By Natasa VUJOVIC (2011 MPP, Serbia)

This year the KDI School has four ladies to be proud of, who not only get to go home with their Master’s degrees, but also with black belts in Taekwondo. Chan Ju Lee (2011 MPP, Korea), Clara Komachkova (2011 MPP, Czech Republic), Marzhan Zhumasheva (2011 MPP, Kazahstan) and Natasa Vujovic are the ones who trained together in this traditional martial art.

Preparing for the black belt was no easy task. We found ourselves befriended by the exhaustion of training 5 or 6 days per week, the frustration from trying to learn the moves and techniques, the fear of failure, the fear of being beaten on the actual test day, the fear of…just not being good enough. However, the support of our amazing Master and doing everything in four made it easier to deal with. The tears and sweat we shared gave birth to a friendship for a lifetime as we progressed toward our goal. With time and each other’s support even the ultimate fear of sparring slowly disappeared and the whole test experience began to feel not as scary. Also, being able to see your muscles defined for the first time in your life (in places where you absolutely thought not possible) or being able to do a staggering number of sit-ups (also thought not possible without steroids) was the unique privilege we have come to savor. Yet all this was nothing compared to the pride and joy of the actual test day!

After long months of preparation the day had come. All of us gathered at 7.30 in the morning, packed up in our Master’s mini bus and headed towards the test grounds. As soon as we arrived we faced with people dressed in tobok and already training. (Are we crazy to do this?? Look at all these Koreans! They will murder us!) But courageously as much as fearfully, we advanced to our goal listening to our encouraging Master.

The first part of showing basic moves (kicks, punches, blocks, etc.) has passed with relative ease. Then came the dreadful part – sparring! We were dressed like aliens with all the protective shields and helmets. (Even if we don’t pass we can take cool photos and show off back home! I mean, how would they know?) But the biggest fear come true now compelled us to return to the grim reality: a match with a Korean. My sparring partner looked positively cute and polite, but I knew it would have nothing to do with her punching power. (What am I doing!? Even my extremely supportive boyfriend was dying laughing just trying to imagine me fighting! But now there is really nowhere to run so I will just hit! I will hit as much as I can and I shall not be a coward! )

And I did. I did it for a whole minute. The adrenaline, the strength and the determination all came together, and I was proudly hitting and getting hit! It was fair and dignified. And you know what? We made it! We all made it! We received our black belts!

The excitement and pride and happiness were as massive as climbing Mount Everest. (No, we are even better than those climbers, it’s not like they need to stand in a ring and fight.) We fought! We fought for our determination and love of taekwondo! And yes, not to get beaten to death.

All this wouldn’t have been possible without the close guidance of our kind and “masterous” Master Shin. He was the one who watched over us every step of the way and enhanced our physical and psychological strength without us even noticing it, increasing our desire and commitment to train almost every day come rain or shine. Master Shin does this every year. At the beginning of a year he picks out those who are not hobby shopping, those who are really interested in learning a martial art and willing to test their limits. Training these people to grow in ways they never thought possible is very special to him, he said. We would love to thank him for his patience, kindness and toughness in making us his black-belt pupils.

The end of the year is slowly approaching and we will be going home soon. Reflecting back on the initial decision of training for the now infamous black belt, I realize we were not just learning the martial art, but immersing ourselves into the Korean tradition and culture, being part of it as much as we can, letting go of our fears and pushing our personal limits. Thank you, Korea.