A black belt---a term sometimes easily tossed around. A person who has earned their black belt is quickly judged as someone who can "bear up" people. But in my mind a black belt represents that the person that has it around their waist lives by modesty, courtesy, integrity, self control, perseverance and indomitable spirit. It also symbolizes all the obstacles that person conquered and the goals that they have earned.

The path to becoming a black belt is not an easy one. You have to maintain physical fitness throughout your TKD career. At the beginning of each class we always start with pushups and crunches, doing about 30-50 each and then we move on to leg lifts, bicycle, lemon squeezes and numerous other techniques. Then we move on to more strengthening techniques such as frog jump, duck walk, squats, wheel barrow and running. These workouts don't just physically strengthen you, they force you to push yourself beyond what you thought were your limits. And all of this is just the warm-up, then class begins. Finally we gear up and spar. At the end of class you feel drained and powerless, however the worst is yet to come. After a nights sleep you feel sore and regret every kick and punch you didn't block, because they have left bruises of all sizes and colors. But all you can do is hope you left just as many colorful reminders on your sparring partner.

Tae Kwon Do has helped me in numerous aspects of my life. By learning and following the concepts of the black belt i have a better mind set towards life. It has become easier to tell what is right and wrong. I also have learned the real meaning of respect and self discipline and of course I have learned and experienced plenty of ways to defend myself. Mr Wambua, more commonly known as "Sir", is my Tae Kwon Do teacher. I could never have hoped to accomplish so much in TKD if he hadn't taken me in and transformed me from a stubborn kid into a thoroughly trained black belt. I'm not sure where I would be to day if he wasn't my TKD teacher.

What my black belt means to me is to stay physically fit, work hard to achieve my goals, respect myself and others and respect and admiration for my TKD teacher.