Andrew Feng

I have been practicing Kung Fu since 1st grade, and I think it’s safe to say that I learned a lot along the way. Even after receiving my black belt, I’m still learning a lot. And I enjoyed every moment of it. Even the failures. I first joined because of a friend’s influence (who sadly discontinued) and that I thought it was cool. Now I keep doing it because it is an enjoyable hobby that helps me grow both physically and mentally.

Kung Fu has made me less hotheaded over the years (I’ve made some rash decisions in the past) and I made hopefully new lifelong friends who are a joyous bunch, really. It certainly has taught me to strive big, but to keep in mind my physical and/or mental ability.

Having an open mind and being flexible (while being physically flexible is cool, that’s not what I’m talking about) in general is important to working well in others and in society. It’s more helpful to change something based on those around you, such as a schedule or a skill set, rather than forcing everyone to mould themselves around you, like forcing people to reschedule an event because something was taking place on that day. I know people have important events, but they should decide what takes precedence.

Being open minded is important because the bad things in our society, such as racism and prejudice in general comes from being narrow minded. If people were more open minded and less stubborn, then we wouldn’t have this problem in our society. It’s also beneficial to you because if you would go out and try new things rather than just assuming an experience based on another video, it would make for a better experience, rather than just watching someone do it and jump to conclusions based on that. So next time you want to try something new, go for it. Worst case scenario, you don’t like it. But that’s ok, because now you know from experience, and can give insight on that to others.