We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Essence Dvorak. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Essence below.

Hi Essence, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I can remember it as if it was just yesterday. I was at my first ever belt test at Pinnacle Martial Arts, now up to this point I absolutely dreaded everything about taekwondo. Whether it was the fact that my parents put me in the classes, or the dojong and the environment surrounding it. We arrived at the test and as always I begrudgingly took a bow before going onto the mats. We warmed up first and immediately after had to wait our turn as I was a white belt trying for my advanced white belt. Not to high up on the Peking order. While I waited we watched the black and red belts perform their poomsae. I’m not sure what came over me, but the passion of the performances moved me. The elegance of the motions where mind and body moved in sequential harmony. The dedication of seeing someone spend months or years to create poetry in motion. As if I was struck by lightning at that very second, the way I saw taekwondo had forever been changed. From loathing the thought of class, to never wanting to leave once I arrived. My entire life was turned into living, breathing and eating anything taekwondo related. If I wasn’t on the mats, I was looking up videos of Olympic taekwondo athletes and learning their moves with hours at my parents home gym. This was the thing I’d spend the rest of my life pursuing. Looking back I was just a kid who wanted to rebel because the very thing I thought I couldn’t stand was the very thing that would teach me so many invaluable life lessons. The continued striving for excellence has led me to want to spread the message that tawekwondo is more than just learning how to kick or punch. Taekwondo is training the mind and spirit just as much as it is training the body.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Essence, also known as ESSYKD on instagram and TikTok. I started posting videos of my training in May 2023 and quickly gained support from inspiring others the way that I do. I stayed consistent and had the goal of wanting to reach people and show them how graceful and beautiful Taekwondo is. Apart of taekwondo is staying disciplined to the craft, just as I was disciplined to training, I wanted to do the same with posting videos. I allow myself to be an outlet for fellow martial artists and aspiring creators. I want to be the reason that someone started Taekwondo. What sets me apart is my ability to be selfless and give to my supporters. I am always replying to comments and DMS and answering questions that don’t get answered from other accounts like mine. I am most proud of my creativity with my videos, I spend hours coming up with a video and choreographing martial arts moves by myself. Sometimes I do freestyle kicking and movements. It’s all a process, and I spend so much effort making sure my viewers are content with my content. I want everyone to know that I am here for the people, I want to be an inspiration to the younger audience, to let them know that following your dreams is possible with years of hard work – you can achieve anything. Nothing is impossible besides impossibility.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the highs and lows. What I mean by that, is sometimes your creative content is a hit or miss. But it is up to you to tell yourself “you know what? that was an amazing idea and I love it no matter who likes it or not. I’m proud.” It’s rewarding to spend hours, days even creating a new video and have the majority of people love your idea. Your idea can then spark a vision for someone else, and they’ll usually be the first to let you know that you made someone’s day. Being an artist means not everyone is going to appreciate your art and what you’re doing. The lows can feel like the world is out to get you. But it’s then that you learn to have self resilience and keep going.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Yes! The book The Power of Habit was a favorite of mine last year when I first started my journey with content creation. It’s about learning to make habits even in the most stressful of times. It gives a lot of data about habit building and how it can be destroyed in an instant if you don’t have a “reason why”. My reason why is easy, it’s because I’d rather not be, if I’m not doing what I love most and pursuing it with my entire heart and soul. It’s impacted me in a beautiful way, every time I even think about giving up I remember what I learned in that book.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://TikTok.com/essytkdd
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/essytkd
• Youtube: https://YouTube.com/essytkd

Image Credits

@essytkd