A Lesson In Humility From Master Kim
Before each class I would see Master Kim sweeping the training floor with a huge dust mop. I would ask him, as would other students, to relinquish the mop and let me sweep the floor. He would simply smile and send me on my way to practice forms or to stretch.
Master Kim was a Vietnam Veteran with the Korean equivalent of the Special Forces. He had great stories of parachute mishaps and teaching tae kwon do to American soldiers high on marijuana in the 1970’s. At no more than 160 pounds, he could bang out multiple 225 pound bench press reps with no problem. He could hit double-unders with the jump rope effortlessly. He could drop into full splits with no warm up. Master Kim was 60 years old and he was an 8th degree black belt master.
Legitimate 8th degree black belts are rare. Sure, in the United States the “self promoted” or corporate 8th degrees are common place. But in Korea, that 8th degree is a true honor. With a life time of training behind him, Master Kim had only recently been promoted to 8th degree at the age of 60.
And there he was, sweeping the floor before every class. A true demonstration of humility through action.
But the greatest demonstration of humility and restraint that I saw from Master Kim came one day when a new student joined the class.
She was a soldier straight out of basic training who caught Korea as her first duty station. She couldn’t have been more than 20 years old and god bless her for trying to learn the language of her new host country…
During her second tae kwon do class, and in front of the whole class, she addressed Master Kim as “Adashi”.
If I remember correctly, Adashi translates literally as “uncle”. But it translates practically as “dude”. It’s how you address cab drivers. It’s how you address street vendors. It is NOT how you address your 8th degree master tae kwon do instructor.
It was the classic nails on the chalkboard moment. It was the needle scratching across the record. When she addressed Master Kim as Adashi, everyone stopped. No one in the class breathed.
But Master Kim seemed unfazed. In his heavily accented, but otherwise perfect English, he looked at her with a broad smile and said, “Your hungul-mal is pretty good. But everyone here just calls me Master Kim.”
And that was it. Master Kim went right back to barking the cadence for the unending barrage of kicks that were part of every class like nothing had happened.
A true demonstration of humility through action.
