Let's be honest-- each of us have our own, personal struggles and joys. If you're a martial artist like me, it's likely you have a somewhat unique set of struggles and joys in that special way.

1. When you first start out, you feel super self-conscious because you're worried how you'll look to others. Especially compared to the seemingly awesome and highly experienced black belts. You're particularly self-conscious about kiai-ing.

2. When you get to a new hard form after getting your new belt rank, you're just kind of crying/dying inside, but because you are now an upper belt, you have to remind yourself to suck it up, and that it is "TAEkwondo," not "CRYknowdo." Eventually, you get so used to performing it that it's like second nature to you, and you suddenly realize why those upper belts look so good when they're strutting their forms on the floor.

3. Now that you're into it, you find it restraining to NOT practice and even kiai when you're away from the studio for an extended time period. When you return back, the feeling of being able to belt out as loud as you possibly can in a room full of martial artists is pure LIBERATION.

4. You have to stop yourself from "bowing out" to exit a room, or show respect to/greet another person.

5. When a fellow M.A. asks, "How many boards?" you know EXACTLY what they mean. You also know how many boards are equal to a human femur, skull, rib cage, etc....

6. When someone not a martial artist does a phony kick/haymaker punch, you just kind of cringe inside...

7. Or when they have no clue of actual martial artist experience whatsoever, their primary knowledge of such thing consisting of Hollywood playacting and staged stunts, and banter/tease you about your mad, LEGIT martial artist skills. Another cringe-worthy moment. #Hollywoodisnotreallife

8. When you practice by yourself away from home and people stop to watch... Play it cool, play it cool...

9. When after practicing, particularly on pavement, your feet end up looking like you just waded through Santa's sack of coal...

10. .... Making you (for the ladies) take grave pity on pedicurists who do your feet and toenails. Black, callouses, the whole nine yards. #martialartistsfeet

11. You learn that not all surfaces you try to practice on are like that nice, smooth wooden bamboo floor back home (cough... gravel and wet lawn... cough...). And often where there IS a nice floor, you are required to wear shoes. Preferably tennis shoes that GRIP any surface they are laid bare upon.

12. That awesome moment that, when you go out on the town, you realize that you are your own bodyguard. Minus pepper spray/a taser. And honestly, it feels pretty cool that if someone tried something, you can just get out of it and most likely sprint the heck away, no prob.

13. Friends are also aware of this previously mentioned knowledge, and may have asked you, jokingly or not-so-joking, once or twice, if you could be their bodyguard in walking from someplace to another. It's kind of flattering. Kind of.

14. People think it's really cool that you're finally a black belt, but they have no idea of all the years of effort, training, and perseverance it took to get there. Never, ever take a martial artist's skills for granted, least of all a black belt's. The cooler it looks, the harder it was to master.

Fellow M.A.s, I don't know if I hit the nail on the head with all of you, but hopefully some of these struck a chord (let me know if I'm missing any, though. ;) ). These are mostly my personal experiences and thoughts on the subject (except #4;but I've heard that happen to quite a few fellow upper belts.). Give a shout out if you could relate, though! :)