Josiah spent three months at red belt, and it was time for him to test on to high red at the end of January. From now on, he will wait three months between belts rather than two. He still has a few more to go until black belt and after he achieves that we will allow him to either continue with Taekwondo or to move on to another sport of his choosing. We think it is a good discipline to stick with something until the end, hence why we are requiring him to finish up. He has had his ups and downs with Taekwondo for sure, but we determined that with any sport you will have times where it gets hard and that is not a reason to quit. Hopefully he will learn the value of sticking with something and seeing where it can lead! Not to mention when you get your black belt you actually get a card to go in your wallet that says you have "lethal hands and feet," which is kinda cool!
As per usual, he had his poomsae to complete (a routine of punches, kicks and moves that lasts around 2 minutes or more depending), his sa bang chuck (a series of kicks and some punches that are done in 4 different directions), and a board break (he does these every other test).
The newest addition to his testing was to have to spar as well though! He is pictured here in the blue doing a kick as he is sparring. They essentially are supposed to just try and get kicks in at the chest level and they chase each other around the room trying to do just that! Josiah is still learning how to spar well to be sure, but I really enjoy watching him do it!
He is breaking his board here. Normally Daddy comes to the test where he breaks the board and gets to hold the board for him. David wasn't feeling well on this day, so I came with him to the test and asked Master Justin if he could find a replacement board holder, since I was pregnant and didn't really want to hold it. He was glad to do so for me. It was nice too because I got to film the board break and take pictures. He broke the board this time on the second try. Be sure and click on the links in the second and 3rd paragraphs of this post to see him in action! :)
