March 2021

Meet Nathan Furman.

He is twelve years old and a blue belt.

Nathan enjoys playing; the piano, (his biggest hobby)

the violin, sports (like soccer and basketball), chess,

reading, and video games.

Nathan started Taekwondo through our 2019 summer camp.

He was looking for something to during the summer.

His mom had heard about our summer camp on Facebook

and told Nathan about it. Nathan thought this sounded like

a lot of fun and decided to try it.

After the camp was over, he decided to continue training at

Fair Lawn Taekwondo, and so his journey began.

"My biggest obstacle was worrying about not progressing

through the belt levels. I saw how well the higher belts were

doing everything and that made me worry that I wouldn't be able

to do that and I wouldn't be able to progress.

However, I quickly realized that I didn't have to do everything

as well as the higher belts did. I could just do it how a

white/yellow belt would do it, and I could get better as

I would go along. Now I don't struggle with that,

and I have yet to find another obstacle. As long as I

practice, I can get through everything with flying colors."

"I am small for a seventh grader, and so I often find myself

not up to physical par with my classmates and friends, but from

taking Taekwondo, I have gained more self confidence and

I have realized that I can do the best that I can do,

and even if they might not be very good in terms of others,

at least I'm just keeping active and healthy." - Nathan

Nathan approaches challenges the same way that

he always had. He would break them apart, find the thing

that is really challenging, and work hard on it. His motivation

is himself. He likes the feeling of accomplishments

that comes from working hard and getting results,

and that is enough for him.

Nathan's proudest accomplishments was

receiving his blue belt in Taekwondo, and getting to

play at Carnegie Hall for the Forte International Music Competition

where he won first place!!!

When asked, what advice would you give to a new student,

"If something isn't working out, don't try to tackle

it the same way. Take a step back, refocus yourself,

and come back with a different method."

When asked, what advice would you give your

younger self and older self,

"I would tell my younger self to go out and try more things.

I feel like I have been limiting myself to doing a few things

that I am good at for years, but I haven't tried anything new."

"I would tell my older self to stay true to himself.

With the amount of change that comes from puberty,

high school, and everything else that comes with those things

and after, it would be easy for me to do things that

I wouldn't want to do, or make myself think things

that I wouldn't want to think."

When asked, what would you like to be when you grow up,

"I would like to be a doctor. I don't know what kind,

but I know I would want to help people and to save lives.

When asked, how will your training from

Fair Lawn Taekwondo help you achieve your goals,

"My training will (and is) show(ing) how

I can do anything. My life is more centered around sitting

down than running around, so doing this can show how

I can achieve great things in something that might be a

tiny bit out of my comfort zone."