Goals in Taekwondo

What if I were to ask you, "What are your goals in Taekwondo?" Many of you would answer, "To become a Black belt." This is a great goal! Becoming a Black belt puts you in the company of elite winners. Many students, even in our own school, start out with the goal of becoming a Black belt only to get lost on the path.

But, what if I asked you to be more specific? What are your goals for Taekwondo this cycle? Most of you would answer with a very admirable "I want to pass my rank test." What about this week? What about in this class? Have you ever thought about it? In order to reach long term goals, it is necessary to set up markers along the way that allow you to measure your progress. For example, your goal in school may be to get an "A" in your English class. But, how do you know you are on track to reach this goal if you only have your starting point (the beginning of the class) and the ending point (your final grade) to guide you? Obviously, you cannot. Rank testing is obviously better than just waiting to see if you made it to Black belt, but you can actually help yourself to be even more specific!

If you set shorter term goals throughout the rank cycle, you can easily measure your progress towards your rank test. For example, you could set the goal to have all of your form memorized by the end of the second week. You could also say that you will practice each of your new kicks 40 times a week (on each leg!) during the cyle. Your goal could be to practice old forms once a week (or one old form per day). Whatever short term goals you set, you should keep track of them-- they help you reach your longer term goals of passing your rank test or even getting to Black belt.

Like almost every thing else you learn in TKD, there is a real life application. Setting short term goals is not an exception. Setting short term goals to measure your progress works in school, or on the job. For example, back to the English class. To make sure you are on track to get an "A" in the class, you could keep a log of all assignments and the grades you received on them. You can easily see your progress towards your "A." Or, if you are falling short, you can see that you need to make adjustments and where they need to be made. Adults and parents can also set short term goals to help them reach longer term goals. This could be saving for college, getting a new house, or any project you are working on at the office!

Setting short term goals may be new for you. That's ok! You have great instructors right here in our school to help you meet your goals. At first, you may need a lot of help in setting your goals and keeping track of them. Soon, however, you will be setting your own goals and well on your way to knowing that you will become a Black belt!

Good luck on your journey!

Mr. Bailey