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 Master
Kirkwood and A.I.M.A.A Scotland are proud that
Mr & Mrs Sean Farrell have taken the time out of
their busy schedule to write about how they got
started in the martial arts and how they have
grown since taking it up!
Mr & Mrs
Farrell, live and teach in New Mexico, USA,
where they teach the local children and adults
the art of Tae Kwon Do, as well as the weapon
"Bo staff" to to those wishing to add an
additional aspect to their training.
This mighty
duo are formidable figures within A.I.M.A.A and
have been at Grandmaster Cho's side for many
years. Having first started out as Grandmaster
Cho's students, they then took over the New
Mexico HQ, when Grandmaster relocated the
A.I.M.A.A HQ to Hawaii.
To read their
mini biography on their life in martial arts,
when they started out and what they wish for the
future, read on...
BIO
OF MR & MRS SEAN FARRELL, NEW MEXICO, USA
Hi my name is Denise Farrell and along with my
husband Sean Farrell we have been studying
martial arts for over 15 years. We have been
married over 20 years and met in High School at
the age of 15. We have two adult children that
have trained in martial arts as well. In 2008 we
became grand-parents of a beautiful little girl.
We started as a family in the art of Wushu and
trained for 6 years earning our black belts. The
learning was a great experience which we leaned
several weapons, such as the broad sword, staff,
tri sectional staff and straight sword. I went
to China and trained with the Beijing Wushu team
for two weeks and learned how hard they work,
the work outs were four hours long twice per
day. I was humbled in the way these people
trained and lived. I must say that experience
was something I will never fail to remember.
We had a magnificent time training as a family
and traveling nationwide to compete in
tournaments. We learned so much about all the
different styles of martial arts. When our
instructor closed his school down, we began
searching for a new school. In our search we
found Grandmaster Hee Il Cho’s Tae Kwon Do
center in Albuquerque, NM.
Our family started training
under Grandmaster Hee Il Cho, we decided
it would be best to start all over again as a
white belt. We helped
with the School and I worked in the office for
Grandmaster Cho and really enjoyed assisting his
children’s classes. In 2003 Grandmaster
announced he would be moving his world
headquarters to Hawaii. Grandmaster asked if
Sean and I would want to take over the
Albuquerque School. We were blessed and honoured
to do it. For the first few years it was a
really hard transition, the responsibility of
maintaining and teaching classes was a difficult
task.
Not being able to train with grandmaster Cho on
almost a daily basis was and still is very
difficult to this day. Now we had to change our
schedules, Mr. Farrell still had to work his day
job, then he would come directly from his work
to the studio to help with the kids classes and
teach the adult classes. Finding time to train
was a huge transition, because we were now
teaching when we were used to training with
grandmaster Cho. It has been 6 years now and a
very challenging but rewarding experience
Grandmaster Cho has been a huge inspiration to
us and made such an incredible impact in our
lives. It is so great to know that Grandmaster
Cho, the AIMAA masters and AIMAA instructors are
a phone call or email away, the support is
amazing.
Grandmaster Cho taught us about the
three aspects which we aim to develop in Tae
Kwon Do and martial arts they are Body, Mind and
Spirit. These three aspects must be developed in
balance.
The first aspect is Body, is
developed through the physical exercises
involved in martial arts training. Conditioning
exercises that lead to strength, flexibility and
an improvement in your body.
The second aspect is Mind, Mental
training also calls for active learning in the
way of listening, reading and thinking. Students
are not to limit themselves to learning just
about kicking and punching, but must learn about
history, philosophy, and any other subject that
might have a manner on the martial arts.
The third aspect is Spirit.
Practice of the martial arts is a pursuit of
personal improvement. To have a strong mind and
body the true martial artist should also strive
to be strong in spirit. He should have a goal in
life and a firm foundation of beliefs to guide
him.
The true martial artist is Modest, courteous,
has integrity, self control, perseverance and
indomitable spirit but is also confident, and
prepared to give way to others but unwilling to
accept injustice. By developing all three
aspects of the martial arts you can become a
master. Without equal development of all three
aspects, a martial artist will never accomplish
balance in his life and will never be a true
martial artist.
As Instructors and students we are still
learning and eager to learn more. With the
foundation of Tae Kwon Do we can plant seeds to
help others better themselves and together to
build a more peaceful world.
Sean and I are a team and when one of us down
the balance is thrown off. We can never see
ourselves not teaching or training in Tae Kwon
Do or being with the greatest association in the
world (AIMAA).
In the next 10 years we will be teaching our
grand children ,a new generation and passing on
the aspects to them. Also, we see Sean retiring
from his main job and together running the
school on a full time basis. With hard work,
dedication and perseverance this dream will
happen.
Denise & Sean Farrell, A.I.MA.A USA.
Interested in reading more on Mr & Mrs Farrell,
Then, why not drop in a see what A.I.M.A.A New
Mexico is all about and visit their
international site by
clicking here... |