tournament

On April 25, Kalib participated in the TKD tournament at the Y. India decided not to do it this time, but she was there encouraging her brother and helping me take pictures. It was a tough tournament this time. Kalib got his really hard and fell on the floor really hard and bruised his elbow, but thankfully, I remembered to take the Bumps n Bruises Homeopath with me and he was back up and fighting in no time. He really loves his Martial Arts lessons and takes them to heart. He's also doing a Ninja Scouts class 2 times a month where he's learning some Kung Fu and Tai Chi with our good friend Carl. The lessons that Martial Arts teach are invaluable. I am so thankful that both kids are learning them and carrying them with them into the daily lives. Here's Kalib performing his Blue Belt Recommended Form:



And here he is receiving first place in his division for a job well done!

This is his first sparring mach of the day. He was well matched against this kid. And Kalib loves sparring! I think it is his favorite part of TKD!



And here he is receiving 2nd place in his division for sparring!

Success

I know a few of you have already seen this, and you are being inundated with TKD videos, but I did figure out the software somewhat and made this, so I am proud of me... I even put music it to it...

This is the last TKD video until the next testing in February... and the kids look great to the music!

TKD testing

I had big plans to make this exciting video now that I have a fancy new video camera, but I haven't quite figured out how to do that yet, so these will have to do for now, but know it is coming. India and I are working hard on figuring the software all out so we can make cool videos!

Kalib was going for his purple belt decided and he had to break a board for the first time at testing. Board breaking is hard. It hurts. He tried a couple of times, but the first time he hit the board with the wrong part of his hand and lost his confidence. Thanks to Master Castro for being so awesome to get in the floor and help him out! He did the same with India the first time she had to break a board at testing. Here's Kalib breaking his board with Master Castro. It really is an awesome thing to be there and see them do something and see them know they have the power to do it within themselves.




Here is India doing her blue belt form. She was going for her blue belt decided.

kalib vs the giant

On Saturday the kids were in a Tae Kwon Do tournament at the Y. India is a blue belt, Kalib is a purple belt (one belt below India). When it came time for them to be divided up into divisions, India opted to go with the girls who are all higher belts than her, so she was competing against girls who have way more experience than she does. She ended up not placing in the tournament, but she tried hard against unfavorable conditions. She says looking back on it, she should have gone with the boys because she knows she could have won. She brought home a participation medal. Next time she will know better what to expect and I know she will do very well. I've seen her in action and she rocks. Kalib on the other hand, brought home a bronze medal in his form and a gold medal for sparring which then qualified him to fight in the Grand Championship which is the overall competition in fighting. He was super excited about that. There was also a competition where you could challenge anyone there to a fight called Top Gun that he chose to fight in, but because he is so small there weren't a lot of other kids willing to fight him, but he did get in on a few. He won a few and lost a few. When things finally got around to the the Grand Championship, there were 3 black belts, a black belt recommended (almost a black belt) a red belt (3 belts higher than Kalib), Kalib who is a purple belt, and a green belt (a belt below Kalib). The green belt bowed out of the contest because he was too small, but Kalib really wanted to enter the contest, and with the advice of his former instructor Mr Hill, we agreed to it and Master Castro assured us he would not let Kalib get hurt. The way the fights work is if you win you go on to the next round until there is a winner. Because Kalib was odd man out he automatically went on to the 2nd round. When it came time for him to fight, he was fighting a red belt who was twice as tall as he is. He put up a really good fight even though the odds were against him, he scored a point and held him off until time ran out. The other kid won by a point, but you are supposed to score 3 points before time is out and he did manage to keep that from happening and you can see in the video he worked hard and wasn't afraid. (I sort of wish he had been a little more afraid than he was, but he had a good time) When the fight was over he was drenched in sweat and upset because he got hit pretty hard, but he knows that goes along with it and he's ready to do it again. So... here's the video of him fighting the very tall kid (he is really tall even though Kalib is so small he towers over all the other kids too). Be sure to notice Kalib successfully gets a few good punches in.

Kalib in his sparring gear

A proud boy with his medals!

India getting ready to do her form

India's first fight of the day.

belt testing

So, it was recently belt testing time again. The kids have been working diligently and practicing hard, they also got to take a weapons class this session. They really enjoyed this class. When it came time for the formal testing this session, we were out of town, gone to Lake Oconee. Thankfully, Master Castro was willing to make it up with us at a later date. The kids finally got to test (not because of him, but me) on June 5. He was also willing to have a private session with India to work on breaking boards some more because she felt like she didn't get enough of that during this session. Master Castro is a really wonderful instructor who really seems to care about his students and he also focuses in on their personalities and works with them in the way that best suits them. (We also are extremely fond of the other instructor, Mr Hill - he wasn't able to be around as much this session, but we'll be back with him more in the fall we hope.) I would recommend the Y program. We also like that they are exposed to kids who do go to school and they get an idea of what a class is like and how they have to behave and function with the distraction of many other kids. The upper belts class isn't very big, but it is big enough... It's a great lesson in having to listen and focus.

Here is a video of India doing her purple belt form. I know lots of you have never gotten to see her do any of her forms. She will be receiving her blue belt recommended next, then onto blue belt decided, then it is red, then brown, and finally black. Not too long... Also, the kids usually have to spar, no contact, but at the formal testing he would not have them spar against one another nor would they spar against one another since they are siblings, but they were the only kids there so they ended up sparing against each other. I guess it is good that they practice at home, this is some of the best sparing I've seen them do.

Here is Kalib going for his purple belt recommended. He's only 2 belts behind India.

We are really proud of how far they have come and the work they have done to get there.

Weapons

The kids start their new weapons class tonight. I'm feeling a little nervous about encouraging them to play with sticks and the such, but they have proven dedication to Tae Kwon Do I never imagined out of kids so young. They are very excited about it, and have been looking forward to it since Master Castro first mentioned it. It definitely took a lot of debating before we decided to let them do it. They are wonderful kids who work hard at most everything in their lives and we decided it is something special we could let them do to show we appreciate their efforts. We are rewarding them for work well done and hopefully, they will continue to gain confidence and self control through their martial arts. It's funny how learning to defend oneself and learning to fight is teaching them just the opposite...