If you stink at dribbling, you don’t play soccer.
But if you never play, your dribbling will never get better. So, you will continue to never play. That’s the biggest difference between Tae Kwon-Do and seasonal sports.
I often say that Tae Kwon-Do develops character, and seasonal sports test character. Well, if seasonal sports are focused on testing character, then what happens to those who haven’t developed it? They wash out. The ones who get the attention and ascend through the ranks are the ones who came to the sport with the character and skills to succeed. The rest ride the bench, or they quit.
Perhaps that is the main draw of seasonal sports: they’re seasonal. That is to say, they end. Once it starts to get hard, you can just jump ship and do another sport. The temporary-ness of seasonal sports tends to have an effect on the mindset of an athlete who only plays a sport for a few months per year. They carry this short-term commitment with them throughout their entire life. So when things become challenging, or when they’re not immediately good at something, it is nothing to them to simply walk away and try something else.
Unless you are serious about that sport and have eyes on making it to the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, what-have-you, then you are going to have to learn how to develop long-term goals and stick to them. To learn to commit.
Tae Kwon-Do is all about setting goals and committing to achieve those goals. Those who commit, get better. It happens 100% of the time.
In Tae Kwon-Do, everyone plays. No one is held back from training because they are underperforming. If a student is committed to getting better, they will. They may never be the best in their class, but they will absolutely continue to be better than they were yesterday. Our leaders and instructors will make sure of it. That is something you won’t see in seasonal sports.
Coaches in seasonal sports aren’t there to develop you. The job of a coach is to win. Winning is a short-term goal. Win the game. That’s it. Do that enough times, and maybe you win a championship. But immediately after you have won, it’s over. All anyone cares about is the next season, the next game, etc.
In Tae Kwon-Do, we develop character. I can’t tell you how many times we have had students come in here who are completely uncoordinated and not good at sports (or anything physically demanding, really). They are now some of our best black belts. How do they accomplish this? It’s simple. They made a commitment and honored it.
You might see other schools advertise that students will earn their black belt in a set amount of time; usually about three years. The school benefits by making good on that claim, often by cutting corners or simply handing out a black belt after three years. It benefits the school – and the “Master’s” name on the school – but it doesn’t benefit the student.
The student is robbed of the skills they should have learned to truly earn that black belt. And they’re robbed of the pride you feel when you actually make the commitment, stick to it, work your butt off, and see the results of that hard work. What should be a crowning achievement in a martial artist’s life, becomes meaningless.
One of my mantras is “if you never quit, you will become a black belt.” We can’t promise that it will take three years. It might take you three years, it might take you five years. But if you stay with it, you will become a black belt.
That’s our promise. And we haven’t broken it yet.
Master Gorino’s Tae Kwon-Do offers a trial program for individuals and families in Buffalo, NY and the surrounding areas that allows you to get a feel for the different classes, meet our instructors, and experience our dojang. It’s a great way to see if Tae Kwon-Do is right for you. To learn more or to sign up, visit the Contact Us page or call (716) 836-KICK (5425) and a member of our team will follow up with you on next steps. We look forward to helping you achieve your goals. Pil-Sung!
