Orange You Glad You Started Taekwondo?

Well, as it turns out, we love taekwondo. I love it. Seth loves it. Alex loves it. He goes 3 times a week and is still excited about it every time, and we love it because it is so good for Alex.

It has not come easily to Alex but we are in a fantastic taekwondo school where they have worked with him and cheered for him and pushed him. Alex, like me, hates to be put on the spot. He will put his head down, bite his nails and mumble, but not in taekwondo class.

If they put on music and tell him he has 30 seconds to free style alone, he will get out there and give it all he's got. If they ask him to demonstrate a move or series of moves alone, he jumps up and does it. He will even volunteer if the instructor asks for volunteers. If they then allow the students to score him or give him constructive criticism, he will stand there with his head up and take it.

I am truly amazed at how skilled his teacher, Mr. Pettis is at making the kids feel comfortable. They are absolutely expected to push hard and come up to a certain standard. They are expected to show respect, but somehow he is not intimidating at all. I don't know how he creates that balance. He laughs with the kids, jokes with them, corrects them when needed and invites everyone to applaud them when they do well. At first Alex was hilarious. I mean, really hilarious. The other parents giggled whenever he spoke or performed. He was more the class mascot than an actual student, but he was encouraged and cheered on and given the one on one attention that he needed to improve.

This school is fantastic. If you have a Victory Martial Arts near you (31 locations in 6 states), check it out. They teach valuable life lessons every week along with martial arts techniques. We talk about strangers, and bullies, and confidence, and parenting, and respect, and grades. They are encouraged to bring in their report cards. Their teacher wants to help them in every part of their lives. They have potlucks and barbecues (one this weekend) from time to time just to let everyone hang out. The instructor even calls home occasionally to see how Alex is doing and if there is anything they can do to help him progress in taekwondo and in life. Alex has learned so much. Even I have learned so much. They have lots of mottoes that they repeat and one is Leaders Act while everyone else is still thinking about it. They encourage kids to act, to be confident, to take charge and if they are good at something to pursue it, and not waste their life thinking about it and talking themselves out of it. They teach them that if they are not good at something to pursue it and conquer it. I have never had enough confidence and now I wish I would have just taken taekwondo.

Remember that I wanted Alex in one of the big three sports and was a little skeptical when he started martial arts, but now I would enthusiastically promote taekwondo over any other sport.

I will warn you that it is not cheap. The lessons are quite reasonable but every session there are new weapons and equipment to buy, uniforms, tournaments, and even testing for a belt promotion is expensive. I may have to take up a work at home gig again to make these payments a little easier, and I will if I have to. I am not one of those crazy moms who is going to make my husband quit his job and move us all to Siberia for Alex's taekwondo training, but I definitely hope to help keep him going in this endeavor. In case I haven't made it clear already, I think this has been one of the most positive experiences Alex has had. Even the students are so supportive of each other. They always root for each other and go out of their way to tell each other when they have done a good job.

And aside from all that, I am having fun training with my son. Every day we practice, and when I say we practice, I mean WE practice. I know every term and every move he has learned and I train right alongside him. I don't always like to play toys with my kids and this is such a great way for us to do something together each day.

Alright I could seriously say more, but I have made my point, right?

If anyone is still reading, there is a reason I am telling you all of this....

Allow me to get to the main event.

Today Alex was able to test for a belt promotion for the first time! I was anxious about it all day. I know, I've gone pageant mom. We practiced his form and board breaks for an hour after school and Seth even made it home a little bit early to work on sidekicks with him. I am okay with him not passing every time he tries. I think there is value in that, but I really didn't want him to fail the very first time he tried.

He was very serious, and very nervous. I am not sure he has ever had cause to be nervous in his little life yet and I am not sure he even understood what he was feeling. As he was waiting to go in and test he said to Seth...daddy, I think I'm having a heart attack.

But when he got in there he gave it his ALL. He was so strong and working so hard and I was so proud of how far he has come in 3 short months. He did not look like my silly little class mascot. He looked like someone who was ready, and wanted to succeed. And after they had left it all on the floor it was time to see how they measured up. They were asked to remove their old belts and place them in front of them and then they waited as the owner (the owner of VMA lives in FL but comes here about once a month and always teaches when he is here and comes for belt promotions) and their instructor (who owns the WI location) came around and distributed new belts.

They were supposed to be sitting still like black belts but this little man couldn't suppress a little wiggle and a big smile when this was laid down before him.

And then he couldn't resist looking around to see his classmates receive their new ranks.

After Mr. Pettis helped him tie on his new belt, Alex picked up his old white belt and was trying to weave it in with the new one. No Alex, just one belt.

Then, altogether the kids pulled their loosely knotted new belts tight and officially stepped in to their new ranks.

Such a great night! Afterwards we went to McDonalds for treats and Alex asked me 700 times how he did and if I was super proud. So one more time Alex...You did GREAT and I am SUPER-DUPER proud!