First Taekwondo Practice

I signed Shane up for Taekwondo Saturday. It had been on my mind for a while. I liked what I saw, too.

The first activity of the day was the instructor made all the kids practice with "Yes, sirs!" and listening. Then he had them all give high fives. First with their right. Then with their left. He'd pull his hand back and dodge if the wrong hand was used. Later, he pulled a "down low, too slow!"

If that doesn't seem too martial arty, I picked up on the value quickly. Learning right from left is important at Shane's age and for future instruction. The respect, listening, and learning to react and anticipate are all building blocks, too.

The next activity was "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

Again, not overtly martial arts. The instructor varied the verse to include 10 different body locations. That works memory and builds vocabulary so that the instructor can use the locations in instructions.

Other activities included running and cleaning up an obstacle course. If you moved too slowly, you could get whacked from behind with a pool noodle!

The train was mostly for fun.

There were a pair of stances and some punches and kicks worked in throughout. I was very pleased with the focus and flow. My priority is that Shane has fun and learns how to control and strengthen himself, mind and body. The self-defense part is nice, but last on my list.

When class ended, Shane wanted to go into the back room and watch TV! He was conditioned from summer camp! I offered to let him have an episode when we got back instead.

Shane asked for peanut butter for lunch. Sadly, we were out of bread. I improvised and Shane got a peanut-butter, honey "taco" (a folded tortilla).

Don't knock it before you try it. Shane wanted another one before we went to Costco on Sunday.