/UCWE/ - The following is an article by Martial Arts Master Reza Ghasry, a martial arts instructor who had three students go on a journey that is insipriing. This is the article:

One of my greatest moments as a teacher of martial arts came in the summer of 2006, when three of my junior black belts traveled to Tanzania, Africa on a family excursion with their mother Sarina. Kyra, Quentin and Teya Vitko practiced with me for seven years when they received their Black Belt in June 2006. I was proud to learn that soon after they had planned to teach Tae Kwon Do to the children who they would meet in orphanages as they traveled. This is their story:

“We never thought that our journey in Tae Kwon Do would take us to the rural remote area of Tanzania, but it did and it changed our lives forever! We are a family that consists of two sisters and a brother and we started training when we were seven, nine and eleven years of age. Our training began as recreational, fun activity. Eventually our practice turned more into a dedicated weekly ritual as we began to view our training as a holistic approach to our art form that included body, mind and spirit.

Two weeks after our black belt ceremony we found ourselves traveling across the planet to Africa. Our mother, who travels around the world studying and teaching the performing arts, was the coordinator, motivator and the backbone behind the project. Her idea to integrate a white belt ceremony was inspired by our achievements in receiving our black belts in Tae Kwon Do. She thought this would be an amazing experience for us by expanding our horizons and sharing our mastery with others in need. The African AIDS predicaments affects millions of people and in particular the children. The intention in implementing the Tae Kwon Do program was to empower the Tanzanian children that would never have the opportunity to experience the joy of martial arts.

Our initial response, being the teenagers that we are, to our mother’s request was to persuade her that this idea would never work and that we were too unskilled to teach the kids. However, she believed that it was going to be incredible for all of us and she never let us back away. Our Tae Kwon Do instructor, Master Reza Ghasry, immediately jumped on the opportunity to help us. He donated 50 white belts that we would be able to distribute to the children at the end of the camp in a testing ceremony.

Our first day working at the orphanage was something that we could have never imagined. All the children in the orphanage participated and children from the village of Iwambi joined as well. One hundred children between the ages of 4-17 showed up on our first day of camp. We danced, we sang songs and did arts and crafts. Finally, it was time to teach them Tae Kwon Do. We lined all the children up and began the lesson. At first, we were nervous and constantly kept telling our mom that this was not going to work and the hundred children would not pay attention. They only spoke Swahili and they had never seen the art of Tae Kwon Do. To our surprise, the children responded with great enthusiasm. They performed each move with the greatest focus and immense amounts of pride. The first class lasted about 15 minutes. The next day we began again. This time, when the children were told it was time for Tae Kwon Do, they immediately aligned themselves in straight lines and got into “Ready Stance”. We knew the kids were smart and we knew they wanted to learn, so we decided to teach them Taegeuk [form] One. Throughout the next two weeks we practiced punches, kicks, blocks, stances and forms. The children were incredible! It was their favorite part of the day. It was our favorite part of the day.

One of our most memorable experiences in Tanzania was when we visited a small village called Mahongo. Mahongo was a two hour car ride from any other village or city and had no access to water, electricity or any medical service. We had no water that day and the weather was sweltering hot. We met all the children in the center of the village to begin the camp in the morning. When we arrived, there were over four hundred children and surrounding them were adults and the elders of the village who came to watch. We were so overwhelmed by the amount of people that we told our mother that there was no way we were going to teach a Tae Kwon Do class. Sure enough, and not to our surprise, she said we would have to and that we would benefit from it later. We were nervous. We were scared. How could we control over four hundred children? How was this going to work? Quentin immediately took charge. “Ready stance!” he yelled over all the talking and showed them the position. It went silent and all the children mimicked him. “Horse’s stance!” we screamed again. This time they repeated our words and then copied our stance again. We taught them a variety of punches, kicks and blocks. They were so focused and so enthusiastic with learning the moves that we could have taught them forever.

We could have never imagined that three new black belt teenagers could ever teach a group of over one thousand kids Tae Kwon Do. It was one of the most rewarding experiences or our lives. Unbeknownst to us, another inspiring experience would transform our perception.

It was our final day working in Iwambi and it was our belt ceremony for the children. We were now aware of the joy that these lessons had brought to the children, but we did not fully understand how much we were going to be affected by the experience too. At the beginning of the lesson we told the children that today was very special and they would have to try extra hard and be even more focused. They listened and nodded with eyes wide opened completely prepared to begin. We wanted this experience to be as similar to the one we had when we received our first belt. We first reviewed everything we had taught them and then began the test. We brought each row up one by one and they performed punches, kicks, blocks and Taegeuk [form] one. Their form, though not perfect, was filled with strength, focus and control. At the end of the testing we called each child up, wrapped the belt around their waist and shook their hand. We had cut each belt in half because we had double the amount of children than expected. We gave one hundred children their white belts for Tae Kwon Do that day. The feeling of giving these children their belts is indescribable. Not only were we proud of what we had accomplished as a family and as black belts, but we were so proud of how dedicated and attentive the children in Iwambi were. They put all their hearts into learning what we taught them and thanked us greatly for coming to Tanzania to share what we know.
It is so unbelievable that we were so fortunate enough to have the experience to go to Tanzania. It is even more incredible that us three siblings could work along side each other and create an opportunity for those children who never would have had the chance to experience such joys that we have in our North American society. Tae Kwon Do has had such a huge impact on our lives. However, now we understand the martial art on a whole new level. We had always known that our Tae Kwon Do training was not just about kicking as hard as you can or doing a form as fast as you can. We knew that focus, concentration and belief are a huge part of training. But now, we understand it. These children did not have a beautiful dojo to train in. They were not taught by Tae Kwon Do masters. And, they did not have sparring hear or proper uniforms. But they were focused. They worked hard and they wanted to do well. It is magical to look back at the pictures and see what they accomplished in such a short period of time. These children were an inspiration to us not just as people but as martial artists. We now are thankful for everything we have in our North American life. We are so fortunate for our great health, an amazing family and the opportunity to be able to practice Tae Kwon Do.

Next time when we are struggling with a certain kick or form, we will look back to the friendships we make in Tanzania and the belief those children (who had absolutely nothing compared to our abundant lives) had in themselves. It is from those memories where we can find the motivation to believe in ourselves and realize anything is possible. It is just the act of believing.”
 

Kyra Vitko (17), Quentin Vitko (15), Teya Vitko (13) are currently training at Champion Martial Arts Centre in Toronto, Canada.
 

Reza Ghasry