Taekwon Master Reid, Master El Bey, i am curious about how one becomes Master. Are you required to do a special Master test or are they appointed based on your years of experience?

@Chris Reid Taekwon Master Reid thank you.

Taekwon Master Reid, Thank you Sir, i also see as a student how much effort and work goes into to being the Instructor. I truly felt Master Demer's passion for teaching during our very first test. He was pushing me for sure but the encouragement and excitement in his voice was next level. It was not yelling or making me feel poorly, it was genuine excitement when i tried to do whatever technique he was asking of me. The same can be be said about Master Ford, who often talks about the "BIG L" Lazy as she calls it. I feel the passion that all our instructors have for teaching General Choi art. While i have not had the opportunity to train with you Sir, Mr Connolly has and he oftens talks about certain things that he took away from your teachings and brought them into our class.

I was not in a position to start martial arts when i was young but honestly for me it was Bruce Lee. I always wanted to do a martial art and one day i was walking up to the royal bank and ran into our good friends and neighbours the Goldings. I had no idea Fisher Park offered TKD. After a rather lengthy chat about it Miss Golding sold me on it signed up that September at 50 with my youngest daughter Rhiannon and haven’t looked back.

Taekwon Master Reid, pretty sure both sides of my ribs would be busted eating any sort of kick from you sir. I struggle with this fairly frequently for me it is the flexibility aspect. The best way to describe it is, l am a youngster trapped in my old body. My mind completely understands almost everything i am taught by Master Ford or Mr Connolly but my body just doesn’t allow me to achieve it. I often get easily discouraged when asked to perform the following which anyone at red belt should be able to do. Turning Kick, Side Kick, Front leg Hook kick, spinning hook kick, any of the jumping kicks. For me personally i often feel im letting my instructors down. I have been raised in a very competitive family. I have played various competitive sports, major one is hockey. I was pushed pretty hard to never give up, often times had to push myself harder than anyone else because my Coach was my Dad on a few teams. I struggle with not beating myself up for not being able to perform where i think i should be at. Which is 100% my false mind. Testing is very difficult in terms of staying out of my own head, especially when Master Demers is sitting at the table and he is the one running the test. While it is an ongoing struggle for me, i am blessed to have so much support from Master Ford, Mr Connolly and all of our seniors. No one is judging me the way my own mind thinks they are. Taekwondo is still the best thing that i have done and i will continue to push myself to be the best i can be. Sorry Sir for the very long response.

Taekwon Master Reid, On top of weekly Taekwondo i play Hockey most Thursdays nights after Taekwondo and Saturdays. Honestly Master Reid the most challenging thing for me is to simple keep up with my daily back and hip stretches. As Master Ford and Mr Connolly have said stretching right is a workout in itself.