A 20-year-old Kyalami resident represented South Africa during the Taekwondo World Championships in Brazil recently.
Jordan Arnold, a third-degree black belt, represented her dojo, Ace Taekwondo and the rest of South African when she participated in the invitational event which was held in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil.
“I was one of the lucky and few selected by our head instructor whereby he would choose students to represent the country.
“Training consisted of five times a week for three hours and though I worked hard, my experience overall was unbelievable, one of a lifetime,” she said.
“For myself as a black belt going overseas to see how big taekwondo was – I learned so much from how people from other countries train to, what their focus and our differences in techniques were, which was brilliant and breathtaking at the same time.”
Arnold, who came back home with a silver medal for patterns, said she started doing taekwondo when she was nine years old and just fooling around. “I started out just following my brothers. I didn’t care much for it then as I thought that I was too small to be good at it.
“Nonetheless, I continued as my brothers did, and taekwondo continued to become an increasingly bigger part of me over the years. These past 10 years with taekwondo has transformed me from the whiny nine-year-old to someone with more self-control, concentration, attention, and grit.”
Arnold added, “This sport most affected me in my relation with school and the stress it comes with. As the responsibilities of school stack up each year, I see many of my fellow students under greater stress. However, when a stressful situation is placed upon me, I resort to the basic teaching that I learned on day one –breathing, that we practice in every class.
“It lets me forget about whatever test I have the next day or what essays I have due. It seems silly to say, as we breathe every second of every day in our lives, but somehow we seem to forget how to breathe when we’re under stress. This is what taekwondo has taught me.”
After realising her passion for the sport Arnold encourages everyone to be persistent in following their dreams. “It’s not about what I cannot do, it’s about how I can do it. It is the statement, ‘I can and I will’ that changes everything.
“That aspect gives perspective, builds patience, grows confidence, and the expectation to be better. That automatically trickles into other aspects of life. What master Jung calls the ‘do’, or the management of our minds to find ‘it’ within ourselves to grow and be better at the things we do. And that is what Taekwondo has taught me.”
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