Perseverance is the third tenet of Taekwondo.  Aside from being respectful or nice to others (courtesy), or being responsible or doing what is right (integrity), applying perseverance can help you succeed in life.

The dictionary defines perseverance as:

“steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement”

The one thing this makes clear is that perseverance is the act of being persistent at some purpose or action despite hurdles, obstacles, or discouragement.

At Koryo Family Taekwondo Center, we regularly review the meaning of perseverance, what it means, how it applies to life, and share examples of it.

Our curriculum is extensive.  This means that some students may not pick them up right away.  It is through this learning moment where we teach them perseverance.  We help them understand that the only way they will fail  at something is if they give up.  As long as they continue to try their best, they will eventually succeed.

We also remind our students that persistence isn’t enough.  If at first they don’t succeed, they will need to look at what went wrong or what they did wrong.  Once they understand this and learn from it, then and only then should they try again–only this time, they correct the mistakes of the original action.

Through perseverance, we remind our students that the only limitation they have are the ones they put on themselves.  If they put their mind to it, be persistent, and learn from mistakes, there are no limits to what they can achieve.

This is why perseverance is such an important tenet of Taekwondo.