10/02/2026
With January recognised as Mental Well-Being Month β and a time often associated with the βJanuary Blues,β driven by post-holiday financial stress, loneliness, and family breakdowns β I want to take a moment to reflect on 2025 and share my own challenges.
2025 was, without question, the hardest year I have ever faced β financially π°, emotionally β€οΈ, physically πͺ, and mentally π§ .
My resolve and resilience where tested so many times, the thought of giving up and just chuck it all in entered my mind so many times. Loneliness and isolation crept in, and the struggle was very real.
Early on martial arts saved me and Ten years ago, I had a vision β to give back what martial arts had given me. What once lived only in my head now lives on the mats, every single day.
The final grading of 2025 reminded me why I started Seon Do Kwan. Martial Arts. .
I saw kindness π, respect π€, and humility π.
Black belts earning every inch of their achievement. Kids growing into confident young adults. Fathers and sons learning together.
Students walking the path with me from day one, ten years on.
Every single person who walked through these doors has shaped Seon Do Kwan Martial Arts β and shaped me. For that reason alone, this school has always been about community, purpose, and contribution. And it has given me the drive to ensure Seon Do Kwan will always exist β no matter the challenge.
What i lost sight of and what 2025 also reminded me, no one should carry the weight alone. When the load is shared, the road becomes passable.
New Yearβs Day made that lesson even more real.
2026 was meant to be a fresh start β a chance to put 2025 behind me and hit the ground running. Instead, it began with an ambulance ride to Emergency at the RAH. Since then, life has continued to test my resilience and resolve, without much room to pause or breathe.
Still, support came and continues to comeβ quietly, steadily, and without conditions or judgment. With kindness and love.
While my martial arts has been the one constant, for the first time it was not enough. Sometimes it takes another presence to help us rise.
I have been fortunate to have been given a gift, and now the driving force and reason to keep going.
There is no weakness in that.
Everyone carries something.
Be kind π.
Be grateful π.
Keep showing up π₯.
You donβt need to win every day β just donβt stop showing up. The reward is greater than you know π±.
What will the next ten years look like?
Who knows.
But this I know β I wonβt stop walking the path - and no longer will no longer take things for granted, nor will I bear the load alone.
I am deeply grateful to every single person who has walked through these doors, whether for one lesson or many. You are part of this journey. For that, I bow in gratitude πββοΈπ.