MR WILLIAM FIEN 2ND DEGREE

My journey as a martial artist began as a teenager outside of New York City.  I had been beaten up several times pretty badly by some misguided youth, and began to study ways to defend myself.  I started to study whatever I could and went through several styles and teachers.  The basic movements I learned I took back to my heavy bag and practiced consistently.  I had been an amateur boxer briefly and also had been shown some rudimentary kicks.  I distinctly remember the day I was working out on the heavy bag and the kicks and the punches came together as a single art. 

That was thirty years ago.  I still diligently practice my combinations on the bag, and implore the lower belts to take what they learn in class and apply it by hitting the bag.  This is where the movement has a metamorphosis from the intellectual to the instinctual and reflexive.  The “no mind” state or the “formless form” arises spontaneously from the situation and immediately adapts to changes.

Sparring and tournament competition helped me to develop a connection with an opponent a deeper awareness of distance and timing.  There is a courage and discipline that grows the more you spar.  It is the self-knowledge that you can take a shot, maintaining composure and calmness of mind to survive and defend yourself, is paramount in relinquishing your fear. These are very tough lessons to learn indeed.   Fear can be sensed by an opponent just as a dog senses your fear, and this can be capitalized on.

It was a difficult lesson for me to learn a controlled retreat that was just enough distance to facilitate a rapid, effective counter attack.  In many cases I found it wasn’t the fastest or strongest that won, but the player that had the patience and guts to wait for the opening or the eventual mistake.  Grandmaster states in our AIMAA curriculum “Confidence, clarity, calmness are the essential elements in all self defence. Dedicated training provides both technique and state of mind to execute them.”

In Hawaii my Tae Kwon Do study was furthered under Walter Harrington of Kaneohe.  Mr. Bryan Amona introduced me to that school and together we progressed to the rank of Black Belt.  After Mr. Harrington’s death at the age of 39, I continued the practice on my own with the heavy bag until Mr. Amona introduced me to Grand master Hee Il Cho where I have been studying since November of 2005.  I have met many of you in Hawaii as you have made the pilgrimage to honour our Grandmaster.  I have seen how the dedication and intense work ethic of our European family is a source of joy and pride to the Grandmaster.  Those I have not met, I know that we grow together in the AIMAA family and that someday I hope to meet you as we travel this road of TKD.

I am grateful for all those who shared there knowledge and energy with me in the fighting arts, but I regret not having had stayed with one art continuously throughout my life.  I’d like to caution the youth reading this not to spread yourself too thin studying many different arts and styles.  Stick with one.   I regret being a jack of all trades master of none. When the student is ready the teacher will appear.   I believe that I am now ready to humbly serve the greatest martial artist I have ever seen.  I am truly honoured to be permitted to wear a black belt in Grandmaster Cho’s school.  I rededicate myself to Tae Kwon Do, and the perfection and transmission of its patterns and philosophy to the next generation.

Physically I cannot expect to achieve what the younger students can, but I know I can use the art to develop more self control, and calm in stressful situations.

Martial arts are a way of life for me.  I believe that Tae Kwon Do puts my life in proper perspective and quiets my mind and spirit to a point where I can harmonize with nature.  It is my spiritual path.  It started with fear progressed through self discipline to confidence and assertiveness then transforming mysteriously to peace, joy and humility.  I have recently gone through a series of emotion losses. I’m so grateful to Tae Kwon Do for being the keel in my storm of life. The Dojang has literarily become my second family and I truly care about the lives and aspirations of the fellow students I have the honour to teach and study with.

What I can tell people who wonder what it is like to train daily with our Grandmaster Hee Il Cho, is that he is the same as you see on any of his DVD or video instructional tape.  He trains consistently more than any one I’ve seen, and then teach several classes in a row. I am twenty years his junior, and I assist him in one of these classes and I’m exhausted with a sore throat.  I come in early to the Dojang to find him kicking the heavy bag and working out on weights or sitting in splits in his office reading student essays. 

He is most joyful and playful with the panthers and genuinely has fun teaching the little ones. 

I feel he is most proud of his juniors the ones that excel and try the hardest he calls his “hope for the future.” Or “future master”   GMHIC has nicknames for all his juniors and knows how to encourage and raise their self esteem. 

Adult class is like boot camp; I have never been motivated and pushed like GMHIC can push you.  He continually adds new tools to my tool box of combinations and fighting techniques.  The depth of his knowledge is unfathomable and his small points are not easily understood by lower ranked individuals. 

I can occasionally glimpse the content he is trying to relay on a deeper level.  We get lectures after class about being grateful for our health, and being better people and instructors. This is my journey so far and the rest is yet to be written.

 Yours in Tae Kwon Do

Mr. William G. Fien 2nd Degree

A.I.M.A.A World Headquarters, Hawaii, USA. 

MR WILLIAM FIEN BEING HONOURED BY GM HEE IL CHO ON THE SUCCESS OF HIS 2ND DEGREE TESTING.

AIMAA HQ, NOVEMBER 2009.