Outdoor Ribbon Examination was held in Redwood City, with masters Gerardo Ortiz (5th Dan) and Henry Villar (4th Dan).
Editor. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
Three students from Casa Circulo Cultural and Metro Tae Kwon Do, in Redwood City, took the first stage of their outdoor black belt exam this Saturday with masters Gerardo Ortiz (5th Dan) and Henry Villar (4th Dan).
It takes a person four to six years of arduous and constant training to become a black belt. "Due to the pandemic we had suspended the exams, but today we resumed outdoors, with social distance and using masks, so that students do not fall behind. In addition to these children continued training with great effort via Zoom from their homes," said the teacher Ortiz.
It took Eliot six years to reach his 1st Dan black belt exam. He started training taekwondo and is now 12 years old. Neal and Sofia were tested for 2nd Dan.
Taekwondo, explained Master Ortiz, provides enormous benefits to children, adolescents and adults. "This sport forms human beings with discipline, perseverance, and high self-esteem, in addition to serving as an instrument of self-defense.
However, obtaining the black belt is a great achievement that very few reach. "I estimate that out of a hundred children who start training taekwondo, between one and two will reach the 1st dan black belt," said Master Ortiz. "Moving up to second and third dan is even more complicated. Possibly, one out of every 500 taekwondo students reaches these levels.
"Whether a child gets a black belt depends not only on his or her own hard work, but also to a great extent on the parents, since they are the ones who should support and motivate their children. Many parents keep their children jumping from one activity to another, and that's not a bad thing, but that way the children don't go deep into anything or learn to complete what they start," said Ortiz, who began training the sport as a child in Mexico.
However, explained Master Ortiz, all students who train taekwondo, regardless of the belt they reach, get a benefit that is usually for life.
For more information about taekwondo classes: http://www.metrotkd.org
