Belts

Last night, H&C received their new brown belts from their taekwondo testing last week. When they are presented their belts, the instructor always asks what they need to work on. H replied, "talking back less" and "stop procrastinating." Both very valid, by the way. When it was C's turn, he said, "remembering my headband." I can think of a few other things he could have focused instead, but oh well. It was pretty funny.

TKD Testing

The boys have lost their momentum with taekwondo lately. It's mainly due to their busy lives. But I notice that when we aren't able to make it a part of their regular schedule, they also lose some interest. It's been a year since they tested for their last belt and was definitely time to move up. So, last night they tested for their brown belts. I have to admit, I was a little nervous. But they both did great! H stepped it up and lead one of the forms and demonstrated one of the kicking combinations. Both struggled with their break -- a step-over back swing kick -- but ended up getting it in the end. C definitely showed some perseverance. Poor guy's foot was totally bleeding by the time he actually broke it. Of course, we had Grand Master sign the board for him. Both were extremely proud of themselves, as were we. (I also volunteered -- you can see me in the red belt against wall in the top photo. It was so much fun.)

Board Break-A-Thon

This was our third year attending the Board Break-A-Thon that our taekwondo school puts on to raise funds for the MACC Fund. This was the 20th year of the event. Over those years, over $600,000 has been raised for the MACC Fund. It's a great day, for an incredible cause. We made it in time to watch our dojang's demo team perform and then H&C each broke five boards. Good stuff.

Tournament

Today, without anyone else from my family in attendance (a broken collarbone for Brian, and lack of training for the boys), I participated in my third tae kwon do tournament. I competed in forms and breaking, coming in 2nd place in both. I'll take it, but I know I could have done better. I knew exactly when my form wasn't perfect and was not surprised by my placement. I tend to get complete stage fright -- I didn't even do forms last time -- so was pleased I got through it without any major issues. My breaks were difficult and awesome (if I do say so myself)-- but I definitely need work on my K'ihap. I should have come in first. I nailed all three (a reverse axe, reverse jump hook, and low back swing kick), but the woman after me just came out loud and confident and won the show. The only way I could have won is if she didn't break one of the boards on her first try. Oh well. Learning all the time and that's part of it.

Tae Kwon Do Tournament

Yesterday we participated in our second tae kwon do tournament, and walked away with seven trophies and a metal (they ran out and had to order more, so above is just a few of them). Besides Brian, who either really doesn't mind it, or puts on a good front, tournament really puts us all out of our comfort zone. We didn't participate in forms this year, since we were on vacation and missed a good amount of time from classes. Instead, we all did breaking and sparring. Here was the low-down of the outcome:

C // Breaking (step-over jump back, flying side kick) 3rd, Sparring 2nd
H // Breaking (reverse ax, flying side kick) 1st, Sparring 4th
B // Breaking (reverse ax, flying side kick) 2nd, Sparring 2nd
A // Breaking (step-over back swing kick, hopping hook, 360 back) 2nd, Sparring 3rd

The boys did really great, and I'm so proud of them. C absolutely loves sparring and has no fear. He also did well in his breaks even though he set up the boards wrong and had to do the highest back kick I've ever seen in my life. Before you break, you need to stand up and announce what you are doing. Because of his speech issues, he always gets so nervous to do that. H said he never needs to spar again, but you should have seen him break thought boards. He was confident and didn't waiver a bit (although, he said his voice was completely shaking). It was awesome. Brian and I compete at the same time, so I never really get to watch him which stinks.

You can see the carnage of my breaks along with the trophies. I broke every board first try. The other person I competed against did really well (I've gone against her before and she's extremely balanced and graceful) -- but then on her last kick she fell and hurt her ACL ... and still got first place. I'm trying not to analyze that too much. Sparring was fun. I got to compete against two other women from my school, and two from another one. Knowing all of these ladies, I knew it would be tough competition. I, along with two others, got a bye the first round. I really wish we could spar everyone, but it just takes too long (I still think I would have come in 3rd or even 4th though). In my first match, I got caught up in someone's gear. Made it through the last match, but I was in pain. As the night went on, my foot started getting bigger and black & bluer. Let's just say, I'm glad it's spring break and I'm taking it easy on the exercise front this week. Ouch. The thought of putting on shoes is making me cringe.

P.S. My little camera is dead (!!!) so I didn't get any photos of the actual tournament. Unfortunately.

Belts

I know, enough of the tae kwon do already! But there really hasn't been much else going on around here besides Brian traveling a bit ... and snow. C & Brian went to class together last night and picked up their new high green belts. I went today and got my brown belt. And tonight, H went to class and got his high green. Notice his snazzy new uniform too? He was invited to be part of the K.I.C.K. team, which is a leadership team that helps out during class. It's pretty cool.

Board Break-A-Thon

Today was the annual Board Break-A-Thon with our Tae Kwon Do school raising money for the MACC fund -- lots of Tae Kwon Do this weekend, that's for sure. H was invited to go skiing with a friend so it was just Brian, C and me. C broke 10 boards -- he was totally into it. And during the time we were there, we watched three of the schools demo teams perform some amazing stuff. It's a really great afternoon for an incredible cause. Afterwards, the three of us went on a little date to the Milwaukee Public Market for some oysters -- they are C's favorite.

Testing

H & C with Grand Master Lee after they broke their boards.

The last two evenings have been spent at tae kwon do testing. On Thursday it was kid's testing with the boys. Yesterday it was adult testing for Brian and me. We all broke our boards -- Brian and the boys had to do a step-over front snap kick, and I broke with a step-over back swing kick -- and are moving on to the next level. It always feels like such a great accomplishment. Even at 43 years old, testing puts me completely out of my comfort level. I still didn't raise my hand even though I totally knew what the meaning of our form was (and no one else did) which totally ticked me off afterwards. I've never been a hand-raiser and it's like teaching an old dog new tricks at this point, but I'm working on it. The good news is, I didn't feel like I was going to pass out this time, so that's something.

Basketball & Tae Kwon Do

We surprised the boys last night and took them out for a night on the town. It started with dinner at Umami Moto, then over to watch the Milwaukee Bucks vs. the Detroit Pistons. It was a close game the entire way, with the Buck losing 100-105. But the reason we chose that night to go to a game was that our tae kwon do school was doing the half time show. We ordered our tickets last minute and were way up in the nose bleed section. I had never been to a Bucks game before, and we had a great time.

Taekwondo

The place we take taekwondo sent me these photos of the boys today, and I thought they were just too good not to share. They were from belt testing in November. My parents took the kids -- you can see them in the background on H's photo -- while Brian and I were in New York.

It's been over a year that we've been taking taekwondo as a family. The boys definitely go through periods where they could care less about it. But they are sticking with it, and are now Green Belts. Brian was a bit late to the game, and due to his travel schedule, needs to just fit it in when he can. He is a Green Belt too. I definitely have the luxury of going more often, so I'm a High Green. We are all hoping to test in the next couple weeks again. I think it's so awesome to find something you actually get to do with your kids (we are actually in class together most of the time). There are so many lessons they teach (all of us), and we've met some really great people as well. Incorporating martial arts into our lives has been pretty cool.

P.S. In case you were wondering about belt levels, it goes: White > Yellow > Purple > High Purple > Green > High Green > Brown > High Brown > Red > High Red > Black.

Tae Kwon Do Tournament

We've been doing tae kwon do for nearly a year now. We started because of the kids. But it's definitely grown on Brian and me and it's something I really enjoy doing. Twice a year our school hosts a tournament. We missed it last spring, so decided to go all day long and just compete in everything. (Except for C -- he only participated in two events). Brian, H and I started out with family forms, where we came in 3rd out of 3. Someone (I'm not naming names, but it wasn't me or H) messed up, but overall, we did ok. After a demo from the instructors and the demo team, it was time for us to go on. Here was the results breakdown from the day:

H - forms 2nd (out of 3), breaking 1st (out of 3), sparring 1st (out of 3)
C - breaking 1st (out of 3), sparring 2nd (out of 3)
Brian - forms 1st (out of 4), breaking 3rd (out of 4), sparring 2nd (out of 4)
Me - forms 3rd (out of 3), breaking 3rd (out of 6), sparring 1st (out of 3)

The boys did great. They were strong and confident and it showed. C ended up sparring for 2nd place against his friend (in the photo above) who came in 1st. H ended up getting a bye and then sparring against one of his friends too, who unfortunately gave him a bloody nose which automatically disqualifies them. But they had so much fun, and did really awesome.

I had been having dreams about forms for a week. I had to do two different forms -- one for family, one for individual. It had been messing me up a bit and drove me nuts. I thought I'd love doing forms, but in the end, I bombed. I was doing so well too! One of my moves brought me right up to the judges and the minute I got there, I went blank and forgot what I was supposed to do next. I was so ticked, that I probably had the loudest kiap (ending yell) I've ever had in my life at the end. But honestly, I wasn't expecting much out of board breaking or sparring so really wasn't thinking about it much. Guess what -- those are the events I did best on. Besides missing a kiap at the end of my step-over front snap kick, I nailed it. Broke both my boards first try. (My other kick was a reverse ax kick...). I was actually super proud of that third place win, because it was out of six and against some pretty amazing competition. And sparring.... Right before I went on, a friend of mine tore her Achilles during a fight. It kind of shook us all up, because frankly, while you have to spar at least once in tournament to get your black belt, my over 40 age group just is not interested in getting injured, which is extremely easy to do. It's why I did it now -- to get it over with. I ended up being grouped according to height, and at 5'9" we were all about even height. Height tends to help in my favor normally, but not this time. I was paired with a very fair, very decent group as it turns out, which actually made the experience quite fun. This sounds really dumb, but I really had no idea the entire time who was winning the match. They call points, but I wasn't really paying attention. I just did my thing, and ended up winning it. It was a pretty great feeling. Such a fun day.

White to Gold

For the past couple months the boys (and I, and occasionally Brian) have been taking tae kwon do classes. Honestly, it's not something I ever thought in a million years I'd be doing. But C was interested in it, then H said he wanted to try it and here we are. What I'm finding, is it's really been great for all of us. For C, it's a great way to release some energy and practice focusing. For H, it's about building confidence and speaking up. For me, its about focus, balance, flexibility and cross training. I don't ache when I run anymore (and I've been running longer distances). My mind doesn't wander quite so much. And it's just been really fun to do something with the boys. Let's put it this way -- I'd much rather be at the dojo than sitting in front of our TV at night. Ironically, it was C who got us there, but H & I are the ones enjoying it most. Last night the boys had their first testing -- from white belt to yellow belt. They rocked it. Tomorrow, it's my turn. Wish me luck!

[Update: My testing was today and I did it. Board broke, moving on. Gold belt here I come.]