Well I�ve been in Taekwondo for seven and a half years now. I haven�t trained the whole seven and a half years straight but the last three years I�ve trained straight with the exception of the last two summers. (Club doesn�t train during summer) Taekwondo is something that has changed my life for the better; there is no doubt about that. A friend of mine Chris Marchand got me into Taekwondo and I will always be grateful to him for that. When I first started I loved it right away, some people that watched said they didn�t think I would keep it up because I did have a lot of trouble with the kicks when I first started. But it was also something I truly enjoyed. I think this is the most important factor in Taekwondo, if you do not enjoy it you will not continue on with your training, it takes much dedication, but you also have lots of fun. Some of the people who joined around the same time as I did were much better at it then me at first, but once they quit, they could no longer improve, and I continued to attempt improving.
I couldn�t always notice a difference in my kicks and punches but I kept going at it because I loved it. I love the sparring, I enjoy the forms and I also liked the discipline of it. It taught me to be a more disciplined person, although this is something that I must continue to improve upon. The first year I joined Taekwondo I had also went back for one year of high school to improve my grades because the years before I pretty much slid through high school. I missed a lot of school something like 40 days that year. The year I started Taekwondo I went to school more and my marks improved greatly. I remember getting a 100 percent on one of my grade 12 chemistry tests, and I was very happy that I had the discipline to study and attend classes. I learned much in my first year of Taekwondo, and attained an orange belt. My marks went up greatly and I was accepted in the Human Nutrition program at St.F.X University. Going to university was a big step and I carried some of that extra discipline with me from Taekwondo, but I still had a long way to go. My first year of university I lived with my friend that got me into Taekwondo and another friend of ours, and it was overall an enjoyable year, I had some rough times with some of my classes but I got through. That year I had joined a different Taekwondo club than Chong Lee's and it was not quite as enjoyable. I stayed with this club for a few months but it was difficult to remain interested in training because it was not the same as Chong lee�s Taekwondo. Being my first year in university I did a little too much partying and drinking.
Once school was done, I went back to St.Peters Taekwondo and trained for a few months. I was then allowed to test for my green belt. I was having a lot of trouble with my form and my sparring was not quite up to par. I failed the test once, and was a little discouraged, but it showed me that you have to keep at it if you want something bad enough, I continued sparring more and working on my form and the next week or so I took the test again and failed again, now I was a little more discouraged, but my instructor Larry Mombourquette said I could take the test again the next week. Although I was slightly discouraged I was now incredibly determined to receive my green belt I trained for many hours on my form and sparred at every class. I then took the test again, my form went well and then I sparred, I had picked up a new technique, a counter side kick and I used it well in my sparring, my instructor, Mr. Mombourquette, was very proud, and I was incredibly happy that I reached this goal. This was the toughest belt test I have ever received to date but it is also one that I am very proud of because I persevered and did not give up.
Then I went back to ST.F.X. in the fall but did not have a taekwondo school to train at. But I did train on my own. It was a good year but I very much missed Taekwondo. When I came back home after school was done I trained again in Taekwondo, at this time I was lifting weights and in great shape, I got down to around 190 lbs, I was biking for an hour a day or so, lifting weights and doing Taekwondo. One of the reasons I was so disciplined to train was because of Taekwondo. I then went back to ST.F.X. and still no Chong lee Taekwondo. But I continued to train on my own, I had some set backs by spraining my ankle playing basketball, I�ve sprained my ankle like 5 times now, but never doing Taekwondo (knock on wood!) Around the end of February, I was talking to Melvin Hibbs, who I had met from training and school, and he said he had started a Chong lee Taekwondo School. I didn�t have very much money around this time (being end of school year) but he said I could train for free, for the last 2 months of the school year and I was truly grateful for this act of kindness. I found that I also enjoyed the training again, it was very energetic, motivating and a great work out. After this I went back home for the summer and trained on my own. When I went back Mr.Hibbs was there and I went head first into training, I trained very hard and in late September or October of that year I won my first tournament, it was tough but I was very determined to win. It was wonderful Taekwondo training. Mr.Hibbs is an excellent instructor and competitor. I received my blue belt in January of that year and I truly felt part of the family at Olympian Taekwondo. We went together to tournaments and being one of his higher belts at the time I tried to help out by encouraging the others and helping with what I could. I kept advancing in belts and after just one year at Olympian Taekwondo I went from a green belt to a red belt and was very happy with this progress and all the good people I had met at Olympian Taekwondo.
In September I went back to St.Peters Taekwondo and continued with my training I had another set back by spraining my ankle playing paint ball, and I then had lost some discipline as far as nutrition and training, the training was very good in St.Peters and I continued on. A year later I received my black stripe after fighting well at a tournament and now I was more determined then ever to get my black belt. But I continued to have a little trouble with my weight. I know it is ironic since I have a degree in nutrition but it is a problem I have had to work on since being a child. Taekwondo has definitely been one of the factors which has helped me to control my weight, I had a lapse in self control, but now I have found out that I am going for my black belt and I just bought a new punching bag so I am more determined then ever, I�ve been hitting my punching bag every day from a half hour to one and a half hours and have started to lose weight, I�ve lost around 5 to 10 lbs already my goal is to lose more weight and improve my conditioning before my black belt exam in May and because of the confidence Taekwondo has giving me( and my nutrition degree) I know I can do it because attaining black belt had become one of my long term goals and it is something that I am truly excited to do. I am looking forward to my black belt test and I want to have the best test that I can.
I am truly grateful for all the incredible instructors that I�ve had, Larry Moumberquette was one of my first instructors and I call him the chess master because he always compared Taekwondo to chess and he also showed you how complicated a Taekwondo match can be, he showed me my first trap bichagi to kidneys which draws bichagi then you hit with counter back kick. I now train under Kempie Larade who was one of Mr.Moumberquette's students and he is also a wonderful instructor, and also and inspiration because he always stays in such great shape and is a great technical and disciplined instructor. Another instructor that I�ve been fortunate enough to train with is Martin Macdougall the owner of East Coast Taekwondo in Sydney, Cape Breton. He is a former National champion and Worlds competitor so it has been a privilege to learn from him. I also am very grateful to all the people I�ve sparred with especially the higher belts and black belts who were always willing to answer a question if I asked and teach me by action. I�m also grateful to Taekwondo because with out Taekwondo there are many good people I would not have met and there would be much more that I do not know about my self, that I now do. The most important thing that I�ve learned from Taekwondo is the more you learn, the more there is to learn. So never be cocky, be humble and bow your head down like the aging rice plant, because there is something you can learn from everyone, and I know there is much I still have to learn, in Taekwondo and in life.