At Long Last

I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again.  Tae kwon do has been such a good experience for our family!

My original plan was for Elijah to take classes, as he is our child most in need of discipline, self-discipline, and goal-setting.  However, Charlotte took to the sport like a duck to water, and, as Jeff says, I guess I should have figured that.  She has always responded well to activities with incremental awards and goals to reach.  She is self-motivated and independent, which makes martial arts a good fit.  While the classes obviously have other people in them, it is very much an individual sport.

Anyway, Charlotte finally completed her 100-day leadership project to earn her black shirt and full-leader status at tae kwon do back in August.  She is only the second purple belt to achieve this, as most people are brown belts earning full leadership.  She was supposed to get her black top and then test for her brown belt on Saturday.  The broken leg threw a monkey wrench in that plan, but she was still able to go to a test last night and be presented with her black top, crutches and all!

Charlotte chose to train for several 5K races for her project and discovered that she really enjoys running.  Mrs. Rhonda Kurtz, one of the two co-owners and masters at the academy, gave a brief talk about Charlotte’s project and showed off her running medals and trophy.

Then, Mrs. Kurtz presented Charlotte with her new top and helped her put it on.

 

 

After she had her top on, Charlotte went to the front of the people who were there to test that evening.  They were all standing a V-shaped formation.  Mrs. Kurtz explained that full leaders were like the goose who takes the point of the V formation when geese fly.  That goose carries 70 percent of the work load during her time at the front.  In the same way, full leaders are learning to take additional responsibilities for helping and leading others in the academy.

 

After Mrs. Kurtz explained all this, Charlotte stood in front alone and issued a few commands and led a couple of exercises.  (Well, she issued the commands and watched her class do the exercises!)  Then, we all cheered while the class gave Charlotte high fives.

We were so glad that the Kurtzes allowed Charlotte to do this!  It was a very special time for her and peak of four months of hard work.  When she heals, she will proceed with testing for her brown belt.  Elijah plans to test for his in October, which will put him ahead of her.  She’s pretty philosophical about it, although it seems a bit unfair!

Needless to say, we are very proud of our girl.