Bill Sperliotis - December 2008
Taekwondo is a very popular martial art that is practiced worldwide, especially after having gained enormous exposure from the Olympics of the past few decades. Taekwondo literally means the art of "Foot and Hand" fighting. Its origin in Korean, but in its current format it is a little over half a century old. Its mother art, I believe was Hwarangdo which has origins that go back at least 2000 years. The history of Taekwondo is truly inspiring because it demonstrates the indomitable spirit of its people, who, during the first half of the 20th century, were subjected to a sustained program of persecution and gradual annihilation of their culture by barbarian invaders. Yet the Korean people not only survived, they have, even up to this point in time, succeeded in gaining a foothold by establishing Taekwondo schools in most of their neighbouring countries.
The first time I heard of Taekwondo was when a former student of Grandmaster No won Australia's first gold medal in the event at the Sydney Olympics. Having grown up during the 1970s, I vividly recall the Bruce Lee explosion, where many Westerners saw his movies and were immediately captivated by a great variety of kicks; spinning, roundhouse, jumping, turning etc etc..Believing that his style was Chinese Kung Fu, I enrolled in a club. However after two months of endless push-ups, sit-ups and sixty minutes horse stances, kicks were nowhere to be seen; so I left, both disappointed and tired of the same old routine.
Just over three years ago, my wife suggested we enrol our two boys in a martial art to improve their discipline, confidence, strength and fitness. But which art should we choose? My own limited experience suggested Karate. My wife did her research and told me that Taekwondo seemed like a better all round art and that one such club was operating at Manningham Primary School - Joon No's Taekwondo. So we brought the boys here. My first impressions were of a family oriented club run by a very amicable Korean gentleman. The atmosphere appeared to be non-threatening and the students were encouraged to train to their best ability. Help was always given, and students of all abilities were training together; black belts with yellow belts, blue belts with white belts. The more experienced students would willingly help others improve their kicking, learn new patterns and show them correct ways to stretch. All the while, Grandmaster No kept a watchful eye to ensure everything was done correctly and safely.
I finally saw the kicks which had inspired me to first join a martial art all those years ago; they were Taekwondo kicks! Having witnessed this, my interest in the martial art was re-ignited and I decided to join. Being middle aged, it was harder at the start to perform the moves, especially the kicks, but the motivation was strong. Indeed there were many other parts to Taekwondo that motivated me to continue; the patterns to improve coordination; self-defence to feel confident; the stretching to gain more flexibility; character building by being helpful to others; patience with others; and modesty with my own achievements.
The Gradings are a way of being rewarded for the work put in, but I feel they play a small part. It is the training and what goes on during the training, that is the most rewarding aspect of Taekwondo; because that is when I feel that I have achieved something. My sons, unfortunately, decided not to continue with Taekwondo, and pursued soccer instead. However, I would like to continue with this most interesting martial art well into the future - as long as the motivation is there and the body is still willing.
Finishing off, I would like to break with tradition, and single out two individuals; Master Sam and Brendan, who have been of enormous help to me; always patiently advising me on how to perform the patterns in the true spirit; how to use my body to execute the kicks as effectively as possible; how to perform the blocks and strikes so they have the correct effect and how to carry out the self-defence techniques - even when I thought I was doing them properly. It has not mattered how many times I asked the same question, they enthusiastically spent time going over my queries, until I felt I had achieved my goals