Martial Arts by Hannah

Martial Arts by Hannah - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

I have been a student at Eagle Flies Low, Shaolin Kenpo since 2008 where I’ve been able to focus my technique on speed by defending myself using the least amount of time and moves. Shaolin Kenpo is more related to street fighting than the traditional karate; being a female martial artist, I have become more confident and I can understand my mental and physical strength. I’ve also learned that I am stronger than I believe and I can accomplish anything I set my heart to.
After many years of hard-work and dedication, I worked one-on-one with my instructor to earn the title of Junior Instructor; this allowed me to teach younger students at our school. I took initiative and asked to work with a student who had a learning disability. Initially, working with Kevin (name changed to ensure privacy) was difficult as he had a hard time paying attention, had a shorter attention span, and constantly questioned my knowledge and skills. Although I’ve worked with differently abled students prior to this, Kevin was different; he pushed me as an instructor by teaching me patience and advancing my leadership skills. Getting approval from my instructor, I learned new and distinctive ways to teach him the same material. By understanding how he learned best, I had the opportunity to teach the other instructors my new techniques which they then used to teach other students. Despite the hardships I faced in the beginning, I, indeed, believe that I was the one who was learning. My goal from this was to connect with and teach a student who struggles everyday with learning new things. Although what I taught Kevin expanded his knowledge about martial arts, he taught me to stretch myself, to challenge myself by expanding my leadership and social skills.
My sophomore year of high school, I wanted to give back to my community using my passion and dedication to martial arts. My instructor and I visited different schools with high populations of many low-income families. We taught students at these schools about the history of Shaolin Kenpo and then taught them different moves and techniques they can use. Every week I saw the excitement in the kids’ eyes when we walked through the door. Over the eight weeks of classes, I saw the students increase their skills and confidence significantly. But there was one kid, Alexis, who changed my life for the better. During the first class, he was quiet and isolated from the group. I asked him privately if he would like to participate and he looked at me, said nothing but nodded his head in fear. During the next class, I decided to work closely with him to better understand his story; he mentioned that his father had gotten involved with gang violence; however, his mom had full custody of him and had taught him that violence is never the answer. Although I agreed, I also knew that Alexis (name changed to preserve privacy) was connecting his dad's background with gang violence to a perceived violence in martial arts. At the end of that class, I took time and explained to all the students that martial arts is different than violence; it is used as a technique to defend yourself in times of need. Alexis taught me that we all have stories in our past that shape who we are. If I hadn’t heard his story, I wouldn’t have consciously realized that everyone has their fears and that their past experiences can impede their enthusiasm for future ones. As time went on, Alexis changed his perspective and enjoyed our martial arts class.
Giving back to my community - whether it be directly to those I know or to those who were strangers but then became important individuals in my life - has not only allowed me to follow my passion and educate others about it, but it has taught me something bigger. Teaching martial arts has allowed me to broaden my perspective of the world and look at events from different points of view. Throughout this time, I believed that I was teaching them, but ironically, they were teaching me. We all learned how to grow in our sensitivity toward each other and how to create community.