"Impossible" Is a Relative Term

I have loved martial arts since I was a child, whether in the form of cartoons, movies or video games. However, because I am a cerebral palsied quadriplegic, I long considered it outside of my capability to ever actively train in one.

That all changed a little over a year and a half ago when I became a member of Stingers Taekwon-Do, under Sabum Sean Cremer. Given my physical limitations, he had to develop a specialised regime to increase my mobility, range of motion, strength and cardiovascular fitness.

The beauty of Taekwon-Do (which originated as a Korean military art) is that all students are considered equal, regardless of race, religion, gender or any other factor by which the outside world chooses to define people. In training, my disability is little more than a challenge to be overcome and I take pride in doing so without preferential treatment or undue gentleness from my instructors. The honoured founder of our art, General Choi Hong Hi put it best when he said, "Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to go to his class."

The symbolic meaning of each rank in Taekwon-Do.

 At the time of this writing, I hold the rank of yellowbelt and am now capable of things I never even dreamed possible. Below are some clips of me engaged in various exercises. Let me be clear about this - if you have a goal, be prepared to suffer on the road to attainment. You can't truly appreciate the value of something until you earn it.