"Keep pushing."
~Grandmaster Hee Il Cho
"Talent is god given, be thankful... Fame is man given, be humble... Conceit is self-given, be careful."
"We are all climbing different paths through the mountain of life, and we have all experienced much hardship and strife...The beauty of truth is that each path has its own song, and if you listen closely you will find where you belong. So climb your own path true and strong, but respect all other truths for your way for them could be wrong."
~Dan Inosanto
"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."
~Unknown
"He who hesitates, meditates in a horizontal position."
~Ed Parker
"As no one nation or one human race has the monopoly of the sun light, no one school of thought or system of discipline has the monopoly on truth. Therefore, a student of Bushido develops the spirit of humility within, and the attitude of respect without, as he searches for the Truth."
~Unknown
"A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials."
~Unknown
"You should make yourself so happy, that by looking at you, other people become happy."
~Yogi Bhajan
"I can find peace
Amidst the cities roar before the day,
frayed faces of confusion
The exhausted hour my peace is cradled within"
~ Man of Contrasts
"Pain don't hurt."
~Roadhouse
"If you're not making mistakes, you're not doing anything."
"Discipline yourself and others won't need to."
"Success is peace of mind that is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made every effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming."
~John Wooden
"If a man does his best, what else is there?"
"Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results."
"A good plan executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week."
"I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom."
~George S. Patton
"Tae Kwon Do is a hard style and on each of us it take its toll, on the joints and sinews. But this is a small price to pay for the practice of freedom."
~Dr. Zunin
"As you think, so shall you become."
"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them."
"Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable."
"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
~Bruce Lee
"Not training is training to fail."
~Emergency Response Captain
"The basics are a puzzle. Once you know them, you never need to think of them. If you don't know them, you can never get past them. If you know them, they are nothing. If you don't know them, they are everything. Take the time to make them nothing."
"All this has created a great conflict within me," Cho said. "For if I cannot use my skill to protect myself from any person who walks in off the street and demands a fight, how can I hope my students will retain confidence in my ability to teach them this skill? And yet, if I use my skill and hurt someone, even in self-defense, have I not betrayed the spirit of what martial arts are all about?"
"As a black belt, you must always be aware of the responsibility of your position and behave with dignity."
"One can go on forever developing perfection within the framework of the Martial Arts."
"It's not as easy as you thinking... lot a pains. But perseverance... indomitable spirit."
"You are born naked. You will die naked. All that you have and own can be lost, leaving you with only you - and Tae Kwon Do."
"Keep pushing."
~Grandmaster Hee Il Cho
>>Updates 5/12/2011:
"Intelligence and character is the goal of true education."
~MLK
"It is said that what is called the "Spirit of an Age" is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. In the same way, a single year does not have just spring or summer. A single day, too, is the same. For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation."
~Yamamoto Tsunetomo
>>Updates 5/17/2011:
"And so I train.
And in that training I find my strengths and weaknesses.
I find my strengths.
And in those strengths I become passive and firm.
I become passive.
And in my passivity I see myself and others.
I see myself.
And in myself I find harmony and peace that are forever within.
And so I train."
"The martial arts are not a store bought item that you are entitled to merely because you pay for the lessons. The burden is too great, and the reflection larger than the individual."
~Grandmaster Hee Il Cho
>>Updates 6/5/2011
"The master gives himself up to whatever the moment brings."
~Lao-Tzu
"I was feeling sorry for myself and talking with Grandmaster Hee Il Cho, and he told me, 'You're a champion for one day. You're a martial artist for a lifetime.'"
~Grandmaster Philip Ameris
>>Updates 6/11/2011
"There is no trick, no easy way. Success travels in the company of very hard work."
"Self-control creates consistency. Consistency is crucial to getting to the top and staying there."
"The strongest steel is well-founded self-belief. It is earned, not given. Self-belief is the knowledge that your preparation is complete, that you have done all things possible to ready yourself..."
"Balance in life is necessary for optimal performance..."
~John Wooden
>>Updates 7/3/2011
"One becomes a beginner after one thousand days of training and an expert after ten thousand days of practice."
"Subjecting yourself to vigourous training is more for the sake of forging a resolute spirit that can vanquish the self than it is for developing a strong body."
"It is possible for even the smallest of accolades of achievement to be truly worthwhile without tears and toil?"
"I realized that perseverence and step-by-step progress are the only ways to reach a goal along a chosen path."
"Each of us has his cowardice. Each of us is afraid to lose, afraid to die. But hanging back is the way to remain a coward for life. The Way to find courage is to seek it on the field of conflict. And the sure way to victory is willingness to risk one's own life."
"If you do not overcome your tendancy to give up easily, your life leads to nothing."
~Mas Oyama
"Initially, when we enter martial arts we think we need everything. We start collecting thousands of techniques. And ultimately we whittle that down, and we get one or two that are very potent. But those one or two techniques may be different for everybody. What suits me may not suit you, so we sift through the sand to find the nuggets of gold. Again, it’s not easy to find. We have to go through the whole process to reach that."
~Geoff Thompson
"With all the publicity of MMA, Boxing and Wrestling the goal of our program is sometimes not understood. We are not a fight club! We train young people to be focused, disciplined, courteous and leaders in our community. All this through Tae Kwon Do."
~Ishmael Robles
>>Updates 8/10/2011
Physical Drill has a fourfold function; to build men up physically, to wake them up mentally, to fill them with enthusiasm, and to discipline them."
~Major Herman Koehler, West Point, 1918
>>Updates 9/15/2011
"Which man can save his brother's soul? (save your brother's soul)
Oh man, it's just self control. (oo-hoo-oo!)
Don't gain the world and lose your soul (just don't lose your soul)
Wisdom is better than silver and gold"
~Bob Marley, Zion Train (the first musician to make the quotes page)
>>Updates 3/3/2012
"The taekwondo teacher is a humble link in the long chain of martial arts instruction. He or she must be sensitive not only to the students' phtsical needs, but to their spiritual and emotional requirements as well."
~Doug Cook
>>Updates 4/14/2012
"We will be relentless in our pursuit for perfection. We won't ever be perfect - but in the process we will achieve greatness."
~Vince Lombardi