Taekwondo as a Parent – Week 2

My son and I both got in two practices this week. I am already having issues getting him to commit to two practices per week. He’s trying to negotiate only Saturdays. The dojang operates under a monthly buffet plan — kids can go up to three times per week, and adults up to six. I would normally be ok with a single weekly trip, but was asked to bring him at least two, as younger children find it harder to absorb things when practices are spread so far apart. I’m going to commit to just making this a regular bi-weekly trip for him for at least a couple months. If it sticks at the end, we’ll keep at it; if he ends up hating this at the end of two months, he can drop it.

I am somewhat annoyed, though, as he’s been begging to do martial arts for countless months. But whatever, kids are kids.

So what happened this week?

My son and I are both picking things up pretty quickly. My previous assumption that taekwondo feels like fencing with feet seems pretty right. Movements are starting to become more instinctive even at practice #3, while my six year old isn’t doing too badly either. With a little bit of time under out belts, I’m starting to notice that the big challenge is leg flexibility. These kicks are no joke — I’m curious if I’ll even get to the point where I can do a high kick.

I’m not inflexible, but I’m already experiencing some groin-area soreness from trying to increase my kick height. I absolutely cannot do the splits, nor have I ever been able to. I have heard that flexibility tends to come pretty quickly, though, and people are surprised by how fast their results arrive with some routine practice.

Belt-tying hijinks

The method of tying your belt seemed inefficient from the first sight of it. I looked around at the beginning of the practice during midweek and found that longer term people (red and black belts) were tying their belts differently.

The actual knot at the end works the same way, but the difference is at the beginning. Instead of fumbling at the beginning to measure the center of the belt, start with the tip on your body and just wrap the belt around yourself a couple times, overlapping when it comes around again. Once you have a moderate length of belt left unwrapped in one hand (enough for a knot and the part that will hang down), pull the hidden end of the belt out the lower side of the belt and insert the unwrapped rope upward. Commence tying as you otherwise would.

The result is the same, and it also ensures that the belt overlaps perfectly. The closest analogue I’ve seen is the BJJ superlock style, seen here:

Keep in mind that the knot is different, though.