For a good portion of my life I was involved in Tae Kwon Do, a Korean style of Martial Arts, but towards the end of high school I had to stop because I didn’t have time in my schedule for it anymore. However, one of my older brothers kept going to classes. Last week he had his promotion to second degree black belt, and it was a really interesting experience for me.

At the beginning of the test, the head of the school talked a bit about what they would be showcasing, one of them being Forms. Forms are essentially a choreographed set of moves that show what you would do if a person was attacking you in a specific way. When he was explaining to the audience what forms were it got me thinking about form in general.

There are many different styles and mediums of art, but this experience made me realize how form isn’t just limited to being a shape on a canvas, or a piece of a sculpture. Form can have many different embodiments, and Tae Kwon Do is just another version of it.

For the past few years the word “form” has only had meaning to me in the sense of artwork, being that’s its one of the elements and principles of design. Hearing him talk about forms more in depth got me to think about how Tae Kwon Do is a type of art. It’s not just about self-defense and discipline, it’s a means of expression.

There are so many aspects of our lives that showcase different elements of design and art, but sometimes you have to look a little bit harder to realize that. I’m really glad that I was able to see past the technical side of Tae Kwon Do, and open up to see it in a new way that can relate more to what I’m passionate about.