This past Saturday, May 17th, marked the 15th year anniversary of the Hwarang Taekwondo Academy in my hometown. For 15 years, Grand Master Jimmy Park has been teaching the kids of Del Rio & Eagle Pass the Korean martial art of Taekwondo, along with the discipline and self-confidence that comes with it.

I had the privilege to attend the academy early on during high school and loved every minute of it! However, the life of a high school student is already busy enough, so I regrettably took an extended break from Taekwondo.

More than four years later, I returned older and wiser than before. Over the last year, I’ve risen from a simple orange belt up to a purple belt! In the larger scope of things, a purple belt might not seem very high, but its actually the sum of my hard work for a year. Hours of practice, hordes of welts & bruises, and tons of form repetitions.

I’ve grown to known the majority of the students in my class, and I hope that they get something out of their continued training. Parties and demonstrations like this past weekend are a great way for the kids to see the higher belts perform some of the harder techniques, and for them to see if its something they’d want to keep learning in the future. Of course, giving the students a chance to shine is also a great way to build up their self confidence and help them become less introverted.

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Demonstrations will only go so far to keep the younger ones entertained, so this year they prepared a special treat! The Blue Jungle Fury Power Ranger performed some board breaking techniques, and kept the little ones occupied (quiet) during the rest of the ceremony and performance. I’ve never seen the kids in class soo excited! Even the ones who don’t watch Power Rangers were happy to see the Blue Ranger in person. That was definitely the highlight of that day, seeing the little kids so happy and excited over Taekwondo, just because of a Power Ranger.

The enthusiasm and excitement seemed to spill onto everyone, including the parents. Multiple cheesy poses and pictures later, the Blue Ranger was gone, but the excitement lingered! Many of the kids even accused me of being the Blue Ranger, but I was present for the entire show. I even performed in the demonstration! Who that Blue Ranger was? We may never know…but I do hope that his appearance sufficiently motivated the younger kids to keep at it!

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