Tae Kwon Do on Our Side of the Mountain

Cornflower, who is a very sweet girl and a total book nut, has for the past 4 years been studying the martial art of Tae Kwon Do. It has been a great sport for her to be involved in because:
1) she has excellent teachers at her Do-jang (school) who teach, encourage, demand & motivate
2) the sport is not weather dependent
3) it is fabulous exercise
4) I don't have to sit outside in the hot sun, freezing cold, or muggy rain to watch and cheer her on!

Over the years Cornflower has had the experience of taking part in a number of local and regional competition tournaments. These experiences have been very valuable in a myriad of ways. Cornflower not only has to learn the forms (choreographed moves in sequence) and practice sparring (fighting an opponent with helmet and pads), but she also had to learn how to present herself to the judges, perform her forms in front of hosts of people, and learn to win and lose with good sportsmanship and bravery!

I think that her experiences in participating in this sport have formed her for her future in ways that are not easy to replicate without such a demanding sport. (No whining, begging-off, or slacking allowed in this sport! You just wouldn't dream of telling Mr. H that you cannot do it!!) She has had to push herself to meet the expectations of her teachers with yet one more kick or another lap. She has had to memorized so many moves, patterns and defenses. She has taken some grueling tests to advance belts and had to break boards for many of the tests. It has never been easy and at times she struggled with being motivated to get to class knowing that a difficult workout awaited her. But, she has preservered thus far and I hope that it will be a lifelong encouragement to her in everything she does to look at her Taekwondo experience and have the confidence that overrides natural anxiety when it comes to accomplishing a difficult task.

The five tenets they focus on at Cornflower's Do-jang are great beyond the walls of that classroom:

• Courtesy
• Integrity
• Perserverence
• Self-Control
• Indomitable Spirit

And they are a good focus for all of our family in everything that we work at each day!