[Essay] 2nd Degree Black Belt - What is a Hongik Leader?

[Essay] 2nd Degree Black Belt - What is a Hongik Leader?

 

For the past few years, taekwondo has been a big part of my life. I started back when I

was a fifth grader in elementary school and this studio was just getting started, and now I'm a

freshman in high school. The time has gone by really fast for me. I remember my first class four

years ago, and I also remember the day I received my first-degree black belt over a year ago.

 

Since that day, I've trained continuously and improved on many skills, I've also learned a lot.

The topic for my essay is about what being a Hongik Leader means to me and how being one is

different than being an ordinary leader. Since becoming a black belt and gaining more

responsibility, especially in roles of leadership, I've gained a higher understanding of this topic.

The word Hongik means to 'benefit others.' A Hongik Leader is someone who uses their

leadership skills to benefit other people and help those in need, influencing others to do the

same as them. A Hongik Leader is self-disciplined, educated, humble, and empathetic. They

don't just value physical strength, they also prioritize mental strength. They work to have a

deeper understanding of themselves in order to improve themselves and remove any

undesirable traits or fears. For example, if they find themselves afraid to talk to people, they

search deeper into the cause of this fear and may rediscover a memory of them embarrassing

themselves in early childhood. Once they find the cause, they attempt to remove the fear. This

leads to Hongik Leaders having a deep understanding of themselves, and once they understand

themself, it makes it easier for them to understand other people and why they may behave the

way they do. This makes it so their teaching and leadership have more impact.

 

A regular leader may not care enough to even attempt to try to understand the person

they are teaching. They may only be teaching for the purpose of money or greed and other

materialistic things, rather than understanding the true value of guiding others to success and

leaving a positive impact on the lives of others, they only think of themselves and what they can

achieve out of it. A regular leader may also lack humility and may tend to be braggadocious and

arrogant, preferring to talk about themselves and their achievements rather than being humble

and polite. A Hongik Leader remains humble, even when they have the authority through

leadership, they choose not to brag. A Hongik Leader also leaves a lasting impact on every

person they help, they spread the value of Hongik and how to benefit others in daily life. They

shape each person they help into a better person, who someday may even become a Hongik

Leader as well. I hope to become an even greater leader throughout my life and to continue the

practice of Hongik leadership, because helping others is truly the best way to help yourself.