Hellobee

Charlie and Olive participated in their first taekwondo tournament recently. Olive lost in the first round, but Charlie went on to win gold!

Olive’s opponent was a white belt while Olive is a green belt, which is 2 belts higher. But her opponent was much bigger and stronger. Her opponent beat her pretty easily, knocking Olive down to the ground three times. They had to fight four rounds that lasted a minute each, and we were proud of her for trying her best until the very end. It’s tiring to kick and be kicked constantly for that long! The master expected her to fall much more as she often does in practice, so he was proud of her performance too. She’s such a happy go lucky girl, she didn’t mind losing at all.

Olive has always had very little physical strength, and struggles with things like opening a bag of chips. She had low muscle tone as an infant/toddler and sat in the “w” position, toe walked, and had early intervention physical therapy. Taekwondo has been incredible for her because it’s an individual sport where she can progress on her own timeline. It’s built up her confidence, strength, balance, and so much more!

Charlie’s first opponent was his friend, who is one belt higher (blue) than Charlie (green). Charlie knew his friend would be a formidable opponent because he has great technique and picks up all the forms very quickly. But Mr. Bee used to box and did a great job being Charlie’s corner man. He told Charlie that even though his friend was good, Charlie was bigger, so he could use his strength to his advantage. Charlie outmatched his friend with powerful blocks and strong kicks.

Charlie is in the blue

Charlie’s second opponent was also a blue belt, and was much bigger and stronger than him. Charlie lost the first round because he got a little scared; the kicks from his opponent hurt and because he was bigger, he could take the kicks Charlie was landing. Mr. Bee coached Charlie to fight smarter because his opponent was obviously stronger, but Charlie was faster. Charlie would land quick kicks and then back off, and his opponent couldn’t match Charlie’s speed. Charlie ended up landing more kicks and winning the match. He fought smarter to win both fights.

Charlie is in the red 

The master was so proud of Charlie and amazed by the strength he showed in his performance because in practice, Charlie is a class clown. But Charlie is very competitive and really wanted to win. He was so happy and proud to win a gold medal in front of his family and friends. Charlie has since shown a renewed focus in taekwondo, and really gives it his all in classes.

Taekwondo has been really amazing for my kids. While the cultural aspect is what prompted me to enroll the kids in the first place (every kid in Korea does taekwondo), we’ve seen so many additional benefits. The kids sleep better due to the vigorous exercise, they behave better due to the disciplined nature of the sport, and they’re more confident. Olive is increasing her strength, while Charlie is learning how to focus and channel the anger and frustration that he sometimes struggles to control into the sport. Hopefully they both make it all the way to black belt!