A little tiger

This past Saturday was the last class of Tae Kwon Do for Su this session. It's hard for me to believe I'm actually disappointed. While I had a feeling that the "family" class would be good for Su and I, there was no way for me to know just how much fun we'd actually end up having together.

Last fall, we had signed Su up for a Tae Kwon Do class for individuals -- kids whose ages ran from about 5 years to 9 years. The class was through the Geneva Park District and run by Bill Cho's United Tae Kwon Do Center in St. Charles. We initially decided to try out the class because: A) we figured an additional winter-time activity wouldn't be a bad thing, and B) I figured the class could go a long way into developing some confidence and coordination. I had taken lessons some time ago and had accumulated a few belts before hanging it up, but knew that it could be a lot of fun for her.

Su did seem to enjoy the class, but like with a lot of activities, wasn't sure if she really wanted to do it again. And that's fair. We have given her the chance to try out different activities and only want her to experience something new once in a while before ruling it out. When that particular session was up, we decided to give it one more shot -- this time as part of the "family" class, giving the parent a chance to participate with the child.

This seemed like a great opportunity to spend some time with Su, keep her interested, and also add a little bit more exercise to her winter-time routine. Su wasn't sure about another class but at least was a good sport about trying it again.

And we had a blast. Working through routines, bonding exercises, counting to 10 in Korean, reciting the 5 tenets ("Courtesy, SIR!..."). We had so much fun together. And I witnessed the changes in Su as she became more confident in her abilities and also did a fantastic job of memorizing routines and language. For me, the class was a lot harder than I thought it would be. The routines came back to me quickly, but the hard part was performing a lot of these exercises with a 5-year old on my back! Running relays, push-ups, all with Su hanging on my backside. It was hard, it was fun, and the 8-week session seemed over before it began.

We're thinking about trying one more session together in April. I'll see how Su feels about doing this with Dad one more time. Su especially loved the interaction with Master Han (Master Yong Soo Han), who was especially great with the kids, and Master Jeff, who added additional assistance and training.

Tae! Kwon! Do!