I always wanted to help other people achieve, live better, and learn more about themselves. When I started teaching a martial art, it was my chance to do just that.
After I earned my first degree black belt, my husband and I reached out to the community to fill a need for students who could not afford to pay for classes. We stumbled upon a community center in the midst of a troubled neighborhood, where crime and social breakdown were inherent. It was a place where martial arts could really make a difference.
Martial arts gave these kids and their families the confidence to strive for something better, and a way to help protect themselves. It offered them a safe place and a makeshift family who cared about them. In fact, when a teenage brother and sister lost their caregiver grandfather, we nearly adopted them just before one of their own family members finally stepped forward. You could say our impact on them was as strong as their impact on us.
We taught there for seven years, longer than most of the employees stayed on staff. People would come and go, but we remained steadfast in our mission until we began to start our own family. We got better as teachers. During those years, we honed our skills and our talents. We learned how to relate to students and meet their needs. We understood their dilemmas and felt their heartaches and worries. And, we taught with passion because of it. It gave us the basis for our current program and explains why our relationships with our students and their families hold more value to us than any money we could ever make from teaching.
In 1995, the local newspaper took my picture teaching the children because the reporter thought it was newsworthy. They saw me as someone who wanted to teach just to help others. So, right under a big headline about murder, a large picture of me graced the page.
These children lived a difficult life, but in many ways they were just the same as the kids we teach today. When a child comes to class for the first time, he is either very excited or very scared. Either way, it is important to calm him down and help him learn to control his excitement or fear and mold it into something useful. Over time, he changes. It’s gradual. One day he no longer bounces up and down while waiting in line. He controls his desire to distract other students, and he begins to listen. Wow! He’s a martial art student, and a good one at that. Teaching him has made a difference, and that is the biggest reward ever.
Adults are different. They come to class with age-old baggage and preconceived notions about what they expect to learn and what they think they can do. Some are anxious to earn a belt, others are just happy to not fall over when they execute a kick. Either way, teaching adults is exciting because they are willing to try, and try hard. All their energy and all their desire to learn comes crashing out even if they are quiet, shy, or introverted.
Children and adults both overcome personal obstacles, shake the hand of challenge, and learn more about themselves when they practice a martial art. In all of my years of teaching, however, it was those seven consecutive years in that troubled neighborhood that taught me the most.
Teaching underprivileged kids for seven years was amazing. Just a while ago, the young boy in that newspaper photo above, who I almost adopted, contacted me and we reconnected. When he called he asked if I remembered him. “Of course I do, I almost adopted you,” I said. He said, “I know.”
You never know the impact you will make in someone’s life or how things will circle around again when you do something for someone else.
Keep pushing through! You are making a difference.
xoxo
Andrea
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Thank you for sharing your story with us. it is a wonderful experience.
My pleasure!
What a great post and a wonderful experience. Those kids will always remember how you made them feel valued.
Thank you so much!