Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Martial Arts and Loyalty







Why
should I be LOYAL to my juniors and my seniors and how can I show my
appreciation
Angela Abrams
            I know by now, that most of my
classmates have seen the tattoo on my wrist of the Celtic Claddagh.  It is a symbol of friendship, love and
loyalty. Why would someone put something like that on their body permanently if
they didn’t believe in the symbolism that went behind it? The basis of any good
friendship is loyalty. The basis of any true love is also loyalty. Wow, loyalty
must be pretty important. Without loyalty there is no trust. Without trust,
there isn’t much. 
            The bonds that form in the dojang go
far beyond classmates, and training partners. When we are out there on the
floor working together there has to be a level of trust. Trust that the person
you are working with is not going to hurt you. Trust that the person who is
teaching you is giving you good instruction. Trust that you are not going to
hurt another student that is not at your level of training yet.  When I first stepped onto the mats as a white
belt, I was scared. Scared that I was going to hurt myself, or not be able to
do what I was being asked to do.  As time
went on I learned to trust. Trust my instructors and my peers. There is not a
student in the class that didn’t help me. The next step was to earn their trust
in return. I believe that I have accomplished that, because I am comfortable
working with everyone in the dojang. I am not afraid of getting hurt and I
trust my partners.
            Looking out for one another in and
out of class is a HUGE part of training.  It is important to be loyal to your seniors
because without them you would not be learning the things you are learning.
They are passing down their knowledge to you and deserve respect and loyalty. I
should also be loyal to my juniors because they are looking up to me and
learning from me. It is my responsibility as a student to help them when I can
and reinforce our training.  If I am not
showing respect and loyalty to everyone in the dojang, regardless of rank, then
I am not being true to the people that I train with and train under.  There is no room for growth without respect,
trust and loyalty. 
            We show appreciation for one another
and our training in many ways. The most obvious is bowing to one another.  I also show appreciation when I thank someone
for working with me in class or showing me something new. A handshake or a high
five means a lot. You get a really great feeling deep inside when someone says
“good job, you did great”.  I always feel
good when someone says it to me. As I progress up the ranks it is now up to me
to help the lower belts in class when they are struggling with something. That
also means that at the end of class it is also up to me to say, you did great
tonight and make someone else feel good inside. Positive enforcement is what
makes us come back and try harder. I am loyal to my dojang, my instructors, and
my peers. That means they can trust me inside and outside of the school.
Loyalty and appreciation are important tools in most aspects of our lives. If
we show appreciation to those who deserve it and stay loyal, there is so much
we can achieve.




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