What is Taekwondo to me?

By Taekwondo Central Assistant Instructor Luke Crane

In just two years, I have achieved with my training what takes most White Belts at least four. I have gone from just bumming around at home with no thought of EVER studying a martial art, to being an Assistant Instructor at my club. How did I do it and why? Because I’m a Father…

Taekwondo is so many things to me. It’s liberating. It’s keeping fit, staying positive, working towards goals you would have never thought achievable, and surpassing them!

Its strength to overcome your fears, to find the confidence that has always been inside you but never knew how to access or harness.

Taekwondo is exhilarating, it’s full of energy.

Taekwondo empowers you to bring out the best from within.

Taekwondo is respect, discipline, determination, courage, focus, self-awareness, self-defence and knowing how to take control over a potentially dangerous situation.

Most importantly, Taekwondo is fun, and Taekwondo has become a big part of my life.

Two years ago I would never have seen myself where I am today. I had no thoughts of even considering taking up martial arts.

But the reason I’m here now? Her name is Remy!

She’s a beautiful blue-eyed, red-headed, fiery young girl. She is wise beyond her years and she’s been doing Taekwondo with our club since she was 3-years-old.

She is my now 8-year-old daughter and she is my world.

I enrolled Remy in Taekwondo 5 years ago at her mum’s suggestion – she had a friend whose daughter was also doing Taekwondo.

Back then I knew little of the sport, but I knew enough to realise this would be a great thing for Remy to participate in.

You see, Remy’s mum and I are no longer together and I could see there were some issues arising within Remy that I believed Taekwondo could help her with.

Self-confidence was a big issue. “I can’t Daddy, I can’t do it!”

So many times I’ve heard this same sentence. I’m sure all parents have.

It’s heart breaking when someone you love, truely believes they can’t do something. It’s like they’ve already given up.

Remy had difficulty focusing at times during her early training sessions. She had an eternal battle raging away inside as she tried to make sense of who she was in a life that involved moving from my house to her mum’s house, her mum’s house to my house and on and on.

It’s a cycle of confusion that can be very hard for any child, of any age, to understand.

Listening, or more accurately, her lack of listening is another issue that entwines its way into many of our battles.

It’s hard watching your child go through these emotions and hard to know how to deal with them the right way so you can help them understand what’s going on.

Taekwondo seemed like a great way to deal with some of these issues – A fun way, a positive way, a creative way.

Honestly, enrolling Remy into the Taekwondo Central Dragonflies Program has been the best decision I’ve ever made.

Taekwondo has really helped Remy out with all of the above mentioned and so much more.

As I sat on the sidelines over the weeks, months and then years, I witnessed changes occurring relatively quickly in Remy.

Also during this time I watched Instructors John and Ajana grow into amazing people and absolutely brilliant instructors.

I can see now why Master Justin chose them for the roles they have taken up within his club. Their attention to detail, the love and care everyone has put in is just amazing.

And finally I watched Master Justin teaching. Watched how he keeps his students interested and focused, seeing the passion that he has and puts into his work, his club.

All of this eventually made me think. This is great, maybe I’d give it a go if there was an adult class. Why not? What is there to lose?

Low and behold there was an Adult Class and even better it was a Family Class run in Australind.

At this stage Remy had passed all her belts in the Dragonflies Program and the Little Dragons Program, she was now starting out in to the Super Dragons Program.

I decided to ask the question, could she possibly join in with the Family Program if I was to start as well?

As, by now, Remy had a lot of experience it was decided that we could give it a try and we started training together.

Remy loved it! She loved it so much.

I remember Remy telling her mum on the phone one day when we first started doing Taekwondo together. She was so excited that her Dad was doing something she absolutely loves with her.

This was no longer Remy’s Taekwondo Journey, this was now OUR Taekwondo Journey and it’s been an amazing ride.

Remy is now currently working on her grading for Blue Belt 2nd Stripe, half way to Black Belt and she is only 8-years-old.

In only two years I have gone from a newbie White Belt, unsure of exactly what I was in for, to now wearing the Cho Dan Bo Belt, a probationary black belt.

In November/December I will travel to Perth to attempt my Black Belt grading.

I am also an Assistant Instructor within our club helping everyone out as much as I possibly can. But how have I graded so quickly? How have I gone from White Belt to now training for a Black Belt – 4 years of training in just 2 years?

Well I’ve worked very hard, I have been disciplined, I have pushed myself, I have believed in myself, I have completed things I never thought possible.

I just recently participated in a two week yoga challenge where I found I could keep my balance on each leg for over an hour and 2 mins.

This was organised though The Mortal Mouse Taekwondo Blogger (who just happens to be another proud Taekwondo parent training with her son within our club). I suggest you look up the page on Facebook there are many amazing articles to read.

I have done every bonus summer holiday program since I started. In the last Program I was training not only for my Red Belt 2nd stripe but also my Red Belt 3rd stripe.

This was very intense training undergone in only one month instead of the usual semester it would have taken.

I have participated in our Paragon Program. Taekwondo has given me all that I need in order to be able to achieve all of this and I have never given up because I love Taekwondo and I love my Taekwondo family.

I love working alongside Instructors John and Ajana, Master Justin, my cousin Assistant Instructor Kelly, all of the members of our leadership team.

I love that they all love working alongside me, I love helping out every one of our students.

I love that Taekwondo has given me the strength, determination and the confidence to face anything that has attempted to pull me down.

The anxieties I have faced when I’ve felt like I’m at the lowest point I’ve been in my life. Taekwondo has given me a whole new lifestyle for the better and I love that.

But most of all, absolutely MOST of all, I love my daughter Remy.

I love that we share this amazing bond together, I love that we share our love of Taekwondo together, I absolutely love that Remy is the one who introduced me to Taekwondo, just as I had introduced her to Taekwondo years ago.

Remy has given me the power to never give up and Taekwondo has helped reinforce this power in a way I never thought possible.

I encourage any mother or father to have a go! Bring your children and create a bond that will never break.

Try it out. Its’ so beneficial, truly amazing. You will love it

 

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The importance of young women learning martial arts and what it has given me 

By Ajana Plunkett

As a young woman today and hearing in the media awful and all too common stories about women subjected to violence , I am very thankful to my mum and nan, for all those years of taking me to Taekwondo lessons from age 6

Taekwondo being a Korean kicking form of martial arts doesn’t usually have a big basis around self-defence.

But what I loved and continue to love about my club Taekwondo Central, is that Master Justin has always based the club around children’s safety and self-defence.

So from a very young age I started gaining my skills and experience in self-defence.

I could never over-emphasize how important it is that young people, or should I say ALL people feel safe in their homes and when they are out and about.

When you feel safe you feel more comfortable to be yourself. The importance of women learning self defence is more present than ever and what better time than now to talk about it?

I want to leave a few figures with you before I go on:

• One in three Australian women have experienced physical violence, since the age of 15.
• Eight out of ten women aged 18 to 24 were harassed on the street in the past year.
• Young women (18 – 24 years) experience significantly higher rates of physical and sexual violence than women in older age groups.
• Every year in Australia, over 300,000 women experience violence – often sexual violence – from someone other than a partner or someone they know.

Those are some distressing statistics!

In the alarming chance that you find yourself confronted with someone who might cause you harm, knowing how to defend yourself will give you the potential upper-hand and may buy you enough time to get away to safety.

“Taekwondo has not only given me the strength and self-defence skills to protect myself but make me better able to read the warning signs of assault, understand confrontation and body language and how to read the environment around me.”

 

I have this sense of empowerment from my training and the confidence in knowing I can defend myself.

An important thing that self-defence has taught me is acknowledging safety, that the level of safety we feel is measurable.  If we feel uncomfortable we can speak out. If someone gets in our personal space we can move away or place a physical barrier between us. With regular training, you start to understand what your body is capable of, how your body responds to threats and stress, and what others are capable of.

Knowing what is a safe distance, your boundaries and acknowledging the feeling of being unsafe bodes well for your self-protection. Knowing these things have helped me decrease the feeling of being surprised or freezing up in situations.

Martial arts gave me confidence in my mental abilities. My training prepared me to face the unexpected. It taught me that every fail or every loss was an opportunity to learn and resilience was key in my development.

The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, produces mental toughness.  I learned that every problem I encountered had a solution.

Of course, the self-assurance I have in my physical abilities I owe to my training.

I wouldn’t feel confident that I could handle myself in a harmful situation let alone know what to do, but thanks to my training I have an awareness in myself that I know I am strong and I know that I could do serious damage if I had to use my skills in self-defence. As a young woman, this is what empowers me the most!

I mentioned the word empowerment a couple times and that martial arts has given me a feeling of empowerment. So, what is empowerment?

Empowerment; the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one’s life and claiming one’s rights.  

I think that definition alone explains exactly why martial arts is empowering. Martial arts is a journey of discovery; of new skills, strengths, learning what your body is capable of. Being proud of your accomplishments, your body and your willpower. I’m so empowered by martial arts and what it can do for you that I have made it my job for quite some time now to teach others and my guess is, I’ll be doing that forever.

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To finish  I’m going to share with you my

 

5 Self-Defence Tips That I Think All Women/Girls Should Know

 

1.       LOOK STRONG – The best way to stay safe is to avoid a confrontation altogether. Stand tall, walk confidently and don’t look like a target. By doing this you make yourself look and feel stronger than you may be. It may make attackers think twice before trying something.

 

2.       THE MAJOR WEAK POINTS OF THE HUMAN BODY:

Eyes – poke, claw, throw sand, the eyes are sensitive and whatever you do is going to cause pain and blurred vision

Nose– coming from someone who has broken this part of their body more times than she wants to remember, this is a very weak and vulnerable spot. A simple strike with your palm can do a lot of damage.

Throat– If you’ve ever had anything hit your Adam’s apple, you know why this one is included in this list. Simply put, it (literally) knocks the wind right out of you. If you have never been hit there before it’s a very frightful experience.

Groin– need I say anymore? A quick flick to that area or a knee will sure do the trick.

 

3.       THE 6^th SENSE – I don’t know if you ladies have ever felt it, but I sure have. It’s got me out of some close calls. When you’re in an environment, nothing bad may have happened yet but you just feel off, you get that butterfly in your belly, the weird feeling that you know something isn’t right and your heart starts to race. TRUST IT, it doesn’t matter whether you’re wrong, it just matters that you feel safe. Like that saying goes. Better safe than sorry.

 

4.       KNOW THE WARNING SIGNS – Most attackers don’t begin with brutal force. They begin by coaxing a woman into a secluded area and forcing her to relinquish her control. Not only will your instincts help you avoid dangerous situations, but you can also determine someone’s intent by knowing what to look for. Some pre-incident indicators include: refusing to accept rejection, charm, giving too many details, giving unsolicited help and expecting favours in return and unwanted promises to name a few. Remember ‘no’ is a full sentence and you don’t have to explain your reasoning.

 

5.      BEING SAFE AT NIGHT – There are several precautions that you can take to ensure your safety while walking at night.Be aware and try and avoid distractions like having your headphones in or having your head down texting.  There is safety in numbers, so where you can walk each other to cars etc.  When walking at night, always use popular routes used frequently by others. By using these, you decrease your chances of being alone while walking at night. Try not to be tempted take a shortcut through a dark alleyway or parking lot. Avoid suspicious areas and people and always try and stick to the most lit path where possible.

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“The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, produces mental toughness.
I learned that every problem I encountered had a solution.”

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I really hope that by sharing my experience with you, that it may inspire you, young women, people of all ages to start doing something to better protect themselves. Start up a martial art, take a self-defence course or at least, take on board some of the tips you have just read.

Because in the end all that matters to your loved ones is that you are safe.

 

Miss Ajana Plunkett (20) is the Head Instructor Of Taekwondo Central
Holding a 4th Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo (WT) she has been practising Taekwondo for 15 years.

For Info On Miss Plunketts Classes – Please See below or contact her for private lessons
Ph – 0401809895
Email – ajtkdcentral@gmail.com

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Homepage – Click Here
Timetable – Click Here
Paragon Program – Click Here
Calendar Of Upcoming Events – Click Here
We’re On FACEBOOK –  Click Here

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