We have 5 tenets of Taekwondo. They include:
Courtesy ģ¬ģ ye-wee
Integrity ģ¼ģ¹ yom-chee
Perseverance ģøė¬ ee-nay
Self-Control ź·¹źø° gook gee
Indomitable Spirit ė°±ģ ė¶źµ“ beckjool boolgool
Perseverance is defined as
“continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition : the action or condition or an instance of persevering : steadfastness.”
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Perseverance is a great quality for translating off the mats.
Practicing techniques, failing to break a board or hit a target, and the practice that follows. Licking our wounds and trying again, and again… this is perseverance.
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
Winston Churchill
This is perseverance!
There are (generally) two kinds of martial arts students.
Those with talent.
and those without talent.
Talent only gets you so far, usually until there is a subtle resistance. At this point some students will give up to look for another activity which will be easier to excel. This will adversely affect their decision making for their life going forward.
Those without talent require something more valuable to succeed: Grit and Perseverance.
Grit is perseverance combined with passion, which is a potent force.
We can see it in the instructor team and blackbelt class. Not all black belts have talent, but all black belts have persevered to achieve what they have, and to get where they are today.
“Going on one more round , when you don’t think you can, that’s what makes all the difference.”
Sylvester Stallone
Howard Schultz was turned down by the banks 242 times, if he didn’t have perseverance there would be no starbucks.
Walt Disney’s theme park plans were scrapped over 300 times before they were approved.
You wouldn’t have earned your black belt, red belt, purple belt or yellow belt without perseverance!
Theres a reason why the number of students that are training in each rank dwindles the higher you go.
It gets tougher.
Only those with perseverance will make it through.
Nothing special, nothing they are born with.
Just putting in the work; perseverance.
The point is, we all experience hardship and failureāand it is only with perseverance that we will achieve our goals.
That is why Perseverance is one of the Taekwondo Tenets.
Train hard,
Never give up,
See you on the mats.š
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Taekwondoshawn 
I would have to agree that perseverance is such a great quality in a person. You can achieve anything if you persevere. When a child wants to quit a sport or any activities it is most often because things are getting harder to perform/do. I would challenge parents to support their child and set attainable goals as this will be a great life lesson and can translate later on in life as adults as well. Can you imagine for a child to have worked hard for a while ( no instant gratification which there is a lot of today) and reach that goal. What an esteem booster and a belief that ” I can do it” Amazing!
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Completely agree!š
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