Our Martial Arts Beginning

Next month marks four years since Tae Kwon Do entered into our home. Well, actually David studied it over twenty years ago, but since he didn't continue, let's start with Alex.

Little did I suspect in early January '06 that the class we put Alex in so I could work out and actually use the Lifetime Membership would eventually take over our lives! And who would have thought that the teenage girl I turned my son over to, would become like a sister to me and an aunt to Alex and later Ariana? Okay, I was wrong on that last one. Sheryl was NOT a teenager, but she is very dear to us.

Now, in retrospect, the signs were there. Alex loved going to Martial Arts (what we call it since Sheryl teaches a mixture of Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Jiu Jitsu and Weapons), thrilled to put on his uniform and participate in class. Soccer's only hold on him was the kicking and the running - but not at the same time. He kicked or he ran, combining them was out of the question. Plus, we were always fighting with him to get ready for soccer. Getting him out of MA class was about the same. He loved it. I am the one who got kicked out because it turned out that he concentrated much better when I wasn't there. Same holds true today. I rarely stay for class.

As for Ariana, she was our dancer, our girly-girl who wanted to move to DisneyWorld and dance as Belle. David wanted her to take Tae Kwon Do when she was 4 or 5, but I refused, believing it to be too dangerous. In my defense, David had to drop out when he nearly broke his shin in sparring when he was 17 - and he wanted my precious princess doing that kind of stuff???? I don't think so. Well, I was wrong. Two belt tests is all it took for Ariana to see that Alex was learning, advancing and receiving belts as a sign of progress. I relented - but only for the summer. She was signed up for dance classes - three of them, and I was not about to run around like a crazy woman from dance to MA to soccer.

Call me crazy. Ariana refused to give up MA or dance. Her tune changed after a few months, and by her first anniversary in MA, we had to pay her to participate in the recital. She found MA much more welcoming and better suited to her abilities. By the end of her second year in MA, we once again had to pay her to participate in the recital and the photographer of the dance photos commented to the instructor that Ariana appeared to be doing a Karate pose and wouldn't smile. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Sheryl had rubbed off on her. Or opened a part of our daughter heretofore unknown.

By then Sheryl had begun an adults' class. David likes to tell people that the kids and I enrolled him. That's a bit disingenuous since for close to 19 years, he kept bringing up that he should have gone back, going so far to even check out different dojos. I simply saw an opening and informed him. Oh, and I ordered his uniform. Luckily he bonded with the other two dads and Sheryl's hubby Geoff. Not sure if 'bonded' is the right word, since what they really seem to do is beat the c*^p out of each other and then laugh and pat each other on the back when they are done. Then they go home and need sympathy, TLC and pain meds.

As for me, well the Meniere's is my roadblock. All that twisting and turning could land me in bed - or the ER. I prefer to take photos and video and since I seem to be the only person with a sewing machine, patches and stripes are also my contribution.

Lots has happened, there is so much more to experience. I really should have started this blog a LONG time ago.

So, here at the cusp of 2010, we have two Jr. Black Belts and an Adult Red Belt. It's not where I thought I would be, but I love being a Tae Kwon Do Mom of two. We speak Spanish and since 'dos' is Spanish for 'two', I decided to name this blog 'Tae Kwon Dos Mom' because that is my life. That and scrapbooking, but that is the subject of my other blog - My ScrapKlutz Life. Sometimes the blogs will intersect, sometimes not.

Taken together, they are my life. Rather, they are the snapshots of my life with David, Ariana and Alex. I may look forward one day, back another, details of the life of Tae Kwon Dos Mom.