My brother and sisters and I were all in TaeKwon Do when we were kids. It was one sport we were able to do because it was affordable through the rec district, and once we were high enough rank, we even received training for free in exchange for helping to teach the lower belts. My brother and I made it to black belt. I was only 12! Martial Arts was a very big part of my life growing up, and so I have to say I have been biting my tongue for a few years, waiting for Prince to be old enough to start. (I didn’t realize they had toddler programs available, but then again I hadn’t done much research.) This summer, we had coupons for a month of free lessons for both Prince and Princess, and it seemed like a perfect time to start.
Tonight was the third night of mixed martial arts for Prince and Princess. WolfPack Martial Arts is a blend of TaeKwon Do and Karate, since its founder was a master of both. Princess was in the Lil’ Dragons program, and Prince was in the Wolfcubs beginner program. They always started out with a warm-up and stretching, and it wasn’t too long before we noticed a tendency of Princess’. She stuck out her tongue. No matter what she was doing in the class, her tongue was out. There wasn’t much we could do to prevent it because every time we told her to put her tongue away, she would look back at us and loose her focus on the instructors. We learned very quickly not to be sideline parents, with either of them.
After seeing how interested he was in it, and how much he loved to go to the classes, and even how much his behavior at home had improved, we decided to commit to training him regularly…after the baby comes. We knew it would be hard to keep the schedule of attending classes during all of the uncertainty at the end of the summer. But we went ahead and bought his gi (the pants, at least), and then we were surprised to find out that he would receive his first belt because of his commitment to continue coming.
My heart nearly burst with pride when they tied the white belt around Prince’s tiny waist, and he bowed to his instructor with a huge grin on his face, the back of his summer uniform reading “A black belt is a white belt who never gave up.”
