Taekwon-Do is often focused on the individual. We come together in the dojang to do push-ups and kicking drills and patterns together, but the benefit is for the individual. Even when we are working with a partner, it's for the benefit of each student, not as a team. Taekwon-Do competitions are focused on individual competitors, as well. While you may have teammates cheering you on or a coach on the sidelines giving guidance, only one person is in the sparring ring -- only one person has an opponent trying to punch or kick them. Only one person is being judged on the quality of their patterns, or the number of boards they can break. During testing, only one person in front of the test board being graded; only one person's effort and skill determines whether they advance in rank.
Of course, like many things in the martial arts, there is another, seemingly paradoxical side. As much as Taekwon-Do is focused on improving students as individuals, we are also tasked with being part of the community. This emphasis on community is embedded throughout our art. Courtesy, the first of the tenets, can by definition only be practiced when interacting with others. Most patterns in Taekwon-Do are named for individuals or groups that were deeply involved in bettering their society -- educators, scholars, and patriots from Korean history. The student oath requires all of us to follow those examples and "build a more peaceful world" -- a goal that is perhaps as far as you can be from focusing on a single person.
Taekwon-Do is a tool for improving us as individuals. Training pushes us to make ourselves stronger and faster. It requires us to develop self-control, to deepen our awareness of both ourselves and the world around us. But if students of Taekwon-Do think and act only for ourselves, we are squandering these tools.
Opportunities to be of service come in many forms. In the spring of 2020, the best way we can serve our community is to practice social distancing and limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus.