White Belts to Yellow Belts!

Aaron and Liam had belt testing for tae kwon do today. They were both pretty nervous, and spent a good part of the morning practicing and studying their Korean! Aaron has faithfully practiced his form on days when he supervises the weight room at school, and he works with Liam at home, too. Liam has been easily frustrated if he's not able to remember his form perfectly (for sure not related to his perfectionist mother), but he has worked hard to memorize it. They both did great, and passed their test to become yellow belts!

They practiced outside the school as they waited for their turn to test.

They only way Max would sit still was if he had the camera, so he is responsible for the majority of the indoor testing shots! And those of his own feet, and objects in his general vicinity...

He took this picture of Aaron, and I kind of like the perspective! Gives some scale to the gym through the eyes of a 4 year old!

Liam is in the third row, second from the left. Master Penny and Grand Master Kim watched them from the front and asked each student questions about their form, their techniques, how to say words in Korean, etc. Liam had to demonstrate different stances, and he did pretty well! After he performed them, Master Penny said, "All A's and B's, you passed!" He looked so proud!

Max was proud, but also interested in his shoe and the shoe of the man sitting next to us.

Aaron and Matthew one-step-sparring. It was nice to have another adult for Aaron to test with. He is taking this class with Liam as a father-son bonding experience, so sometimes it is just him with a bunch of kids. He doesn't mind, but it's nice to practice with someone a little closer to your own size, too!

Liam has been practicing blocks and punches with his dad to get ready for one-step-sparring. This kid he is with is very good at sparring and has won a few tournaments. Liam was a bit intimidated by him, but still did well!

I love this picture because I think it captures the spirit of what Aaron is trying to do with Liam by learning tae kwon do together. He wants Liam to see him work hard, practice and do something he's never done; even though he is sometimes embarrassed or nervous or scared to do it. By seeing his big, strong dad getting through the same challenges he is faced with, Liam's found out he can do some pretty great things, too.