Centerline Martial Arts & Fitness

Worst TKD moment:

• When I was a blue belt I was sparring Mr. Harrison when his knee popped out of place. I remember the look of pain on his face as he hit the ground and couldn't figure out what was wrong.
• I was at a candidate workout in Hood River where we were working on sparring. I was paired up with this black belt and we were critiqued on our techniques. Our judge, to me, seemed very bias and penalized me heavily while the other guy was doing most of the fouling. While I was kicking to the other guy's torso, he was blocking downward and causing me to strike his legs, making the judge call a foul on me. I got hit harder than any sparring practice at our do-jang and my partner was never called for it.

Favorite aspect of TKD: Flying kicks. Just because I can actually do them, then tease the older black belts about it later.

Least favorite aspect of TKD: Step Sparring, why should you do it slow when you can do the real thing and it looks (and sounds) so much cooler

Advice for new students: Respect your seniors; you will get so much further by being friendly with your instructors than developing bad feelings towards them. Some joking is acceptable, but you must learn where your limits lie. Also, always use proper technique, when you strike something with the wrong part of your weapon, you can really get hurt.  

Advice for old students: If you have an injury, DON'T STRESS IT *cough* Mr. Glencross *cough* . Some of the worst damage you can do to yourself will come from re-injuring something. Also, learn from your juniors, some of the best advice can come from the lips of white belts.            

What does TKD mean to you? Taekwon-Do is one of the most important things for me right now. If I never started taking Taekwon-do several years ago, I would probably be a scrawny weakling and would not have gained the confidence that I have now. I think that Taekwon-do really taught me to be a better person and to respect others.

What keeps you going? I think what really keeps me going is the feeling I get when I walk into the do-jang and think, these people are people I can really trust. Trust is a thing that is really underappreciated these days. Another thing, I get a really good feeling seeing a white or yellow belt learning a new technique and learning to master it. It feels good to know that I helped with that, and that they, someday, might teach someone else that very technique.

Future TKD goals: My short term goal is to become an instructor and earn the rank of 2 nd Dan. My long term goals include opening my own school, becoming and expert and master instructor, and helping others learn to be better people through my teaching