Perseverance: An often Overlooked but highly important character trait in Tang Soo Do and Life!

Hello all and Good Afternoon!

In my post today, I want to talk about and discuss an important character trait here at Yi’s Karate of Vineland: Perseverance. I wanted to take the time to discuss this trait as this is often overlooked by many during their training here at the academy as well as throughout life. In defining Perseverance, The Cambridge Dictionary breaks it down as the continued effort to do or achieve something, even when this is difficult or takes a long time to complete. Here at Yi’s Karate of Vineland, we find that in order to develop Perseverance, we have our students set short term and long term goals. By doing so and by our students setting some challenging goals for themselves, they can work to develop perseverance and learn to never give up, even when it feels like things are really difficult. Most of our students here have set their goal to reach Black Belt and beyond! But in order to get their Black Belts, they need to have Perseverance. Perseverance gives our students these very important traits:

1. Training through difficulties: Tang Soo Do training involves rigorous physical conditioning, repetitive drills, and challenging techniques. It requires perseverance to push through physical discomfort, fatigue, and limitations to improve one’s skills and abilities.
2. Overcoming obstacles: Martial artists often face various obstacles in their training journey. It could be a challenging opponent, a difficult technique, or personal limitations. Perseverance is crucial in overcoming these obstacles by consistently practicing, adapting strategies, and working on weaknesses.
3. Building mental resilience: Tang Soo Do training places a significant emphasis on mental discipline and resilience. Practitioners learn to face and overcome fear, frustration, and self-doubt. Through perseverance, martial artists develop mental toughness, which not only benefits them in training but also in other aspects of life.
4. Progressing through ranks: Many martial arts have a belt or ranking system to indicate a practitioner’s level of skill and experience. Advancing through the ranks requires perseverance and dedication. It often takes years of consistent training, attending classes, and demonstrating proficiency to earn higher ranks.
5. Endurance in competitions: Martial arts competitions can be physically and mentally demanding, testing a practitioner’s abilities under pressure. Perseverance is essential during intense matches, where the ability to stay focused, adapt to changing situations, and maintain a determined mindset can make a significant difference in achieving success.
6. Life lessons: Perseverance in martial arts extends beyond the training mat. The discipline and determination developed through martial arts training can be applied to various life challenges. Martial artists learn to face adversity, set goals, work hard, and persistently pursue them, which can contribute to personal growth and success in other areas of life.

By having Perseverance, we develop that Never Give Up mentality in many different areas of our lives, not just within our own training. If you yourself are reading this and want to start developing Perseverance in your own life (or your child’s life as well!!), give us a call at 856-405-0008 to schedule a lesson with one of our highly trained, black belt instructors at the academy. We are a Black Belt School and Perseverance is a part of our curriculum here!

Mr. Lee MSW

3rd Degree Black Belt Instructor