Last night Evan received his first degree black belt.
This is something he's been working towards for a little over three years and required not only the commitment to attending classes two times a week, but in order to pass his test he needed to know his entire form (all 48 moves), half of a past form (23 moves), 2 self-defense moves, create and choreograph a demo set to music (he chose a dance mix of the Star Wars theme and performed it with his friend J, a classmate and fellow black belt), break 2 boards (they're plastic and graduate in difficulty according to a child's age), remember and perform forms for 2 weapons, AND write a one page paper on what he learned on the way to becoming a black belt.
Oh yeah, and keep up with his regular school work.
But Evan rose to the occasion and kicked ass, if I may say so. I think I was more nervous than he was - my hands were shaking during his musical form.
He showed off his flying side kicks and broke his boards on the first try. He was so fast, I didn't even get a picture of him breaking the board with a flying side kick. Thankfully, another mom took pictures and is going to e-mail them to me.
Here's my boy with his brand spanking new black belt and his friend. His instructor liked their routine so much she wants them to polish it and perform it in front of their class at school. Evan and J are stoked.
On a side note, as a reward for sticking with Tae Kwondo when there were times he wanted to quit and for earning his black belt, Frank and I gave Evan a Nintendo DS (he's been saving his money to buy one for two years, I think). He was very surprised at first when he saw the box then he started jumping up and down.
And now I can't tell which makes him happier; the black belt or the gaming system.
This is something he's been working towards for a little over three years and required not only the commitment to attending classes two times a week, but in order to pass his test he needed to know his entire form (all 48 moves), half of a past form (23 moves), 2 self-defense moves, create and choreograph a demo set to music (he chose a dance mix of the Star Wars theme and performed it with his friend J, a classmate and fellow black belt), break 2 boards (they're plastic and graduate in difficulty according to a child's age), remember and perform forms for 2 weapons, AND write a one page paper on what he learned on the way to becoming a black belt.
Oh yeah, and keep up with his regular school work.
But Evan rose to the occasion and kicked ass, if I may say so. I think I was more nervous than he was - my hands were shaking during his musical form.
He showed off his flying side kicks and broke his boards on the first try. He was so fast, I didn't even get a picture of him breaking the board with a flying side kick. Thankfully, another mom took pictures and is going to e-mail them to me.
Here's my boy with his brand spanking new black belt and his friend. His instructor liked their routine so much she wants them to polish it and perform it in front of their class at school. Evan and J are stoked.On a side note, as a reward for sticking with Tae Kwondo when there were times he wanted to quit and for earning his black belt, Frank and I gave Evan a Nintendo DS (he's been saving his money to buy one for two years, I think). He was very surprised at first when he saw the box then he started jumping up and down.
And now I can't tell which makes him happier; the black belt or the gaming system.
3 comments:
That is an awesome photo! Congrats.
DS is a great motivator...just the idea of it being taken away keeps our daughter on top of things. (And I love using it too!)
That's marvelous----congratulations to him!
That is so cool. How long has he been taking classes?
Its really neat that you guys got him a "graduation" present that he loves! :)
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