Sweat dripped down my face as I watched my opponent creep in. I tensed up, my heels off the ground, my hands up by my face. My opponent lunged forward, and bam! I threw a spin hook kick, smashing my leg into the side of his head. I grinned as the judges called “break” and awarded me a point. In that moment, that spin hook kick to the head was the easiest, most natural thing for me to do. I wasn’t always like that.
Four and a half years ago, I was a short, skinny boy who’d just celebrated his tenth birthday. As I walked into Karate Atlanta Suwanee on Aug. 27, 2016, I just wanted to break some boards and fight other kids. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
There is a video of 8-year-old me, shirtless, jumping around my bedroom, punching, kicking, and wrestling imaginary enemies. My granddad used to often tell the story of 4-year-old me pinning an 8 year old to the ground until my granddad rescued him. Martial arts channeled my energy into activities that made me better physically in many ways, but as time progressed, I realized that martial arts are so much more than just a physical workout.
That August and September, my sister, brother, and I fell in love with martial arts and earned our white belts at Karate Atlanta Suwanee. As 2017 came, we steadily advanced through the ranks, becoming stronger, faster, quicker, and more balanced. As we enjoyed our physical advancements, we didn’t fully comprehend the mental progress we were also making.
Time progressed, and August 2017 brought the first anniversary of the beginning of our martial arts journey. We kept improving physically, earning our purple belts in October, but we also improved mentally, and slowly we began to understand why not just us, but also our parents loved our martial arts training.
We were three crazy kids, but our martial arts training was slowly but surely maturing us, instilling in us life skills such as discipline, confidence, and loyalty. Our focus improved, and we became much more respectful. As I look back, I realize just how much we have changed since that first day in August 2016.
November 2017 brought the most influential thing in my martial arts journey. Mr. Jason Lower, the Karate Atlanta Suwanee chief instructor, invited me to Legacy Academy, a seminar for students from all 15 Karate Atlanta locations. The Legacy Academy’s purpose was to introduce promising students to the new Legacy program. The Legacy program teaches students to become martial arts instructors and leave their legacy to the next generation of students.
After that Legacy Academy, I realized that just learning martial arts wasn’t enough. I wanted to teach! I joined the Legacy program at Karate Atlanta Suwanee in November 2017, and ever since then, Mr. Lower has taught me how to become a better instructor and a better person.
Through Legacy, I learned much more about the life skills that I was gaining through martial arts. As Mr. Lower taught me and the other Legacy students how to pass life skills on to our students, those life skills became even more ingrained in me.
Eventually my youngest sister joined the rest of us, and soon I started helping out with classes. At age 12, I became the only non-employee to teach an entire class by myself, and I decided I wanted to open my own martial arts school.
Every March and September, Karate Atlanta held a black belt testing, and so, when March 2019 arrived, the classes grew longer and the sweat dripped faster as my siblings and I practiced forms, sparring, and board break, preparing for the testing. March 16, 2019, was the culmination of two and a half years of intense training as I shook hands with Grandmaster Soon Ho Lee, who handed me my first degree black belt. I will never forget the elation, satisfaction, and pride rushing through my head as Mr. Lower tied the stiff, new belt around my waist.
However, our training didn’t end there. The instructors at Karate Atlanta say that black belt is not an end, but a new beginning, and they’re right. My siblings and I excitedly learned new moves, fought new opponents, and improved our respect and discipline.
In January 2020, almost three and a half years since we had started at Karate Atlanta, and almost one and half years since my youngest sister started, my mom put on a uniform and stepped onto the mat. Although she was sweating and gasping for breath by the end of class, she loved it. The next week, my dad joined her. The strange feeling of my parents saying “Yes sir” to me when I taught them the basic white belt moves combined with the elation of having our entire family training together.
On March 7, 2020, I was presented with the Rising Star award, which was an award given to trainee instructors who had great potential and passion. I was so excited for what was to come that year… and then something called COVID-19 shut the whole world down.
I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but some coronavirus called COVID-19 became a pandemic and caused every country in the world to shut down. All non-essential businesses, such as martial arts schools, had to close during March and April, and so Mr. Lower had to let go of the entire staff at Karate Atlanta Suwanee besides the one other full time instructor, Mr. Michael Monroe. I was still a volunteer, and so, with Mr. Lower and Monroe, I taught martial arts in Zoom classes. It was an interesting experience that made me a better instructor, but I never want to do it again.
I was overjoyed when live classes resumed in May 2020, although Zoom classes continued and are still ongoing. Mr. Lower rehired Noah Coppedge, an 18-year-old part time instructor, and a good friend of mine. The summer of 2020 was the busiest summer of my life so far, as Mr. Lower put me in charge of running six weeks of fun summer camps at Karate Atlanta Suwanee. I loved it. I also helped Mr. Lower as he taught Rapid Advancement Camp and Sparring Camp.
I turned 14 in August, marking four years of training for me. Little did I know that that was my last birthday at Karate Atlanta Suwanee.
November 2020 was life changing, arguably more so then when I joined Legacy in November 2018. November 2020 was when Mr. Lower announced that he was leaving Karate Atlanta to start his own martial arts school, called Elevate Martial Arts.
It was sad to say goodbye to all the people at Karate Atlanta Suwanee, especially to Monroe, who became the chief instructor, but going with Mr. Lower to be an instructor at Elevate Martial Arts is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Coppedge is going to be a full time instructor at Elevate, and I’m going to be a part time instructor, along with Hayden Buckalew, a 17-year-old 3rd degree black belt who is also a 1st degree black belt in karate.
In conclusion, it has been a long and crazy journey over the past four and a half years, and I would not be where I am today without the support of my family, friends, and the instructors at Karate Atlanta and Elevate, especially Mr. Lower. I look forward to spending the next four and a half decades training, learning, teaching, and enjoying martial arts, whether that is taekwondo, karate, krav maga, or any other martial arts I will learn. Without a doubt, martial arts have changed my life.
The difference one decision can make in the life of an individual! 🙂
That was awesome.
A very insightful account of life changing actions that continue to impact a young person as they mature. It is also a family adventure. A good read.