My Son Obtains Black Belt in Taekwondo
My 14-year-old son, Rory, recently obtained his black belt in
taekwondo. I was worried about him because a black belt test can be
quite an ordeal. My black belt test left me in tears at the end because
I had nearly quit during the test (I don't think anyone new that). I
didnt' want to see Rory pushed to that point. His test was an ordeal,
but he dealt with it very well. I was impressed with his calm, but
enthusiastic demeanor throughout the test. He showed great endurance
and courage. He had an extremely long sparring episode with an opponent
who outweighed him by 100 pounds. This wasn't an old, fat, black belt
either. It was a college age competition grade opponent. He nearly took
Rory's head off. Actually, he showed great restraint so as not to knock
Rory out, but at one point he smacked Rory in the face with an axe kick
and gave him a bloody nose. This was a good thing for Rory, it turns
out, because he got to rest while in the bathroom stopping the
bleeding. When he came back he fought alot more aggressively and
satistfied the testing board. He was unable to break his brick. This
was probably due to the fact that he weighs only 95 pounds and the
brick seemed particularly hard. He hit it hard eight times, but it
showed no sign of breaking. His instructor came out and broke it for
him, kind of in partnership. I was very proud when Rory was able to
take off his worn out top and have his instructor put on the black belt
top and tie his black belt on him. Rory worked very hard for that
moment--three-and-a-half years of three nights a week along with many
Saturdays of workouts. Now he has earned the freedom to really explore
and progress in the martial arts. If you would like to see a photo
esssay of Rory's experience go to this link:
ClickHere
and look under "Black Belt Testings for the February 2005 test.
Rory standing tall after obtaining his black belt in Taekwondo
Rory recieving his black belt from his instructor after the test.
Rory during his black belt test attacking with a jump spin crescent. She jammed and the kick was ineffective.
Rory during his black belt test going through techniques. He is in the middle of a jump front kick here.
Million Dollar Baby
Went and saw Million Dollar Baby tonight. Wow. What a complex ending. I will have to see it agian to see if I can figure it out.
That's me being awarded my black belt after what for me was a grueling test.
Taekwondo at 40
I started taekwondo right near my 40th birthday. I suppose it was a midlife crisis sort of thing. I could have bought a corvet and run off with a younger woman, but I thought I would take the easier route and do taekwondo. Besides all my kids were doing it, so why not me. To tell you the truth it scared me to death. I was middle-aged, overweight, and had never been in a fight in my life. What a journey it was for me to black belt. I did get that black belt, but the journey continues. I make two workouts a week plus I have added another martial art to my life -- Hapkido. So actually I have four workouts a week.
During the day I am a mild mannered computer jockey in the telecom industry. But at night I rip my shirt off, reopen the three wounds across my chest so the blood runs, and get that killer look in my eye, and take on everyone in the dojang. It's a frightful thing. Actually, even though I am a black belt (and worked hard to get it) I don't feel very dangerous. The last think I want to do is get into a fight. I get too beat up in class where I am among friends to want to go up against a stranger who would love to leave me bleeding on the ground.
Last night we did some hapkido sparring. We had the taekwondo sparring gear on (helmets, chest protectors, forearm and shin protectors, and teeth guards), but we also put the gloves on, the kind that leave the palms and fingers open. We kicked, punched, and did take downs in a free sparring manner. My 14 year old son challenged me. I outweigh him by over 100 pounds. If I can just get my arms around him it's over for him. But he made it very hard. I would punch and kick and try to close, but he would scoot away punching and kicking has he did. He landed some good kicks and smacked me in the face a couple of times. I got him in the end, but he made me pay for it.
I challenged the instructor--a big 250 fellow. I'm not so small myself, but he is better than me. I screwed up somewhere and he landed a jump back kick with full impact against my ribs. I about went to my knees. If that had been a real fight it would have been over for me because I couldn't go on for a couple of minutes. But when I got ahold of myself I did go back in like a champion. I kicked and punched and tagged him in the head a couple of times, but it only amounted to me getting thrown to the ground twice. Ah me, I guess I have to work a little harder. The funny thing is, that after a night like that I go home feeling better than when I left the office for the day.
Reading as a Family
Some of the best memories I have with my family are of reading together. Reading a book together is not a set family activity for my family. It just kind of happens sometimes. I believe it started with the first Harry Potter book. I started reading it outloud and the family gathered around and were engrossed in a good story. They would always beg me to read another chapter and then another. I would finally have to shut the book and override their whining and complaining while they got ready for bed. We read all of the Harry Potter series together. Somewhere inbetween Potter books we also read the Abhorsen Trilogy. I think we got on that series because I was listening to one of the trilogy as a book on tape during my commute to the office. I was having so much fun with it that I played a little for some of my kids and my wife. They were hooked. We ended up listening to the second in the series together as a family and then we read the third in the series. Two of my sons actually went back and read the first. We also read the Golden Compass trilogy together--all but the last chapter. We got kind of tired of the third book and never finished it. We read The Scarlet Letter. That was an odd experience as a family experience.
Sometimes we would start a book that looked promising, but it wouldn't take me long to realise that it wasn't going "to take." It just wouldn't capture the family imagination. We discovered Saffie's Angel and the family loved it. What a fun experience. Now we are reading another by the same author--Indigo's Star. It was late last night when we started reading. That was because it was a taekwondo night and we didn't get home until later. We had dinner and then it was my 19 year old who asked if we were going to read that night. I went into the living room and started reading before anyone else was there. That's because everyone was going in all directions inspite of them all agreeing that they wanted to hear more. But before I got the first page read they were all there (except for Cory who had gone to be) listening. I had only gotten a few pages read when my father called just to talk for awhile. I didnt' want to lose everyone, but I wanted to talk to my Dad too. I needn't have worried because while I talked to my Dad all my kids stayed put. They were drawing, and writing, and my wife was knitting. They just listened to a one-sided conversation until I was done and began reading again. What a sight that was.
There is something wonderful about reading as a family. There is no blank-eyed look as when everyone watches television. There is just one voice forming words while everyone listens and floats on their own imagination. Each one of us is in his own world and yet we are sharing at the same time. Sometimes we will discuss the merits of the story or a character or the quality of the writing, but usually when we are done for the night everyone just gets up and gets ready for bed. We will go months inbetween books sometimes, but with my eighth child just about here and the oldest of my younger kids just eight years old I think we will have plenty of books in the future. It's interesting how we have gone to many good movies as a family, but even though we may remember a good movie we don't remember it as a family experience. Reading together has been different. The mention of any of the books we have read together brings distinct family memories.
