Karate Saved me by Mitch

Karate Saved me by Mitch - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

When I began studying martial arts at five years old, I did not know my right foot from my left. Asperger’s Syndrome gave me compromised motor skills and noncooperative extremities. I was awkward. The physicality needed to be proficient in karate appeared unachievable.
With the help of seasoned martial artists, I trained twice a week. After five years of hard work, "normal" physical capabilities had emerged. My instructors continued to push.
At age thirteen, I became a brown belt. I was no longer an uncoordinated little boy, but a budding young martial artist. The unachievable feat of proficiency was becoming a reality. I began training harder and more often.
When I became fifteen years old, I qualified to test for a black belt. Ten years of struggling. Ten years of self-doubt. Ten years of training was coming down to one test. I questioned my readiness. I wanted to validate to those who spent years instructing me that their efforts were not in vain.
After a vigorous year of training, the testing day arrived. What I learned from eleven years of priming would be put to the test. Almost my entire life was in anticipation of that moment. I was at peace. I gave credit to those that trained me. They formed me into the martial artist I had become. They molded me from scratch to excel at this moment. I knew, with total certainty, that their teachings would not fail me.
The test was physically draining, but as natural to me, like breathing. I finished tired, sweaty, and sore with a great sense of gratitude. Not for what I had just accomplished, but for what my instructors had mastered.
As a black belt, it has privileged me to take the role of an instructor. I presently am a sensei taking on the young students that remind me so much of myself. As I can extend my knowledge and time to others, as those did for me, I aim to help other children like myself.