Sienna Bird

Junior Female Black belt.

September 2018.

Tans Coorparoo.

 

 

When I was 8,  I set a goal to achieve black belt in Taekwondo

I wanted to get a black belt because I wanted to collect all the colours, because I thought it was cool, and they would look good hanging on display in my room.  What I didn’t understand fully then, was that grading up to the different belts is a lot more than just collecting colours for display.

My Poppy was heavily into karate and boxing when he was young, and also achieved his black belt.  Poppy has been a great influence throughout my journey with martial arts, as initially it wasn’t as attractive to me as a sport like dancing for example.

While I also love and take dance class, I have grown to have a deep respect for Martial Arts. Particularly being a girl, as I feel we are underrepresented in this field.  Achieving a black belt is significant to me, my Poppy, and my fellow female peers.  It shows the mental and physical commitment I have shown to get to this level.

I love Taekwondo because I find the training fun, challenging, and good for my physical and mental health. It makes me feel more confident to deal with people in everyday situations, and has helped me with my feelings of anxiety and shyness. Having trained this far in mixed classes of male and female, and different age groups, the training has developed both my confidence and my technique.

I still think it’s cool to eventually have a belt rack with all of my coloured belts on it, but instead of thinking that it’s just cool, I now feel proud at the discipline it took me in getting there.

Sienna 🙂