I am a student of Tae Kwon Do

That is the first line of the student oath. It says a lot.

It tells us first that we are people who study Tae Kwon Do (TKD). TKD is a martial art studied for sport and defense. It is taught to combat troops. It is dangerous. Therefore we need to be constantly aware of what we are doing. We need to be cognizant of ourselves and our surroundings. That is one benefit of studying tae kwon do. Focus, discipline, concentration, awareness ... these are qualities that are developed by studying something potentially dangerous.

The line also reminds us that we are students. We are constant learners. It doesn't matter if you are a white belt, black belt, master or grandmaster. No one, no matter how good he or she is, knows everything. There is always room for improvement. We are humans, therefore, we are imperfect. And since perfection is always just out of our reach, we can keep pressing to become better and better. None of us have reached that lofty pinnacle wherein we have nothing else to learn. Even the grandmaster is just an advanced student. We are all learning.

One last thing I notice is this ... that (at least) in English, "student" is a unisex word. It is neither male nor female. All of us, men and women, who have taken up this study, are students. I have trained with men and women in various dojangs and gyms and I have found both sexes to be very capable students of tae kwon do. In our class, our school, we are all friends, even family. There is no room for a sexist attitude. There is no reason for someone to begin to think they are superior to anyone else by virtue of the gender they were born with. We are all there to help ourselves and to help each other grow in the art of tae kwon do.

The first line of the student oath says so much. "I am a student of Tae Kwon Do." Yes, I am.