Not Such a Happy 5th Anniversary

Next week Alex celebrates his 5th anniversary studying Tae Kwon Do with Sheryl. FIVE YEARS!!! Over 250 Weeks! He is the only remaining original student from that first session left. He has been through everything with Sheryl at Lifetime and has come out a Jr. 1st Dan. He does not remember NOT studying TKD, and only grudgingly accepts that Sheryl has not always been in his life.

We believe a 5th year is a milestone to celebrate, but unfortunately the powers-that-be at Lifetime Fitness in Plano don't see it the same way. They think the best thing is to grow other programs, sending ours to the Squash Courts so we no longer upset the precious Yoga program. Yeah, that's the way to congratulate a long-standing program: piss off the very members who made it grow.

Real Smart, Lifetime.

So, here we are, do we celebrate the 5th anniversary, or do we look outward? We don't want to leave Sheryl, but how much can the kids learn in the Squash Courts with the noise level and the Squash Mafia attempting to intimidate the parents and students?

Some anniversary.

Katana Jealousy Reigns

Okay, Alex LOVES swords. I mean he REALLY LOVES SWORDS. Heck, the kid has a couple dozen lightsabers, several foam swords and a wooden one. His favorite, though, is his bokken that I got him for Xmas two years ago. He loves that, often taking it out to 'create a new form'. The only thing he would like more than a bigger bokken (he has the child size, Ariana and David have bigger ones) is a katana.

Katana, the famous Japanese sword that was designed to behead someone with one stroke. It makes hari-kiri quick.

In other words:SHARP. David has one. It is kept in our room. Alex loves to try to get it down. He can almost reach it. Darn growth spurts!

We (David, Sheryl, Geoff & myself) all agreed that Alex could have a katana when he is twelve, for his third degree. He grudgingly accepted that - until last night.

Last night Zach, the Black Belt candidate got his katana.
Alex was present.
Alex was mesmerized.
Alex was jealous.
Alex wants to know why Zach gets a katana for 1st Dan whereas he has to wait until 3rd Dan.

Explaining that Zach will be 12 next month and is doing the katana because he really wanted to do the sais (think mini tridents) but waited too long, sort of mollified my little sword fanatic.

Of course, the belt test is Sunday. Who knows how Alex will feel on Sunday when Zach actually gets to use his katana.....

An Easy Black Belt Test!!!

OOPS!!!

So much for my good intentions: two posts and that was it. BAD ME!

Well, let's see if I can do better. David is now a Black Belt as of July, 2010 and there is a new BB test this coming December.

I am loving this BB test!!! All I have had to do is hem the candidate's pants and put patches on them. That's it, nothing else because no one is testing in our house. No weapons to buy, no extra practices, no having to help write a paper and oral presentation. Nothing. Zip. Nada!!!

And we did not have to pay anything!!!!!! Well, the embroidering on Alex's new dobock, but that was $15.

I will take photos, maybe video and thank you cards for the Black Belt Board, but I can breathe easily. Very easily.

Funny, though, the lack of stress over this belt test almost worries me....

Belt Test for February 2010 (David Pre-Black)

Saturday was the first Belt Test of 2010 and it was surreal! First off, David was testing for his Pre-Black and he will be celebrating 2 years of MA next month. Man, he moved up quickly! I managed to get his Bo-Staff patch on, but then things went downhill.....

I was striping the uniforms and putting on patches. Other than David's patch, I only had three uniforms (A&A were going to be my last ones to do since theirs weren't necessary since they were not testing) and I managed to break FOUR needles on Ariana's Singer Sewing Machine. FOUR!!! Sunny's uniform was done, but Lizzy's has one hemmed pant-leg and one held in place with fusible webbing. Chris's patches were held in place by the same fusible webbing. I tried changing the tension and changing the bobbins (they threaded funny), but it wasn't until noon that the solution dawned on me: it was the needles. I needed stronger needles, probably ones made for denim. Since the belt test was at 1pm, and I hadn't showered, those needles were just going to have to wait.

Sheryl and Chris took the news well - thank goodness! I took lots of photos and videotaped most of the test (it's hard to do both at once) and there were no major melt-downs and no major injuries. There were also no Lifetime Idiots interrupting the test (who me, hold a grudge? NEVER!) Ariana & Alex were there to help and that's what they did. Of course, Quinlin was more interested in sitting the Board, but Sheryl says the Jr. BlackBelts aren't ready yet. Geoff and Keith are obviously a totally different matter.....

Afterwards, several of us went to Genghis Grill. Love that place! In Target it dawned on me that maybe, just maybe the bobbins could be part of the problem since I have been using the ones from my Husquavarna that probably also needs bigger needles. Then it was onto Jo-Ann's where I purchased the biggest denim needles they had. Went home, switched out the stuff and it worked!!!!!! No broken needles, no nasty words. Chris got her ghee today and the patches are on but good!

So today I put the kids' Bo-Staff patches on their uniform pants. I put both of them on the wrong leg......

Averting Kama-tastrope!

Poor Alex! He loves weapons, he really does, but he is still only an 8-year old boy. Last night was the Bo-Staff test. I missed it due to a commitment at church (that is a whole other story!) and thus arrived really late to pick up the kids. Sheryl had the kamas, but was waylaid talking to someone who is interested in the program, so by the time she got back, it was just the four of us.

She realized that she had left the wooden kamas in the kid care, so I went after them while she showed the metal ones to David & the kids. By the time I returned, Sheryl was adamant that Alex only have the foam-blade kamas; seems Little Mister Weapons Fanatic immediately took the metal kama and struck the wood floor with the tip. Later, he was using the foam kamas (referring to the blades here since all have wooden handles) and hugged David from behind. If they had been metal, he would have slashed his father's neck. Not goody, as David says.

Alex was upset, but understood after awhile that he needs to earn the right to use metal, just being a Jr. Blackbelt is not enough. Ariana, however, looked at the kamas, touched them, but didn't immediately try to create a form with them like Alex did with the foam ones. Not sure if it an age or sex difference.

Oh, and yes, both kids earned their Bo-Staff patches. Alex's grade overall was a 9 and Ariana's was a 10. David earned his patch by grading the students. Guess I need to get out my sewing machine since Sheryl threatened David if he did NOT have his patch on his pants for the Black Belt test in June. He wanted to wait for his new uniform, but she was not having any of that.

It is really funny to see our petite Sensei threaten my big husband!

C'mon Kamas!

Tonight Sheryl gave the kids a letter informing us that next week will be the Bo (staff) test for patches. Kamas begin the follwing week. The choices are foam and metal. David, obviously is going to get metal. His foam nunchuks died an early, painful death, so we ordered wood for him. Not going to do that (ordering again) twice. Alex and Ariana were a bit more difficult; whenever possible, we prefer to purchase the best quality weapons, but kamas are basically curved blades with handles and Alex can get a bit wild with his weapons. Ariana can be a killer, but she is more aware of her surroundings.

So, I talked with Geoff, Sheryl and Kellie. Kellie was willing to go foam all the way, but Sheryl pointed out that Corwin has been wanting to do kamas for quite some time, and thus we decided to make the cut-off 11 years (for our four), giving Alex foam and Ariana metal. Aliera is going to be 10 on Sunday, so we needed to go up one year.

Alex took it quite well. I began to tell him that he could have metal kamas when we go to ISKA in 2011 near his 10th birthday - and he informed me he also wanted a sai! That's like a sword with two smaller points coming out out from the base. It looks dangerous and it is a sword - right up Alex's alley. Kamas, not so much, I guess.

Did I mention that David is at a dinner and has no idea of all of this?

No More Stripes!

Yesterday A&A went to the Tuesday class as per our new norm and we discovered something - no more stripes! Every few weeks, when the kids have shown sufficient progress on what they are learning, they get a stripe. After so many stripes (you would think I would know how many by now)and a sufficient length of time, they are eligible for the next belt. Well, the Jr. Black Belts cannot test for close to two more years, and the 2nd degree form is not yet on the horizon (well, not on Sheryl's, David - of course- is already attempting to master it and teach it to the kids), so they don't get a stripe. If they did, their belts would be full by the time they actually got to test.

So, now Sheryl has to come up with a way to reward them. Alex's suggestion was an embroidered red stripe - conveniently what the adults have to distinguish them. Alex REALLY wants a red stripe (one of his favorite colors)!

Please, oh please, don't let it be something I have to sew onto the belts....

On Time this Time!

A&A were terribly worried about arriving on time to MA tonight. They made sure to get ready the first time I told them to and even shut off the television without my having to tell them!

They were disappointed that we arrived only a couple of minutes early to class. I was thrilled. They were hoping for 10 minutes. Maybe next time.

Of course, that depends if they can get David motivated to be on time on Saturday.....

Late for Class? Bear Crawls!

Today I was Banshee Mommy. A&A were in their own little time world this afternoon, not really getting that when I said we had to get ready to go to MA, I meant it! It was my semi-annual rant about how I shouldn't have to tell them FIVE times in twenty minutes to get ready and that getting ready means pants, dobocks, belts, whatever gear they need and coats.

They were apologizing profusely by the time they walked into class. (A ten-minute chewing out will do that; that's how long it takes to get to Lifetime.) I asked Sheryl to make them do extra push-ups as a punishment for being late (hey, sometimes she gets through to them MUCH better), so she gave them bear crawls. They really dislike bear crawls. They weren't really happy with me. Not sure the rest of the class enjoyed them, either. Hey, they are black belts. They need to show respect.

Let's see if they can be on time tomorrow!

A&A Have Their Niche

Ariana is over the moon! Sheryl told the kids in class today that our not-so-little Dragon Princess will be able to sit the boards when she turns 12 in September. It is supposed to be 13, but Ariana is doing so well in teaching and working with others, that I guess Sheryl decided to bump her up a year. It is a way to get them to listen to Ariana and understand that they need to show respect to the Jr. Black Belts.

Problem is that Alex and Quinlin are only 8 and they also want to sit the board. They are a bit hyper still, so not sure what Sheryl is going to do.

Alex's strength is his ability to use weapons. He is great with the bokken and figured out how to do figure-8's with the bowstaff in just a short while. Ariana's fans were no problem at all for him. He grabs David's wooden and metal nunchuks every chance he gets and is dying for a katana. He is just a weapons' master.

Sheryl is afraid that A&A are going to burn out on martial arts, but I don't think so. They have found their niche and are enjoying all that comes with it.

Cobbler's Kids Now Have Shoes

Happy New Year! Wow, this week is the 4th anniversary of Alex beginning MA with Sheryl. I wonder if we should have had a celebration....

I am so glad that MA is all we do. I would go crazy if we were still running around doing three or four activities. Tonight I was reminded of that when I asked Nick if he was ready for his Pre-Black test next month. Julie, his mom, was flabbergasted and asked Nick if he could wait to test since they have so much going on. He responded negatively because he knows he needs to be a Pre-Black for several months in order to test for black. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. I then said that we would get the list to her for the Black Belt test and she said that he had seen the test and knows what he needs. I was talking about the oral and written reports and everything else....

As for the title of this entry, well you have heard about the cobbler's kids needing shoes? Well the kids of Tae Kwon Dos Mom are always the last ones to get their uniforms fixed. I never did get around to hemming Ariana's SWAT pants - even though Sheryl reminded me for three months. Luckily, she was too distracted with the upcoming test to get on my case.

She is no longer distracted. She threatened to make A&A change their pants and hand the new uniform pants to me in order to get the point across. I got it. I hemmed both pairs today. Hey, if I have to do other students' uniforms, I really don't want to upset their parents, so I do what I need to. Who is going to yell at me if I don't do our stuff? Well, David could, but he is just too sweet and the kids don't really get too upset. Luckily we ordered the uniforms a tad large, so we should be good for awhile. Of course, we have been getting new uniforms and/or larger sizes about every six months, so maybe I shouldn't do any victory dances yet....