What Has Kung Fu Done For Me?

  Kung Fu has been a part of my life for longer than I can even remember. I began my journey in September of 2008, a month before my third birthday. In the last 13 years, lots has come and gone, but Kung Fu has remained consistent the whole time. Over the years, I have seen multiple people give their speeches and receive their Black Belts, and now it’s my turn.

When I looked back to answer this question, it was difficult for me to answer as Kung Fu has been there for my entire life, so as far as I know, Kung Fu has done everything for me. I never knew a life without Kung Fu, so I don’t quite know what kind of person I would be without it. When I first joined, I didn’t know much about anything, as I was just under 3 years old. Compare then to know, and I know a lot more, but I still have so much to learn. That’s what I find the most interesting about my journey through Kung Fu. I could learn as much as I want, but there's always more to learn after that. There is no end to mastery.

 Even if I did achieve mastery, would I still be there the next day? Probably not. Something would be discovered that makes it so that I have years ahead of me before I would achieve mastery again.That is why I like my progress towards Mastery, as I always have something to work on, and my progress is never completely stagnant. There may be some times where I make progress slower than others, but that’s life. 

One of the biggest parts of my Kung Fu journey was not giving up. I didn’t realise this until recently, but I now see how that kind of commitment has spread into every part of my life. Not giving up has been extremely beneficial for me, as it has helped me to overcome countless obstacles in life, and has assisted me in finishing almost everything I do. 

These lessons have been taught to me ever since the very beginning, but I never realised it until I started to teach the kids classes. I realised that I was putting in the mastery lessons and the never giving up lessons into what I taught the kids. This made me realise just how major and important Kung Fu actually was in my life.

That brings us to the present day. Here I am, after all these years, giving my speech. I never thought this day would come, but here we are. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without everyone who supported me through my journey. I’d like to thank the following people for their help through it. My parents for getting me to and from class before I could do it myself, and for being my backbone throughout my whole life. The rest of my family for always being interested in my Kung Fu and keeping me motivated. All of the Sifus and Sihings throughout the years that taught me everything I know today. All the teachers that signed off on me grading for each belt. And my friends that stuck with me through the pandemic and kept inspiring me to keep going.

And now to finally answer the question of What Has Kung Fu Done for Me. It has given me a second family. A group of people that I know fairly well and who I feel welcomed by. A group that I know I can ask a lot of questions to, talk about most things, and have fun with. It is something that I will forever be grateful for and will impact me for the rest of my life. Thank you.