Northern_Lights_2014

understanding, instantly stopped all motion in the gym. New instructions were given, no demonstrations made as they were to understand what subject they were supposed to already know. Just as the instructions were giv- en, they were told to “Face your partner, chareut, kyung nae, she jok.” Once more each command given was in Korean, but each student knew exactly what to do, and they waited for the command to face each other, stand at attention, bow, and then begin the work that was assigned. Kicking, sweeps, counter attacks, a special pat- tern for each belt level, and grappling were learned back to back. You could see that there were different levels of learning, as well as someone who was better at one subject than another. The cross culture that was happening was interesting to see. Each of these students were completely American doing a martial art that dates back nearly to two thousand years before. But they were learning the subject of self-defense along with Korean words and culture thrown in. This is not a martial art meant to use for fighting and self-defense, but to help discipline yourself. Aaron also told me that “you can use Tae Kwon Do in your everyday life with the five tenets that are taught: Courtesy, Integrity, Self-control, Perseverance, and Indomitable spirit.” Back to Contents 34