(201)-566-1770
ELLIOTT LEE
Miyamoto Musashi
"Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world"
MISSION STATEMENT
Passion Meets Purpose
Disseminating the message
AWARENESS
Not enough people know about the virtues and ideals that martial arts and kendo stand for. Thousands of years of philosophy and psychology and cognitive development in East Asia are available for all to learn. It's time to change th.
Taking the first step
INITIATIVE
With just a few steps, determination, and commitment, self transformation and development are realistic and practical. The benefits speak for themself, now it's about making it accessible for others with less opportunities to make use of the great tools of martial arts and East Asian culture laid to us through our heritage.
Gleaning the results
IMPACT
Whether it's personal development, personal goals, or giving back to the community, it's rewarding to see the tangible benefits of your work. With the multiple methods in my mission and with an observed subscribed interest, it's possible to see your goals being fulfilled. Win the uphill battles of life through the spiritual journey of martial arts.
EXPERIENCE
What I’ve Done
Dreams Fueled by Purpose: Embracing Challenges, Achieving Goals
1 Geup/Kyuu
KENDO/KUMDO
Martial Art that involves the sword and disciplining life through the discipline of the sword. Cultivate the mind, spirit and inner energy by harnessing the strength of your body.
2019 - Current
AAYC
Aimed to nurture influential leaders, the Asian American Youth Council strives to create a more responsible Asian American community. By providing the voice for which young leaders can voice their opinions on the world around we continue to develop the rights of the silent.
2021-2023
KCC(KOREAN CULTURE CLUB)
The main center for Korean youth within Tenafly. We host Lunar New Year festivals, performances, make international connections with Korean students, promote AAPI month, and are the leading proponents for social awareness and justice within THS and the local community. Also serves as a Martial Arts Foundation aimed to cultivate the cultural and moral values we find within martial arts. Open to all students of THS and an opportunity to share various martial arts interests and discuss the love for martial arts, extended beyond school hours to offer kumdo experiences to newcomers.
2022
RESEARCH
Given the immense pressures of academics and COVID related issues, I decided to conduct a study titled, "The Unique Stress Treatment of Martial Arts on the Adolescent Demographic." This subsequently allowed me to conduct a series of practice sessions of adolescents ranging from 14-21 and analyzing the results of these practice sessions to suggest the treatment of stress through physical and mental activity.
GET TO KNOW ME
My Background
I was born on July 12, 2005 in Tenafly, New Jersey and I have a brother who is 2 years older than me. I stayed in Tenafly for my first 2 years of grade school before moving to Alpine, NJ to attend middle school. After middle school, I returned to Tenafly by entering Tenafly High School.
I've been involved in various social causes that support marginalized communities, and I like to support my local community in ways that I can. Some examples are running cultural events through the Korean Culture Club in THS, supporting local ethnic businesses on their respective holidays, and supporting local candidates of political office. That being said, what's most important for me is that Life has its ups and downs and I'm proud to say that my core values have shifted as a result of it. In May of 2019, my mother passed away and that ultimately shifted the course of my life. As a result of the pent up stress during that period, I looked for an outlet and I turned towards martial arts. After meeting Master Min of Sung Moo Closter, I fell in love with Kendo or Kumdo, a sword martial art. I now define myself through these principles to understand myself, to understand the world around me. I was so fascinated, in fact, I even conducted my own research on the effects martial arts activity can have on adolescents my age, just to see whether I could postively affect others my age with the same thing that brought me solace from my woes. When meeting kendo legend and mentor Toshiro Komeda, high school coach of my heroes Ryoichi Uchimura and Hidehisa Nishimura, I felt an immense respect for the art and grew even more immersed within the culture of strength and respect.
As much as we define ourselves by our accomplishments, statistics, GPA, it's important to identify why we feel this way. I believe in the strength of compassion and as Takehiko Inoue, author of my favorite manga series Vagabond, put it, "All truly strong people are kind."
Let's stay strong. Let's take a breathe of fresh air.
Knowledge & Expertise
