I started martial arts at a young age, around 8 to 9 years old. The first martial art I did was Shotokan Karate but I was barely even an orange belt when I left Shotokan in favor of ITF-Style Taekwondo. I have been studying Taekwondo ever since and now have my 3rd Dan in the style. Along the way, I began to study other martial arts as well. I now hold ranking in not only Taekwondo but also Tang Soo Do, where I am currently a Red Belt, Jujutsu (Japanese based), where I hold a Blue Belt, and I am a new student of Kung Fu. Martial arts has made a very strong impact on my life and it wasn’t until I began to get into the workplace that I discovered this.
As a software engineer, I do a lot of coding and when there is a problem a lot of scrolling through the code happens to find issues. I noticed that I can catch issues as the screen is scrolling while others around me seem to struggle with this, I attribute this to my reaction speed that has been trained and honed since I was a child. I also find that I have confidence I wouldn’t have had I not been a martial artist. One person asked me one day on the job, why I don’t mind speaking in front of a lot of people and executives. Without thinking I responded with “The executives may say that they don’t like what I said but they are not going to hit me in the face”. I said this jokingly but I think there is some truth to this, as a martial artist I am used to being in stress filling situations with my adrenaline pumping. Every time I step in the sparring ring knowing one mistake can cause injury, every time I get on the mat to roll with a someone whose goal is to try to submit me, I am full of stress yet I continue to fight and work through it.
Martial arts have allowed my mind to adjust to thinking in stressful situations to the point I don’t find them stressful and though my heart is beating fast and though I may feel a little nervous, I can still perform as though I was normal. There are definitely other things that have happened in my life that have helped me become who I am today but I would be lying if I didn’t say martial arts played a major role. For anyone who is thinking of joining the arts, just know you are about to begin a journey that does more than increase your health and make you more active. You are about to begin a journey that will change your life and improve your wellbeing and mentality in all aspects of your life. I hope you have as much fun as I am. Also by the way, my name is Anthony Hicks III.