Taekwondo (TKD) Update!

Taekwondo is still a big part of my weekly routine, and I'm so glad that I am still doing it.  My friend Keenan and I usually go at the same time, but with our increasingly busy schedules (he goes to another gym, I have Korean class and other obligations) we sometimes go at separate times.  Our normal time is 9 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays and/or Fridays.  My new (intermediate level) Korean language class is on Fridays from 7-9 PM, and I need a little more flexibility in my schedule (for teachers dinners, errands, etc.).  Because of this I found out that I can go at 7:30 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is before band practice and open mic respectively.

Here are several of my 3rd and 4th graders. 

The 7:30 time slot has a lot of my current 5th graders,several younger students, and several that are too young to my students yet.  This is fun and interesting, but I also really enjoy going with Keenan and the middle school students too, so I am getting to do both at my convenience.

A couple 5th graders ready for battle!

Here are a couple of very young students, and they are just cute as heck.  

I am having a bit of a break from TKD though after last night (I went Monday/Wednesday this week), because next week the studio is closed Monday-Wednesday for the Chuseok holiday.  My Dad will be in town (he arrives Saturday!!), and we will be too busy Thursday/Friday that week.  Master Lee was nice enough to send a couple of cool little statues (of a young TKD student) home with me as gifts to my parents. Because of that my parents are reciprocating  and we will stop by on Thursday for that deal, but then we have dinner plans, and other options (Open Mic or the World Music Festival), so I won't be training next week.

3rd graders; "Tom" at the forefront.

I am getting excited for my next step in the TKD world, which will be a sparring competition/tournament.  I don't have a lot of information on it, or an exact date yet, but I will probably be competing within the next month or two.  Master Lee has had a lot more sparring sessions since I have achieved my black belt, so I know he is preparing me for the real deal.  I don't feel like I've gotten A LOT of training for sparring in particular, but now that I have mastered most of the kicks, and since I have a background in wrestling, I feel pretty confident out there.

Here are some 5th graders sparring.  I sparred with a few of them, but it is much better practice for me with the middle schoolers.  These students are still a little to young for me to be going 100% against them (though I guess it does feel good to win every time, lol)

As my friend Penelope so elegantly put it, I am "dripping with padded children," hahaha