Square Knot

A square knot is what you get when you tie your belt correctly. In the martial arts, that is. I'm thinking about this because I started teaching Tae Kwon Do again this week - my own classes and not as an instructor at another master's school - and in both classes (I teach a kids' class on Mondays and an adult class on Thursday) I referenced the direction my belt was pointing when showing my students how to move for certian techniques and the position their belts' knots should be in when done performing the technique.

Tonight's class wasn't perfect. The uniforms didn't fit my students, so I have to return them and order new ones, and I taught them too much (they're all beginners at Tae Kwon Do) but it felt great to have flags up against the wall, to recite the ten mental training rules and to teach eager learners forms, one-step sparring and Hap Ki Do self-defense moves. I was a little apprehensive going to the studio where my class is being held but once things got going it almost felt like I'd never stopped teaching. I guess after being involved in the martial arts, some things are ingrained and just come back to you when you need it. And that's exactly what martial arts does - gives you skills and abilities that come out when needed.

As I enjoy my love for martial arts, I think back on what a friend of mine said a while back and what her comment made me feel. That exchange is fitting right now because I feel what she felt so I'm going to share it here but I've written about it before, in my other blog, so it's a bit of a rehash. Suffice it to say, martial arts makes me happy.

Here it is:

Martial Arts Make Me Happy

(from filamkickingscribe, 17 July 2009)

It’s a really special moment when someone expresses something positive about something you may have had a hand in. And, in many ways, it’s more special when it’s not a direct compliment of some kind.

I’ve been a martial artist for almost twenty four years. I’ve studied Shotokan Karate, Hap Ki Do, Judo, Koeikan Karate and Tae Kwon Do, in which I find a home. I love martial arts and I think it’s the best thing I’ve done and been a part of, with the exception of my family. To me, martial arts isn’t about fighting or even self-defense. It’s about conquering your own insecurities and failings; challenging yourself to be the best version of you you can be and to share that person with others. In my years as a martial arts student and teacher, I’ve promoted them as the best all-around activity a person can participate in. In short, martial arts make me happy. More than that, they largely offer me a sense of contentment; some days more than others but most definitely for the time spent in the dojang.

So, it was some time last week when, although I didn’t need it, that the love I feel for martial arts - be it Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Judo, Escrima, Kendo, Hap Ki Do...you name it - was validated. A friend of mine, who began her martial arts training three years ago and who jokes that it’s all my fault that I got her there (I may have had some influence but it was her initial desire to try something new and her appreciation for what the martial arts is truly about that has kept her in the dojang), sent me a text. It was one line and it simply said, “Martial arts make me happy.” When I texted her back, I asked her if something special had happened in class; if she had learnt something cool, new and exciting. She said she hadn’t and that going to class just made her happy. To that I chuckled to myself and simply replied, “My work is done.”

It’s moments like this that make sharing things with others worthwhile. It’s moments like this that remind me why I need to keep training, tying on the belt and striving for the next dan level.

Martial arts make me happy. When they make others happy, I am ecstatic.