I have worked with some of the best teenagers you could hope to meet over the years, and I have worked with somevwho aren’t quite on the right path as we started to work together. However, the tough ones aren’t the ones who are uncoordinated (like me), or un-flexible (like me), or time-constrained (like me). It is the student who doesn’t appreciate all the gifts they have been blessed with, and all of the work they have already done to get where they are in martial arts. I started classes at a school which had been open about six months. There were some great advanced students there when I was a white belt. They were … GREEN BELTS. Honestly, I was VERY impressed. They had put some work in and could do things I just didn’t know how to do. I will tell you that I was very proud when I made it to green belt!

Master. Arnold Trevino did a clinic for us a few years back. Now, to me, he was just another black belt with a bunch of stripes on his belt. But, at my FIRST tournament, I was a green belt and Mr. Trevino was a 2nd degree black belt. He handled himself with dignity, with class, and showed great talent and confidence in everything I saw him do in a martial arts setting. I recently watched a young man during a very difficult test for instructor. He is a 13 year old, and also a 2nd degree black belt. There were some small items which needed correction. But, I wasn’t interested in that so much. What I WAS interested in was the fact that it appeared that he EXPECTED to do poorly. His eyes were down, shoulders slumped, and when he had to repeat something, his body language just said something different than what we need to project as a Taekwondo Instructor.

So, if that young man will show up, that will become job one for me and for those who work with me to help our young men and women. We want him to walk in to a room with that 100% attitude. When someone comes in the room, regardless of talent, skill, or even level of preparation, there is one thing they CAN control while they are there. They should know and should show that they are going to be proud of their effort, proud of the work they HAVE done, and proud to have enough skill to be qualified to be put in that situation. I told that young man’s parents, before testing, that I actually didn’t care if he passed this testing or not. I told them that you can “no-change” at a testing for moving a foot wrong, having a 2 second mental hiccup, getting hurt during testing on a wet spot on the floor, or just having “crazy” judges.

What I very much DO care about is that young man walking into his classroom or into a college classroom in a few years, or into a presentation that might determine his position in a company as an adult, and walking in with the confidence and bearing that tells everyone that he WILL be successful. We will teach people how to kick and punch, but the “impact” we care about goes much deeper than that.