JE does TKD

This Saturday was JE's second Tae Kwon Do Tournament. He attended one last year where he did his Purple Belt Form, or Pumsae, and earned himself a Bronze Medal. (Each Belt category is broken up into groups of 3 to 4 kids so each kid gets a medal regardless of how well they do. This fact did not escape JE's notice and so he wasn't overly impressed at getting the Bronze Medal).

This time around he did a lot better; his technique was more solid and he demonstrated better power & control with his blocks & strikes. Unfortunately he used the wrong block at the wrong time and although he corrected himself immediately it was obvious he'd made a mistake. Despite the error he missed out on the gold by just half a point and so took home the Silver, beating out two other kids.

After lunch it was time for the sparring, and while this was JE's second Tournament it was his first time sparring.

Having competed at a State-level Karate Tournament myself in Australia I'd spent the previous couple of months trying to prepare JE for what I knew was in store for him. Watching him spar with the other kids at this TKD school I could tell he really wasn't prepared. He kicked too slow, as if he was afraid of hurting the other kid. Slow kicks can be dodged. Slow kicks miss your opponent. Slow kicks don't score points and they don't win matches. Kick faster, I'd tell him, kick harder. You need to tag your opponent, he needs to feel it, and you need to keep after him the whole time. (The sparring matches were two one-minute rounds, separated by a 20-30 second break.)

But my words and experience meant nothing to the 9-year old boy. He just wasn't prepared. But then that's also what tournaments are for: to give you experience so you can improve and do better at the next tournament.

There were three boys in JE's sparring group. Himself, another kid about the same size and build as him, and a bigger, heavier kid. (Not necessarily a more muscular kid, I think 'husky' is the politically correct term ;) who lucked out and got a Bye in Round One. So while JE and his Clone faced off, the Husky Kid automatically advanced to Round Two, meaning even if he lost his one and only match he'd still get the Silver. Lucky leetle fat keed.

As JE and his Clone faced off I could immediately tell the Clone had more experience. He moved more fluidly, gliding in, snapping out kicks, then skipping back before JE could retaliate. This tournament was certainly going to be a learning experience. The poor kid was taking body shots and kicking at air and I could tell it was getting to him. He was fighting two fights; he was fighting his Clone and he was fighting back the tears and he was losing both battles.

I was aware of the rule which said if one kid takes a beating, starts crying and refuses to continue he gets DQ'd, and I looked on in horror as the Referee did indeed stop the match and ushered JE and his Clone to their seats. At the time I didn't realize it was just the end of Round One, but that was irrelevant; if JE didn't go back in it would still be the end of the match.

JE's Master rushed over and began talking to him then looked up at me with a question in his eyes: "What do you want to do?"

Surrounding the arenas were plastic pylons and chains to keep the audience back and give the competitors and staff room to do their thing. But my son's TKD school was hosting this tournament and many of the Staff were volunteers and parents of the competitors, including myself. I even had the snazzy yellow Staff t-shirt to prove it.

I leaped over the chain, rushed to my son's side and began talking to him. "Come on, son. Don't give in. Don't let him win like this," I said, along with other semi-inspirational things like how he might not win even if he did go back out, but to at least go out fighting and not just hand his Clone the victory.

Now if that was a 20-second break it was the longest 20 seconds I've experienced, so I suspect the Referee and Time Keeper cut us some slack and gave us time to try to rally the boy.

As parents we hate to see our kids hurt but we also don't like to see them just roll over and give in, and after a lot of prodding and encouragement the boy dug deep, sucked it up, stood up, and went back out.

This time he took the fight to the Clone who, being up on points and wanting to stay there, fought a lot more defensively. But I could see that he was surprised at the difference between the tearful JE who'd retired to his corner at the end of the first round, and the more aggressive JE facing him now. The boy went after the Clone and while he still got hit again it didn't stop him this time, and he tagged the Clone a few times in return. Unfortunately the rally was too little too late and the match still went to the Clone, who also went on to dispose of the Husky kid and win the Gold.

After the match JE was still not happy. His Clone had kicked him pretty hard and despite the body armor they wear he was still hurting. But then getting hurt is part of growing up, as is overcoming that pain, learning from it, and moving forward.

"In the face of adversity, you find out if you're a fighter or a quitter.
It's all about getting up after you've been knocked down."
- Archie Griffin