Caroline's Black Belt Story

When my daughter started Hapkido at the age of five, someone suggested to me that she'd be more likely to stick with the sport if a parent did it with her. So I watched her classes, talked to other adults who were black belts, and asked the instructors if I could do the program in a "mommy" way -- over a number of years to accommodate my young children. I wrote down my goal of being a black belt, told everyone I wanted to become a black belt, and envisioned myself onstage receiving my black belt from our Grand Master. Five years later, after many bumps, bruises and mental challenges -- I became a black belt! The most important steps for me in achieving this goal were having other adult black belts as role models, breaking it down into many reasonable steps, telling people about my goal and doing it with someone I love -- my daughter, who is also a black belt now!"