My Photos: Our 7 Year Old Daughter's Taekwondo Belt Test (Board Breaking Video)

In January, both our 7 year old twins moved up from the Pee-wee class in Taekwondo.  They still had their Pee-wee belts and will not officially be promoted until they each pass their next belt test.  Our daughter had her belt test last week to turn in her low orange belt for a high white belt.  She was extremely nervous and practiced for hours at home with her big brother, who will be testing for his orange belt soon.

When the day of the belt test rolled around, I was relieved to see that our daughter was excited, rather than nervous.  I think all that extra training paid off.  During the test, I could see her level of confidence had risen and I watched her give 110% for the full duration of the test.  Needless to say, I was extremely proud of her.  I was especially proud of her because she showed much perseverance that afternoon . . .

Photo and video taken with the Samsung NX300.

During the board breaking portion of the test, our daughter had trouble with the third break.  I could tell by the look on her face that the first attempt hurt her hand quite a bit.  In fact, after the test she showed me a very painful looking bruise that had formed on her right hand.  Even though her hand hurt, she tried the break that stubborn board two more times and was ultimately able to do it.  I know she was as proud of herself as I was of her.


Now she can't wait for the day of the belt ceremony to come, so she can say that she is officially no longer a Pee-wee.

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My Photos: Our 9 Year Old Son Competed in the U.S. Masters Taekwondo Open Championship

On the 3rd of this month, our 9 year old son participated in his first Taekwondo competition.  It was the 2013 U.S. Masters Taekwondo Open Championship, a local competition and a supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  He competed in one form plus sparring for his division.  I cannot say how proud my husband and I are of Jake because it takes a lot of courage just to compete.  I know there are many students who are older than he is who never took the leap to take part in a competition.  The organization even recognized this by presenting each competitor age 11 years or younger, who did not place first, second, or third, with a medal of participation.  I thought that was wonderful because it really is an extremely long day for someone who is young and it could be disheartening to go home with nothing, making a younger student hesitant to return the following year.

Our son did not place in forms, but we are so proud of him.  He got out there in front of a gymnasium full of people to compete even though he must have been so nervous.

What our son was looking forward to the most was the sparring competition.  He had been training for about 5 weeks for this day.  He had a great coach, who is also one of his instructors.

Jake's first match only lasted seconds.  Once he got his first kick in, his opponent seemed to get the wind knocked out of him and could not continue.

After all the matches in his division took place, Jake ultimately placed second and took home a silver medal in sparring.  We were so proud of him and I knew he was feeling quite proud of himself.

One major theme for such a competition is to meet defeat gracefully and to accept a win humbly, and our son did both those things that day.

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Review: The Spy Next Door (DVD)

On May 18th, The Spy Next Door hit store shelves on both DVD and on a Blu-ray/DVD combo. Since we are huge Jackie Chan fans in our house, we were thrilled to be able to review this movie on DVD.

I watched this DVD with my 6yr old son, but not with his younger brother and sister, who cannot discern the difference between what is acting and what is real. As much as I enjoy Jackie Chan's movies, the martial arts portions of this movie was a huge concern to me when it came to how realistic it would appear to a child. Although the fight scenes would seem realistic to a child, it had a comedic style rather than a fight-to-the-death feel. Also, the villains of the film were not frightening at all.

Chan's character (Bob Ho) is the Clark Kent of spies. Adding George Lopez and Billy Ray Cyrus to the mix, pretty much guarantees a fun movie for kids. Although my son loved this movie, there was something that seemed to be created more for the adults. This was the montage in the beginning featuring Bob in recreations of famous scenes from past spy and action films. It was highly unlikely that a younger child would recognize any of the films represented.

Beyond all the cool fight scenes and Jackie Chan's physical feats, there was ultimately a lesson to be learned in the end, which was that true family does not have to be blood-related. This film offers opportunities for you to talk to your child about different types of non-traditional families. It would also be a great movie for children belonging to such families to watch.

Like me, one of my 6yr old's favorite parts of this DVD is the outtakes at the end, which is an expected feature for all Jackie Chan films. As for the film, he really laughed the hardest during the scenes where the children fight to defend themselves and their home against the bad guys. Although Bob is no James Bond, he did have some neat spy gadgets that very much impressed my son.

You can purchase The Spy Next Door on DVD, a Blu-ray/DVD combo, or digital download at the Lionsgate Shop, Amazon.com, and other major movie retailers.

Thank you to Lionsgate for sending us a sample DVD free of charge to base this review upon.

Silly Monkey Stories: Black Belt Wannabe

Last week our 6yr old son Jake got promoted to green belt in TKD. His little brother Luke is now the about the age that Jake was when he first started taking classes.

Luke loves to go with Jake to class, but he and my husband always have to sit in a separate room and watch through a large glass window. The day Jake got promoted, we were all allowed to be in the studio. Luke was so thrilled. There were so many things to punch and kick. He actually had pretty good form since he really pays close attention to how his big brother practices.

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Our 6yr Old is Now a Green Belt in TKD

Our 6yr old son has officially retired his yellow belt in taekwon do. He now has a green belt, which is technically a "recommended" green belt. If I understand correctly, if you are under a certain age, you can only earn a green belt with a black stripe that runs lengthwise.

Jake was so excited the evening before his promotion. He has had his yellow belt for over a year and, although he has earned stripes on it, he was ready to hang it up on his belt rack above his white belt.

The event was not really a test, but rather an opportunity for all the students to show their families what they can do. Only students who have already proven themselves to qualify for a promotion are invited to the event.

After doing some basic moves as a large group, the students were broken up into smaller groups by age to show off their offensive moves.

Jake broke his first 3/4" thick by 5" deep board. I know he was nervous about doing that. My husband and I are so proud that he made the attempt and were so very thrilled for him that he was successful.

After that they called up groups of students, depending on which promotion they were receiving, to do their patterns. Only one other student in this age group was going for his green belt.

Here is the proud moment where one of the instructors presents Jake with his new green belt. I took so many photos during the event that my camera battery almost ran out of charge. Luckily, it still had a little life left in it.

After the ceremony, we took Jake to Friendly's to have a celebratory lunch and ice cream. He said that he chose mint chocolate chip ice cream for his sundae because it was green to match his belt.