Ready...Set... GO!!!!!

Last night I felt like I passed some sort of torch.It felt really strange for all kinds of reasons!
Isaac and Abigail went to TaeKwonDo class!!

It felt strange because it made me feel old.  It felt strange because I was sitting in those "parent" chairs, and was not out there in the thick middle of it.  Part of me wanted to jump up and help the poor white belts (my kids) and part of me loved the fact that they were learning from someone else for a change.  It thrilled me to watch my son actually pay attention.  It thrilled me to see that Abigail's kicks reminded me of her Mommy's, in an "untrained" sort of way.  They were having fun, and I was sitting there, not sure if my emotional status should allow me to cry or stand up and cheer, or both.  I did none of that, but I did take pictures!  

Abigail is wearing Isaac's old uniform from when he was 5 and tried a preschool Tae Kwon Do class .  

Bought a new one for Isaac after class last night.

I can't help but post this blurry picture, because it was a really good kick!

Ready... set.... GO!

Then I just did a lot of sitting there, feeling all those feelings, wondering and hoping that martial arts will benefit them the way it benefitted me, even though the benefits manifest themselves differently for every individual.

When I went to college, I remember at some point either just before I left or while I was there, that my dad apologized to me for not getting me the piano lessons I "needed."  He said something like, "I wish we would have spent money on piano lessons instead of Tae Kwon Do."  I remember charging back something rather quickly like, "I wouldn't be who I am today without Tae Kwon Do."  I said something to assure him that the art was way more important for me than I think piano would have been.  It's true.  I would venture to guess I wouldn't have even decided to be a music major, had it not been for what was instilled in me on the East side of the square in Snyder, TX.  My personality had always been quite timid and I don't think I would have ever even been brave enough to try singing even a simple solo, had TaeKwonDo not prefaced in me an ease in performing through the gift of confidence. It took baby-steps.  It took skill, shaping that skill, and learning the training ethics of my instructors, Greg and Donna Gafford.  They were very different in the way they taught.  Greg was a major encourager, ...possibly even to a fault, but I don't know if I really mean that.  He was a profound influence and example for me.  I remember him shouting to all of the "color belts" once, "Hey everyone!  Watch this WHITE-belt do it!"  I remember thinking, "UH-OH... He just told them I did something great.  I don't want to do it in front of everyone, but I better, and I better do it great again!!!"  I remember that there were plenty of other times, when I'd hear him say that about other white-belts.  It was such a two-fold thing.  It called more mature trainees back to striving for perfection, and encouraged the new kid he just picked on!  I could go on because there were so many important reasons God placed Greg in my life.  You could read the short version of my testimony here:  http://atwhitsinn.blogspot.com/p/innkeepers-testimony.html if you want to know more, although the longer version of my testimony talks even more about Greg.  ...Then there was Donna.  I think her views on the talent I possessed caused her to pick on me a lot.  I think I remember actually going home offended by her nit-picking at times, not realizing until later that she was encouraging me in her own way.  Eventually I figured out that I needed HER to critique my forms before tournaments and not HIM.  (You know that's true Greg!)  He would just say, "BEAUTIFUL!".... She'd find what really needed fine-tuned.  I needed to get used to some nit-picking for my future endeavors.  -For times when I'd need to not take it so personally when someone corrected and needed to shape the singing talent I possessed.  Donna was just as important in developing training ethics in me as Greg was.  All I eventually had to do was copy what I learned there and at home, and paste it into not only my music world, but into what the rest of my life would eventually look like.  (Insert fierce determination despite adversity or challenges here... but those would be more stories)

I wonder what the martial art will be for my children.  None of that?  All of that?  More?  Come to think of it, I might actually continue to enjoy watching it unfold from those "parent-chairs."

Love from our family to you and yours...