Just a part of who I am

There are many facts about me that not just anyone would know. I wouldn’t call them secrets, but they are important to find out. I believe it’s the little things in life that make a person who they are today. By little things I mean experiences, reactions, likes, dislikes and just one’s everyday life. All the little details about what or someone else does every day would reveal what makes us unique and what we have in common. All those tiny mistakes that make you far from perfect. It’s that, that defines you as a person, although of course, striving to be perfect in something doesn’t hurt. But don’t you think the world would be absolutely boring if everything was perfect? There would be nothing to correct, no space for errors, no differences, no spontaneity.
Talking about experiences and how that shapes a person; I would like to tell you something that has become part of me.
Ever since I was three years old, I have been doing taekwondo. At first I always took it as a joke. I would play around all the time while the others took it so seriously. Taekwondo is based on obedience, persistence, courage, and skills. They wouldn’t fool around because if you misbehaved then they would hit your hands with a paddle. We lived in Korea at the time, so I guess to Koreans it was pretty normal since no one complained about it, except my parents. I remember that my mom and dad had stayed for one of our classes to see what we would do, and then, when we – my sister and I – behaved badly, our instructor told us to lift our hands, palms up. The paddle hitting my hand hurt and I cried a lot. My parents were shocked and angry. Later, the instructors got the message that they couldn’t do that to us and we had to behave better. I think that made me more of a rebel and I just found another excuse not to listen to them. Of course, later on I began listening to the instructors, but I still had that rebellious side that would come out once in a while. Although this is not the experience I’m talking about, it sure did help me understand that I had to behave better and be respectful.
One day, when I was around 13 years old and living in Panama, I went to a Taekwondo competition. I was very nervous since it was my first time. When it was my turn, we stepped on the mat, shook hands, and waited for the bell to ring. At first I started with simple and soft kicks since I didn’t want to really hurt her, but then she started getting rough. I began to defend myself more and realized that she was winning when I looked the scoreboard. I started kicking her with all I got, and tried to kick her head (more points), or at least try to knock her down. I was excited and full of adrenaline when abruptly our knee’s crashed together. I was in a lot of pain and my knee was turning reddish-purple, while my rival was perfectly fine. I was going to be eliminated, but it was my first fight and I wasn’t prepared to lose. So I returned to the mat to finish the fight, which was almost over anyways. I lost, but mainly because I couldn’t really kick still, but I felt good that I didn’t quit. This experience showed me what I could have done better and what I shouldn’t do.
This experience taught me that I should listen to my instructors to improve my techniques and to do better next time. Staying the fight made me feel better about myself, even if I didn’t win. I knew I wasn’t a coward because I didn’t back out the instant I got hurt. I’ve learned to defend myself. Although, this is just a part of how it would be in a real fight.