Thinking Allowed: Ki-Yah!

Part of the advantage of staying in one place for a month is that the children get to join local classes. When we chose Lima as an exam location part of the appeal was that we would be near a climbing gym, gymnastics club, and surfing spot. But, the gymnastics class turned out to be geared to a different age and skill level than Sophia hoped for and the climbing gym was ‘too disorganised’ for the kid. Jakob, in his Lima search had also noticed a taekwondo studio near our place and figured the girls could give the trial class a try. The staff were all so enthusiastic and accommodating to our short term needs and budget and all four girls had a great time. Travel has definitely taught us to be adaptable and seize positive opportunities, so, we all agreed the change in sport was meant to be.

For a month the girls have gone three times a week. The one month sample into the world of taekwondo was enough to get them hooked. They block and they kick their way across the house. They spar with each other in playgrounds. They geek out with Jakob about skills learned at various belt levels. Zadie, a very gentle child, has had to get used to a more physical social sport. Tova finally gets to live out her martial arts inclinations and can beat all the others with the speed of her moves. Sophia's nightly strength and flexibility training routines have given her an edge on the other white belts. Aurora is enamoured by the sport and turns out to have a lethal kick. Everyone at the dojang is incredibly nice. Levana is doted on by the staff who come and try and teach her taekwondo moves. She can now say Ki-yah and thankfully the punching wasn’t a skill she mastered.

The dojang was really nice and allowed the three younger girls to test to the next belt on a private testing session so that they could make it to orange belt before their departure. Aurora went to the official belt testing session. It was all very official with a stern looking black belt tester (though she did look she had to try to keep a serious face), a table all set up with different coloured belts, audience watching through the window, and lots of nervous anticipation. So, now we have four orange belted children who are eager to continue practicing tae kwon do when they next get the chance.

With a family full of daughters I think that the concepts of self-defence and non-violence will serve our family well.