Taekwondo

Chloe did Kung Fu a few years ago but we quit because it was such a trek to get to the school. Kung Fu moves at a much slower pace than Taekwondo or Karate, it can take years before you get to advance in belts, but we chose it because it is a Chinese martial art. Chloe really enjoyed it but the one hour plus drive to the school was too much. In the NYC metro area there are only a handful of schools teaching Kung Fu, but there are many Taekwondo and Karate schools. When we signed Oliver up for martial arts, we enrolled him in Taekwondo. Chloe has hinted that she wanted to go back to martial arts classes, but her swim schedule seemed to prevent it.

 

Every six months at Oliver's martial arts school, the students and parents have a meeting with the head instructor and discuss goals and progress. At Oliver's last meeting Oliver set a long-term goal of becoming a black belt in Taekwondo. This is a big commitment and one Oliver made on his own with Master Pereira. Students who make this commitment get a special ceremony and a special uniform that signifies their commitment.

 

Oliver in class on the day he made his commitment to earning his black belt.

Oliver getting his uniform signifying his commitment to study Taekwondo until he earns his black belt. He was SOOOO proud of himself and loves that uniform.

 It was at Oliver's session that Chloe declared that she wanted to take martial arts again. Master Pereira and I discussed some of the benefits for Chloe and I expressed my concerns that she couldn't commit because of her swim and kart schedules. But, Master Pereira said if Chloe committed and really wanted to do martial arts then he would help us "fill in" the gaps if she had to miss and gave us a free, extended trial period to see if we could make it work.

 

So far, so good and Chloe is loving it. Oliver is loving having his sister in class and that he is a higher belt. They even practice together and challenge each other.

Chloe in her first class.

Chloe and Oliver in class.