the pattern approximately 20 times and as her confidence grew, one by
one I sat down groups of black, brown, blue, green, yellow and white belts until she
was standing on her own in front of 150 people. I yelled “JOONBI (ready position),
RIGHT FOUR DIRECTIONAL PUNCH, SI JAK (begin).”

You should have seen everyone’s faces when she moved with confidence,
determination and great technique, shouting on every move. When she finished her
pattern, I looked to my right and both parents were in tears. When I looked to my left
the instructor was standing in disbelief. I smiled and said to the instructor, “Is she
applying for black belt?”

It took 15 minutes to change her from a shy and insecure girl, to a strong and
determined martial artist. I hushed the hall and said to everyone present, “I would
like to thank everyone here tonight for giving up 15 minutes of their time to support
this young girl and give her the gift of confidence, a gift for life”.

I believe that you should never let an opportunity pass where you can make a lasting difference to someone’s life.  What we do at United Taekwondo is to look inside a student, find their true potential and bring it out for the world to see.

If you would like to have a family member participate in a free trial lesson, please
click on the following link:https://unitedtaekwondo.com.au/contact-us/ and let us help you build unstoppable confidence.

Master Paul Mitchell
Founder United Taekwondo