Nadine Talavera

English 115
Professor Lawson
29 September 2014
Culture
1400

Asians are known for the stereotypical "ha yah" kung fu fighting martial arts. Jackie
Chan became one of the most famous Asian actors because of his martial art techniques. In most
cases, a person's initial thought of martial arts is self-defense. Although after nine years of being
involved in such a culture, more specifically, Taekwondo, I have seen much more than just selfdefense. Taekwondo is a way of living, it teaches Korean etiquette such a bowing and
indomitable spirit. Moreover, Taekwondo has helped me accept and learn more about my ethnic
culture as a Filipino and has influenced me to have a welcoming, open-minded outlook on the
world.
Learning more about Taekwondo has lead to my understanding of the importance of
Korean etiquette towards one another. The most important gesture to show respect in Korean is a
bow to another person, it can be considered as a greeting and stresses loyalty. For Koreans a
proper bow is having both hands pressed at your sides, tilting the body at an angle with the head
lowered. Those who are not familiar with the culture refuse to bow; they see lowering your head
to another person as a sign of weakness. Bowing is the first lesson that is taught at taekwondo;
even as kids advance through ranks, punishments are given if they neglect to bow. From

experience the most common and painful punishment was stationary push-up position with our
hands formed as fist, we would stay in that position until we were told to stand up. In taekwondo,
we are taught to always bow first to those who are of higher rank, black belts, and masters.
Learning about the importance of bowing made me become more conscious of my actions and
has influenced my manners towards teachers, adults, and peers. I keep in mind how to properly
greet others such as introducing myself, shaking hands, and acknowledging ones presence.
Another way for showing respect is handing and accepting objects with two hands. It is common
etiquette in Korea to give a handshake with one hand supporting the other or by the stomach.
More importantly, to always hand objects to another person using the right hand and the left
hand support the right hand. In additional, Koreans are taught never to use the left hands as it
symbolizes as an unclean hand and shows disrespect. As a result of being a left-handed child, I
would remember teachers repeatedly saying, "shake hands with your dominant hand." Or when
trying to help kids differentiate between our left and right hand examples such as, "you write
with your right hand" made the situation worse, more so confusing. Consequently, with the
introduction to Korean culture I was able to understand the importance of proper etiquette and
with that, the use of the left and right hand and the misinterpretations that can be made when
using the wrong hand. Therefore, at a young age I learned to quickly utilize my right hand
because of my left hand being dominant and in result became aware of its' proper use.
Being influenced by Taekwondo culture has made me become more accepting of my
ethnic culture. Growing up, my parents forced a Filipino culture household on my siblings. In
Filipino tradition, the younger person would say "tita, ateh, kuya, or po", more importantly there
is a "bless" when you take the older persons right hand and bring the back of the palm towards
your forehead to show respect. Initially, I refused to follow what they taught me because at that

age my thoughts were that we live in America we do not need to do that sort of tradition that I
felt nobody. As I became accustomed to Taekwondo culture and their preservation of traditions
such as bowing and use of the right hand, I slowly became more willing to follow Filipino
traditions, soon the traditional "bless" became as easy as bowing. Since Taekwondo culture and
Filipino culture shared a common importance of respect and its displaying of respect to elders, it
has changed my outlook on my culture and consequently I became more open-minded about my
ethnic traditions as a Filipino.
An essential part of Taekwondo is self-defense. Self-defense is taught through basics of
preventing from getting into physical fights all the way to the advance techique of disarming an
attacker. As students advance through ranks they are taught a higher level of difficult of selfdefense. As a result of continous practice of self-defense, it created a sense of confidence.
Taekwondo culture of self-defense has helped changed my confidence and shapred me to
believing in myself. It influenced to me accept negative feedback from teachers, parents, and
peers. Through their negative or positive feedback, it has contiously helped me improve in my
weakness and helped me overall into becoming a better person.
From Taekwondo culture, I learned the true meaning of determination. From the moment
I stepped foot in my Taekwondo studio with my uniform on, my goal was to earn my very first
belt. After a couple weeks of taking Taekwondo lessons I was able to earn my belt, from that
point on I was determined to earn my black belt no matter how long it would take. From the time
of earning your first belt which is a white belt, going all the way to a black belt takes four long
grueling years. In those four years, I contiously learned more about Taekwondo. Slowly, without
realizing I grew tired and became very bored of repeatedly practice the same kicks, stances, and
occasionly getting punished. At that time I was in my third year of Taekwondo, I figured it was

time to take a break. However, in another point of view, I was only one year away from earning
my black belt, and I knew that if I stop now those three years would have been a waste of time.
In the end, I continued with Taekwondo, and eventually testing for my black belt. From those
fours years, I learned the true meaning of determination.
Taekwondo has shaped me into a stronger person as it helped me focus on achieving my
goal and taught me to work hard to reach it. My goal was to earn my black belt, although, I
thought that it could easily be achieved, along the way I faced several hardships. One case was a
leg injurying that forced me to sit out during training for two months. In the span of two months,
I was able to observe my team mates become stronger and faster, as a result caused me to be
reluctant on coming back to train. Thus, Taekwondo taught me that it is very rare that things in
life will go as planned, there will be twists and turns that will deviate you for your goal.
Nevertheless, never give up on your dreams and continue working for your goal. The lesson on
determination that I have learned from my Taekwondo culture has create a positive influence on
my identity. Taekwondo has influenced me into never giving up, and taught me to face my
challenges head on; through my achievement of earning my black belt, it gave me that drive that
I never knew I had.
Throughout my nine years of being influenced by Taekwondo culture, it helped me
develop into an overall well-rounded person. Taekwondo is a form of martial arts that derives
from Korea, in translation Taekwondo means the way of the foot and hand. Starting Taekwondo,
I would have never realize that not only will it teach me self-defense but lesson that helps
improve character. Taekwondo taught me to endure and fight through hardships because life is
always unexpected. Through Taekwondo's self-defence, it has improved my confidence and
taught me instead of being a follower to become a leader. More importatly, Taekwondo has

influenced me into accepting my ethnic culture learning to respecting my cultures traditions, as

well as learning important etiqutte that will help me throughout my life. For others, Taekwondo
is one of those comercialized martial arts like Karate or Jiu-Jitsu but for me it is a culture. It has
shaped and influenced my life in so many ways, without Taekwondo I would not be able to
picture myself as a whole. For me, the culture of Taekwondo taught me skills that has and will
continue to help me become a successful person throughout college and in the future.