Grace – Cho Dan Essay

What Soo Bahk Do Means To Me

Grace - Cho Dan
Soo Bahk Do means a lot to me. Soo Bahk Do has helped me become a stronger person both mentally and physically.  Soo Bahk Do has helped me mentally because, I have to do things in Soo Bahk Do that I wouldn’t normally think I can do but when I try I am able to do it. If I didn’t have my mind telling me that I can’t do something I wouldn’t be troubled by the voice in my head saying “stop that’s wood” for me I just need to get over the voice that says that. Although I need to work on that still Soo Bahk has helped me a lot with that. Soo Bahk Do has helped me physically because I have gotten so much stronger and more flexible. My whole body has definitely gotten stronger, I am able to do pushups and situps more easily. When I am stronger I feel better about myself and I feel as if the better I feel about myself the more confident I am about myself the better I do while training Soo Bahk Do. My flexibility has also increased and although I am not the most flexible person I will continue to work on it. Soo Bahk Do has become part of my life, in fact it has become a lifestyle. I used to just go to class and only think about it right before and right after class but now I often think about how what I’m doing will help me during Soo Bahk Do. I think I have kept on training Soo Bahk Do for all these years because I really love it! I started Soo Bahk Do when I was five in Sun Valley, Idaho with Master Whitcomb when I moved back from Sun Valley to Salt Lake City I was disappointed that I could not do Soo Bahk Do any more. When I was in third grade Master Corrales decided to open his own school in Salt Lake City when I heard that I was very excited. Even though sometimes I feel as if it is too hard I know that it is making me stronger and that stronger is better. Soo Bahk Do has also helped me in life out of Soo Bahk Do because I have missed a lot of soccer for Soo Bahk Do and even though I am missing soccer I have gotten in shape for soccer while I am training Soo Bahk Do. When I go to soccer we have to do sit-ups if we mess up and I find that they are a lot easier to do after training Soo Bahk Do because we do sit-ups in Soo Bahk Do. Soo Bahk Do has also helped me a lot in my school life. It has helped me be more disciplined with my homework and school work. I have learned how to be able to work really hard at something even though it is hard or I do not want to do it. This is a great lesson for me because it would be only too easy to give up a lot of things just because I am struggling with them,  instead if I stick with things I will get good at them and then they become more fun. Through my Soo Bahk experience I have met Master Corrales, Mr. Snarr and Mr. Rios. They all have helped me to progress and become the martial artist that I am. Master Corrales is definitely one of the reasons I have continued to train Soo Bahk Do. He has helped me a lot. He has told me that he will only let me test for my Dan if I am ready. He said I am ready to test and I believe him. He has helped me especially to understand that I am going to need a balance in my schedule because I have so much going on. He told me, “You can’t run too fast for too long eventually you have to slow down.” Master Corrales has also helped me to understand that there is so much more to Soo Bahk Do than just going to class and training because you have to have a balanced diet also. Having to have a balanced diet for Soo Bahk Do is an excuse to have a balanced diet in life and that is really good for me. Sa Bom Nim Corrales told our class that our plate of food should always be colorful and that if it is naturally colorful it is most likely a very healthy meal. Mr. Snarr is a very exciting person that is very fun to train with because he makes sure that I know that he is there to help me achieve my Dan. Mr. Snarr has helped me because he has helped me to understand that breaking is just breaking a big piece of paper. He. Mr. Rios has helped set an example of what I need to look like because he truly is a Dan. I have found that when I train Soo Bahk Do if I was tired or not feeling well before I often feel better after I train. Soo Bahk Do is a sort of healing method for me. I think Soo Bahk Do is a very good thing for me to do when I don’t feel so good because it is a natural way to feel better. For me I am always very proud when people say they do karate or something and I can say that I do Soo Bahk Do because Soo Bahk Do is special and it is not just about fighting there is an art to it and it is as if it is almost a dance. I feel like sometimes you are peaceful while training Soo Bahk Do and sometimes you are not. Training can help me deal with my problems.  I like the balance of the two because training one way can help me deal with one problem I might have and training the other way can help me deal with another problem. Overall, Soo Bahk Do has become one of the things that I hope to continue because I hope that if I continue training I will continue to become a better and stronger person. Soo Bahk!

One thought on “Grace – Cho Dan Essay

  1. As Grace’s proud grandmother, I can praise the discipline
    of So Bahk Do in her growth over the years, as she so
    clearly describes… Master Corrales and Master Whitcomb
    are pillars in her life she will carry forth in her magical journey through life.

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