Alpha Martial Arts Trounament

Today, Alpha Martial Arts, where my kids and I are Tae Kwon Do students, hosted an in house tournament, and Aaron and Becca each participated.  Both did a traditional form, and Aaron also sparred. 

Here is Becca doing her traditional form, Dan Gun:
Becca's Form

And Aaron's form, Won Hyo:
Aaron's Form

And finally, Aaron's sparring round:
Aaron Sparring

Becca ended up taking 2nd place out of about 9 kids in the beginner youth division.  I had worked with her on a couple of tweaks yesterday, and she brought everything together really nicely I thought when it counted.  She is not quite as gung ho about TKD as she was during the honeymoon period when she first started, but she still enjoys it, and she continues to improve quickly.  We just got her some sparring gear, so very soon we'll see if that side of her does as well as the forms side.  Needless to say, I'm very proud of my daughter and am looking forward to seeing her as a black belt some day.

Aaron didn't place in the top 3 of either of his events.  In his division are a handful of very talented kids who are all on Alpha's demo team and are very dedicated to being being great martial artists, and they literally work on it daily.  Aaron certainly wants to improve, and he's done a great job in the time he's been in TKD, but he's still learning how to use that lanky body of his.  Just a year ago, just the thought of him doing the form he competed with today would have been crazy to me, but he did learn it, and he performed it in front of a crowd.  He's well ahead of where I would have figured he'd be at this point.  And as for sparring...he really enjoys it.  I was worried when he started that he wouldn't be able to take a hit very well, but so far he's not backed out of anything because he was hit hard.  He is pretty good at dodging those feet flying at his face, though, and that's certainly a good skill to have when sparring.  With more practice, he'll be able to do more than stand and wait for an attack, then counter it with a roundhouse kick.  I'm also looking forward to seeing where he ends up in a few years, not because I expect that he is going to be an incredibly sharp martial artist, but because he has already surprised me many times, and it is entirely possible that he will take out his old man with a roundhouse to the teeth one day while sparring.  That will be a fun torch to pass.

As always, I'm very proud of both of my kids and am glad they are participating in TKD with me for many reasons.  Today was a good day.

Aaron's Trumpet Solo

Today, I got to see Aaron play a solo on his trumpet at a local middle school.  I don't know the logistics of who was there, but there were several area middle schools represented.  Aaron played his piece in front of a "judge" who then gave him some helpful feedback on his playing, as well as a handful of other people waiting for their kids' turns.  The piece he played was "Serenade from Don Giovanni".  Here is a link to his performance:

Aaron's solo

Two things went through my mind today.  Actually, many more thoughts went through my mind today, but I will address two of them.  First, I couldn't help but picture the scene from "The Music Man" where the band gets together and does their concert for the parents, all of whom think their kids sound like the best ever to play their instruments.  I, of course thought Aaron rocked.

But the second thought that crossed my mind was...is this the same kid that, just a few short months ago, could only make sounds on that trumpet that were probably comparable to that of an African elephant that also was not yet very experienced at playing a trumpet?  Today, he was playing music, and he looked like he knew what he was doing!  He wasn't nervous at all...he just matter of factly got up there, did his thing, received his feedback, and then sat back down.  I'm excited that he's actually not too bad at playing the trumpet now.  I'll be curious to see if chooses to keep at it, and if so, I'll look forward to hearing what he will be able to play after he's had some time to practice.  Should be some good stuff because today, he rocked.