The seven-day taekwondo training in Korea had just begun and I tried to adjust quickly to our new routine, starting with waking up bright and early at 6:3o am. Next came stretching before the 5 mile run around the soccer field at Vision College. Stair workouts and interval training came after and then a well-deserved break for Korean lunch. After the tasty meal, we went back to stretch, practice basic movements, kicks, and poomsae (forms) for 4 hours in the afternoon. Since we were new to this training, our masters, Master Kwangil Bae, and Christopher Hyun thought our legs would be sore from the workouts, so they took us to the traditional Korean Spa.

When we went inside, we collected our spa cover-ups and put our shoes into the downstairs locker. Then the girls went upstairs to get ready to enter the hot tubs. When I first went in I was very shocked! It is traditional to not wear swimsuits at a Korean spa, so it was uncomfortable for me at first, but eventually, I got over it. After I undressed, I took a shower to clean off and dropped my soaps at the locker before hopping into the tubs. When I went in, there were five different pools: freezing tub, jetted tub, warm tub, hot tub, and an extremely hot tub. I decided to take it slowly and hop into the warm tub first. As I dipped my feet into the water, I felt a tingling sensation. After all the workouts, dealing with the cold Korean winter, and struggling with jet lag, I felt so warm, calm, and relaxed.

After unwinding in the tubs, I took another shower and changed into my spa cover up. I grabbed my towel and went upstairs to meet the rest of the group at the sauna. There were two different saunas: 50 Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) and 70 Celsius (158 Fahrenheit). Since 158 degree sauna sounded insane, I went with the more reasonable option. Sitting down on the hot stone floor with earbuds in, I zoned off and suddenly my muscles loosened. After the sauna, I was so relaxed that I laid down on a mat and fell asleep until Mrs. Bae woke me up to offer me a cold Korean milkshake. The first sip I took, I was so happy. It tasted so amazing and was the best thing I ever ate!

The spa was incredible and it felt wonderful to relax, but sadly it didn’t relieve the soreness the following day. Nevertheless, I think that working hard every day improved my performance as a martial artist and was beneficial.