Tae Kwon Do mini tournament

The four oldest kids were in a Tae kwon do tournament this morning. It was very last minute that we decided to go ahead and let them participate (their instructor had called us and asked if they could) and they were a little nervouse since we hadn't been in five months. Timothy and Bethany only did the sparring event, Tyler did sparring and weapon's form, and Brittany did sparring, weapon's form, and regular forms. Of course, they had nothing to worry about- they all did great. But, of course, I am a proud mama who would say that anyway. :)

Bethany took 2nd place in sparring. I couldn't seem to get one of her facing me. She's the black belt.

Timothy took second place in sparring, also. He creamed the kid from the first round, but then his best friend creamed him in the second round! I don't think Timothy was too upset, though! (Timothy is facing the camera.)

Tyler took first place in sparring and in weapon's form. Tyler is wielding his numchuks. (I'm not even sure how to spell "numchuks".) Tyler is in the blue top. That means he is a junior instructor under the age of 12.

Brittany took first place in forms. She was competing against four 3rd degree black belts who are all older than her, and she nailed them in all. However, the tide turned in weapon's form. She did fine, but had only been practicing numchuks for less than two months before we stopped going. The other girls had double numchuks and she only had single. So, she placed third out of five. And, for the first time in a tournament she didn't place at all in sparring. She was up against the 3rd degrees again, and although she earned two points for kicking the opponent in the head, the other girl got to five points first. Brittany is in the red top-that means she's a junior instructor over the age of 12.

A red-headed spectator.

Black Belts!!

The three oldest kids got their black belts Friday night. They've been working on this goal for almost 2 years now. They were so excited. They had to each do three forms and 2 board breaks. There was a candle ceremony where each of the black belts get to light a small candle off of the bigger one after a reading about how they've grown in their Tae Kwon Do journey. It was really special for them. Brittany and Tyler both talked about how they wanted to be instructors and how this was such a big achievement for them. Timothy talked about how he liked having fun. That was a definate Timothy answer! He's all about having fun.