I will respect my instructors and seniors ...

Tae Kwon Do is a pathway. We are all somewhere along the path. There are some who are behind us and there are some who have passed ahead of us. The pathway of Tae Kwon Do is hard and those who have gone before us help us progress when they become our teachers. Therefore, it is good and right that we honor them with the respect that is due to them.

Part of this is built into the belt ranking system and part into the way a class is run.

The colored belts tell us where we all stand in relation to one another. If you are a green belt you can walk into a class, even a foreign class, and tell immediately where you are in the line of students. It is the same way among the black belts. First through third degrees are experts. Fourth through sixth degrees are masters and seventh degrees and above are grandmasters. To achieve such ranks means that one has earned the respect of the underbelts by virtue of the work involved getting to such a position.

But respect is not only awarded, it is also earned. In the class itself we have people who teach, who give of themselves to pass the art of Tae Kwon Do on to those who are coming after us. It is also right to give respect to those who give themselves to us.

The second line of the student oath "I will respect my instructors and seniors." This tells us that respect is given to those to whom respect is due. White belts respect yellow belts, because the yellow belt is senior to the white belt. Yellow belts respect the orange belts and so on. Everyone honors their instructors. And the instructors honor those who taught them. It is the way of Tae Kwon Do to give such respect.

You show that respect in dozens of ways. How you bow, how you speak, for example, your tone of voice are two ways respect can be demonstrated. How well you pay attention and follow instructions is another way. Certainly, if you are reading this you can think of other ways to show respect to those who are your seniors and teachers.

The second line of the Tae Kwon Do student oath, it is part of the Tae Kwon Do way.