Tae Kwon Do Black Belt Essay
(June 3, 2000)

Five Tenants

Courtesy. Integrity. Perseverance. Self-control. Indomitable Spirit. These are five different attributes that a person can have, yet are all connected in one way or another by being things that every person should strive for in general to be a good person. These are the five tenants of Tae Kwon Do. Someone who possesses al of these qualities I believe is dedicate and hard working towards martial arts. I hope that I am one of these people who possess all of those qualities.

Courtesy is something that everyone should have, but not everyone does. I consider courtesy as being friendly and kind to everyone, regardless of any outward appearances of first impressions. Integrity has to do with honour. To be honourable is to be truthful with yourself and others, to not hide behind a false image or to gain from lying to someone else.

Perseverance is not giving up. Nothing will be accomplished if you give up; I feel I have truly learned this lesson well. Two years ago, after getting through my first year of Tae Kwon Do, I received and award for Perseverance in Tae Kwon Do. I was very honoured to have received such an award, and am still honoured to this day. I treasure the trophy that I received that day, not because it looks nice in my room, but for what it represents; that there are people at the school that noticed me and say my determination to see this through.

Self-Control is seen as another form of respect in my eyes. For a person to have enough self-control to only go as far as necessary is a good thing many people should learn. Especially when doing an activity such as sparring, self-control is needed to not hurt the other person physically or mentally. Crushing someone’s spirit simply because it is possible, does not make it right, nor does it help the stronger person in the long run because it only proves that they are very weak inside, needing to put themselves up higher than other people.

The indomitable spirit is hard to achieve. I feel that it is a combination of courtesy, integrity, perseverance and self-control; being able to take advantage of all these points, and still know that there is much to learn. There is no one tenant that is more important than another, possessing one of these qualities does not make up for lacking in the other four categories.

I believe that everyone needs to have all five qualities in order to be able to call themselves a martial artist’ and I hope that I can call myself that one day.

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