Although many students may have participated in a martial arts program when they were younger, few have been as dedicated as sophomore Taylor James has, going through the entire program to advance all the way from the beginning white belt to a junior black belt.

When James first walked into the doors of Sandpoint Taekwondo with no experience, she felt very nervous. Surrounded by people she didn’t know and about to begin an intense sport she had never participated in before, the scene was certainly intimidating.

“At first, it kind of freaked  me  out, but once you get to know everyone, it was really welcoming,” James  said.

After getting to know her peers and becoming familiar with her surroundings and her training, James participated in the program for five and a half years, earning new belts along the way, until she finally got the opportunity to test for her black belt.

To achieve a black belt is no easy task, and as with most people it proved to be a challenge for James, sometimes even causing her to question whether she wanted to continue or not. Despite these negative thoughts, James determinedly persevered, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

“There were several times where I didn’t really want to continue, where I wanted to quit, but I knew that in the end it would all be worth it, so I just had to hang in there,” James said.

Through  the rigorous training required to obtain her black belt, James learned many techniques for self-defense, a skill that people all across the country join a martial arts program to gain; however, she believes that her self-defense skills, while important, were not the most meaningful part of the experience.

“I think the most rewarding thing is probably all that it had taught me,” James said. “I’d say it’s not only taught me to defend myself, but it’s also taught me a lot of life lessons that are really valuable.”

One of those life lessons likely came when James was training to earn her black belt. More so than any other part of her time in martial arts, it required time-consuming, dedicated training to be achieved.

“I put in a lot of time to do it”, James said. “I had to go there two or three times a week for over three hours, three or four hours, so it was a lot of work, and it took some time, but it was worth it.”

Through all of the training, the grit, and the perseverance, James gained multiple skills, experiences, and lessons that she will be able to take with her for the rest of her life.

Although she had to put taekwondo on hold in order to play basketball last year, she still can see the importance of martial arts in everybody’s life.

“I think it’s a very valuable thing to have,” James said.

Whether people desire to join a martial arts program as a method for staying fit and learning self-defense techniques or as a way to improve as a person, or to be pushed hard to achieve something that may at times seem unattainable, martial arts has provided James and other dedicated SHS students with plenty of lifelong benefits.