Trapped...!

Trapped by what you say?

Trapped by our habits, thoughts, fears, and anything else that keeps us from doing what we feel inside that we should do. Trapped by whatever keeps us from fighting the good fight.

This was shot in Rome, Italy, at the Roman Forum.

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An interesting story:

Friday afternoon I sat in on a promotion test at the Tae Kwon Do Dojang that I am a part of. I was not testing myself, but as a Black Belt, I was invited by the Master to sit in at the judging table during the test to learn about judging.

During a promotion test, the person testing will always have a board break as part of the test, and sometimes several boards depending on their level. I was holding the board to be broken by one of our younger students. He was supposed to break it with a front snap kick, using the ball of his foot. It is a very simple break really, and especially if you have already done it before. Back when I first did it, I was very apprehensive about it, and spent weeks doing toe stretches in preparation. (Who wants a broken toe?)

The student, bless his heart, kicked the board and didn't break it. I groaned inwardly, because he hadn't hit it near hard or fast enough. He tried again. And again. Try as he might, he didn't seem to be able to muster the power to break it. Not because he couldn't, but because he wouldn't. He began to kick it repeatedly, more timidly with each kick.

As you might imagine, all that does is hurt your foot. The Master got sort of impatient with him, and I wondered why he was being so hard on him. It was then that I had the clear impression that there was a greater lesson in the works here. The student had plenty of power to make the break, but he was too afraid of the board for some reason. There was one kick when he almost did it, and I could feel the difference, but after that he reverted back to his weak kick.

Later on that evening as I sat and reflected on the day, I realized that the lesson had been for me as much as it had been for the student. I suppose that was why I got asked to hold the board. Not because the Master was trying to teach me, but some greater teacher was at work that afternoon. How many boards am I scared of? Scared of them even though inwardly, I have plenty of power to break them, if I just would.