Simply Brilliant

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.

posted by PapaT @ 5:01 PM