Thursday, January 31, 2008

Proud Brown Belts

Tonight is the award ceremony for the kid's Taekwondo testing. They have now earned their brown belt. Next comes red, then black and they will have completed the Tiger Cub belts. Because of holidays, illness and mommy overload, the kids have been preparing for this belt for two testing cycles. I am sure they are ready to move on.

Both Cullen and Avery have now been taking Taekwondo for a year. They have earned 4 belts, I believe. They start with white then earn yellow, green, blue and now brown. I am sure Cullen will move up to the Youth program after he earned his black belt. Avery will still be too young. They will then begin going to different classes. We already attend 2 - 3 classes a week. We drive 2 towns away to get to the center. So it takes a lot of time. The classes are now 30 minutes but will increase to 45 minutes in the Youth classes. This will require a big increase in dedicated time. But Cullen is so enjoying this activity.

During the testing on Saturday we saw a side of him we very rarely see. As it was his time to test, he stood and did all that was ask of him with such determination and confidence. I was taken back. He is usually so tentative and unsure but he shined.

New to this testing session is the fact that Cullen is now getting stars to put on his belt. Avery six weeks or so the kids test for a new belt. But once the children start school, a form is sent to their classroom teachers. They are asked to score the children on how they exemplify the tenets of Taekwondo in the classroom and the effort the kids put out in learning new things. The kids can learn 1 to 3 starts for their belt. Cullen has earned 3 starts for his brown belt and is very proud.

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