Taekwondo

Josiah has adjusted well to his new Do Jang here in Spokane. He still misses Master Kim, but he also loves to study under Master Justin and enjoys his Taekwondo classes. This picture is of Josiah and Master Justin after he received his orange belt. Because we moved, he took a bit of a step back with the belts and also they have a different belt system (here it is yellow then orange and there it was orange then yellow) but it was good for him to learn the new routines and ways of doing things here.

This is a picture of Josiah receiving his orange belt. He is the one looking back toward the camera with the yellow belt on standing in the front. Daddy was the one who got to go to his actual test, since I needed to stay home with the other kids and I got to go to the belt ceremony, which was two weeks later. We decided that since these tests were so frequent (one every 2 months) that we would do it this way to save on babysitting costs.

And then on December 22nd, I got to see Josiah test for his green belt. This will be his very first green belt that he has earned, so that is pretty cool. In this picture, you can see Josiah in the front with his orange belt and then Josiah's friend Reid in the back with a white belt. His friends (who live right near us) Cole and Reid and their sister Allison started at the same Do Jang a while back and now will have their yellow belts.

I think Josiah was a little distracted to have his buddies there as his focus was really low. Master Justin had him do his Poomseh (phonetic spelling) twice and after he finished he told him he did not pass his test and would have to do it again.

However, when he did his Sabancheck (also phonetic), he did just fine and also was able to recite the 11 commandments of Taekwondo. Master Justin told him he only had to say 5 of them, but he knew all 11. It is funny that people think that 1st graders can't memorize much because I think it is just because people don't require them to do it! I suppose though because Josiah has been doing Awana that the memorization isn't as hard for him.

Here he is doing his Poomseh for his test. After all the tests were completed, Master Justin had Josiah do his Poomseh again for him with him standing near him and Josiah was much more focused and was able to do it right. Josiah came running up to me and said, "I passed my test," and I said I didn't think so because I didn't hear what Master Justin had said to him. Apparently, Master Justin told me that what he did afterward was sufficient and that he would get his green belt after all. It was very kind of him to have mercy on Josiah and allow him to try again I thought! I also found out that they only have to break a board every other test! That was a relief also!

I really think Josiah's way of showing nervousness is to be unfocused. He was like this sometimes at the old Do Jang too. Taekwondo has been really good for him though, I think and will continue to be a good outlet for him to express himself and work through some of these things! I am very proud of his work and progress, he has come a long way!