Courage and Strength

Yong-Gee/Heem (courage and strength)are the themes of 2010 at Cincinnati Taekwondo Center. When someone is working-out in the gym trying to build physical strength, one must have the courage to do one more repetition or pick-up a heavier than ever before. This is an act of courage because you are opening yourself up to failure and defeat, but do not despair...

Many people prescribe to "failure is not an option," but the samurai had it right when they accepted death before they entered battle. Acceptance of failure will free you to push yourself to your very limits and know that even in failure you have built strength.

This is the secret that famed sports psychologist, Jim Loehr writes about in his book, Mental Toughness Training for Sports. The greatest athletes, inventors, and leaders have all turned adversity into strength, which in turn has lead to so many great successes.

My very first taekwondo instructor always would get this big smile when someone scored a point on him in a sparring match. I realized it was his way of accepting his lost and moving on in the match, in which he usually won. So don't be afraid to fail in class and in life. Learn to laugh at yourself. If you give your all and fail, you are still getting stronger and better. This is the beauty of courage!