Only Progress Matters

"Arm yourself with the weapon of knowledge, something no one can use against you"

I have been doing Hapkido for almost a year now and it's been such a journey. I absolutely love it. I have an awesome master who allows me to reach my full potential, who challenge me in every single way possible, that is mentally and physically and who really became a friend in Korea. 

Our normal conversation every night:

Me: How many sit-ups Master?

Master: 40! Go.

Me: I'm done master.

Master: 20 more. Go! Fighting.

(And this doesn't only count for sit-ups but for everything else as well)

I am currently fighting with a red belt around my middle and for the past 2 months I've been taught the skills of red belt level. I am on the verge of successfully mastering the skills I learned and at the end of February I'll be tested by the National Hapkido Confederation of Korea in order to receive my black belt. I am stressing and I am really putting everything into this. I came to Korea with many goals of which one was to get my black belt in the arts of fighting. I didn't start it because I wanted to be more aggressive or skillful in fighting but rather because I had a series of incidences in South Africa where I was vulnerable to the power of a man. I decided to arm myself not with a weapon of steel but with knowledge and skill; I learned how to protect myself. 

During university I had the unfortunate experience of being mugged at knife point. As this is quite a regular occurrence in South Africa I guess I couldn't be too shocked that it happened to me but the moment someone puts a knife against your throat and force your mouth close with the other hand a 1,55cm girl like me gets shocked out of her skin. Wanting to be a powerful independent woman and being in the position where you are completely overpowered by the physical strength of a inhumane man shocked me the most. In that moment I tried yelling I tried talking him out of it etc. It might not have been as serious as say getting raped but none the less it was an invasion of my personal space. I can carry a gun in South Africa but the chances of being shot with my own gun is almost more certain than me being able to protect myself with my own gun. So knowledge and skills is my only option. 

Unfortunate things does happen in life but the aftermath is what really matters; not the aftermath of getting the police involved but more your mental state; physical state heals after a while most of the time. I have no fear in the powers of a man as I know that I will be able to protect myself against the power of a man (to a certain point) and escape. I no longer want to walk the streets and be vulnerable. Broken toe and all I am going to achieve my goal. I'm working for platinum; not even gold is good enough.

I have the knowledge to kill and I am not afraid to use it when I have to protect myself. Hopefully I will never forget what Korea has taught me in the year I have been here. 

Black Belt I'm coming for you!