How others see you

This will not be the standard TKD post today. This will serve as our reminder that others see what we do, even when we are unaware. Let me start with some background.

This past summer at TKD-USA the kids & I met a Mother (Ms Helen) & Daughter (Abigail) who train together. Their Husband/Father (Brent) had passed away just the year before after a hard fought battle with Leukemia. The two of them do TKD together in an effort to recover and bond in a physical sense. Ms Helen has a blog that details their life without Brent that is very inspirational, yet touching.

On Saturday the kids went to a Lock-in at TKD-USA that was offered to let parents have some alone time on Valentine's, while the kids had a safe & fun evening of activities with friends. What fun everyone had. After it was over, all of us parents picked up our kids. At this point in today's posts, I am going to share what Ms Helen observed as I picked up my children. She shared this in her blog and it touched me deeply.

" He walked up to the door wearing a blue jacket the color of his favoritebasketball team. As he pulls open the door he turns slightly in my direction. We wave a friendly hello. We have both come to pick up our children from the lockin. He stands just inside the door, not venturing very far. He's looking for his children. Many of the children are in the back room where they've been watching a movie or have been climbing the rock wall. They come pouring out of the room, some of them are walking, while others run. I see his children come out of the back room. It's his little girl that I see first. She's so cute wearing her red outfit of stripped red and white pants and a red top. Her blond curls are pulled back in a small pony tail on top, while the rest of her hair is down. She stops for a moment at the desk and then starts up again. Daddy and daughter see one another. She runs to him with a sweet smile on her face. He bends down, ready to grab her up into his arms. There's a brief conversation as he picks her up. She's so happy to see her Daddy. I smile at this brief moment in time that only took a couple of minutes. A moment where the details will be forgotten, but the feelings of love and security will remain with her.
These are the moments when I miss Brent the most. There is no more chance to make memories. We must remember the ones we have. Make memories with your loved ones. You'll cherish them when they are gone. "

Helen Currie Davis
http://helen-lighttomypath.blogspot.com/
Genealogy Page: www.loosahatchiegrass.com

I asked Ms Helen if she would mind if I shared her observation on this blog. Doing so as an act of appreciation to her & to serve as a reminder for all of us with children and/or loved ones to live every minute as if it were the last. Enjoy one another with happiness and love. We never know, if that moment may just be the last we'll have together!

May God Bless each and every one of you in all that you do!

New Patterns bring lots of work

Well we all are now working on new patterns since testing. New patterns are always fun to learn......well maybe not always. Confusion, slowness, mistakes, and frustration mixed with those "Ah Ha" moments of beginning to put it all together. Guess that's the basis for Martial Arts, tho. Success is not based on doing something right from the beginning, but instead the hard work, focus, desire, and willingness to overcome those intial mistakes on the way to mastering that level.

Here's what we're working on:

• Emily Grace is working on the Purple Belt Pattern " Yul-Guk"
• Dalton, Tyler & I are learning the Brown Belt pattern " Toi-Gye"
  
  

The countdown has begun for the UTA TKD Nationals/Worlds that are being held April 24-25 in Memphis. Only 70 days left to prepare.

3 Brown Belts & a Purple

Well, the journey continued tonight as we tested for Belt Ranks. What a joy to see the kids progressing and giving their all. Could not be prouder. The whole school was filled with excitement, nervousness and Families. The place was packed and it made for quite an air of electricity.

Our night kicked off as Dalton tried to help the old man loosen up:

Emily started things off perfectly by doing her Green Belt Pattern- Won-Hyo pattern the best she has ever done:

Then Dalton & Tyler performed the Joong-Gun Blue Belt Pattern flawlessly. I had a hard act to follow, but tried my best:

Then Came Sparring. Emily was first and boy did she give her best effort!
Got Knocked Down___Got Right back up and went at it

The boys were next up sparring and they left it all out on the floor. Spinning techniques, high kicks, reverse punches...man I tell ya it was like Fists of Fury?!
Dalton enjoyed sparring (the telling smile)

Tyler by contrast took it serious

All of the training, effort and work culminated in our passing this set of tests and moving up in rank.

• Emily moved from Green to Purple Belt.
• Dalton, Tyler & I all moved from Advanced Blue to Brown belts.

Kicking together and sticking together. That's our motto.






























































































































































































































































































































































































































I follow the boys to complete my pattern:

Not the Nationals.....it's the UTA World Championships

Well this is truly a shocker. This past Friday we were told that the Nationals were being held in Memphis and we would be competing in it.............Turns out it's the UTA 2009 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. Check it out: http://www.utalliance.com/register.php
Oh man, this is huge. Opportunities like this do not happen often and we are STOKED!

Can't type anymore, too excited. More to come later.

Nationals is When???!

Well the bad news is that the Spring Tourney scheduled for March is cancelled. The good news is that the Nationals are in April.........wait maybe it's the other way around?! Nah, it's all good. We found out tonight that the Regional Tourney was cancelled so the Teams can focus on the Nationals the first of April. Not even an April Fools joke. Excited, nervous, hopeful, unsure.......ah the emotional roller coaster.

Going to Nationals for the 1st time is gonna be CRAZY! Four Densons competing at the same time, whew, I'm exhausted just thinking about it. We will be not only representing ourselves, but also our Family & School. Now it is truly time for us to focus on every aspect of TKD. What an exciting time it is.

Tonight we focused almost the entire time on the basics. Stancing, chambering, power, timing...all of which we will continue to work on at home as well. I have a sneaky feeling that I will be one of the older competitors in the Adult Under Rank division, AGAIN! Ah well, helps to motivate me, which in turn (and more importantly) inspires my young'ns to do their best. It's all about perspective anyway.

Until the next time, I wish Peace to each of you!

Variety is Key

This will not be a TKD post. It's a little something about our weekends. I'm sure the weekends add variety to your life and our family weekends are no different. After daily training in TKD, Saturdays are the Denson Sports day. TKD has helped the kids with balance coordination and flexibility. This is a very good thing because Emily Grace is cheering and Tyler is playing Basketball. Here's a few pics from today.

Always Smiling:

On the left end and still smiling

Tyler just waiting for the big steal:The moment after the steal and he's off to the races:

Ahhh, what fun we have on Saturday mornings.

Until the next time, I wish you safety and joy!

New Year- New goals

Has it really been over a month since the last post?! Man, have I been a slacker. Actually over the holidays there was little in the way of TKD to post. Hope all had the greatest Christmas Ever & the Happiest of New Year's.

I can't believe we've been at this over a year now, yet the kids are still focused and dedicated. It's an amazing family experience. If you have youngsters, please consider finding a School that has Family oriented classes, so you too can experience the joy of training and learning together. TKD USA is a great school and I highly recommend them to anyone in the Millington, TN area.

We started back to TKD last week and I have to admit that we started back a bit sluggish. The 3 weeks layoff was not beneficial for the body. Last week was focused primarily on clearing the cob webs and refocusing on being better Martial Artists. We have started an every morning routine at the urging/insistance of our Instructors that includes the following: push ups, sit ups and lunges. The numbers are low to get the body accustomed to this new routine. Should help start the day off....besides, my oldest (Dalton) will not let me slack at all in the morning. He has been a great accountability partner to get up earlly to do the routine and practice all of our patterns up to this point.

We have testing in 3 weeks, so we are really focused on being prepared. Patterns, Stick Drills, Sparring & conditioning M-F.
We all are being tested for new ranks:
Emily- testing for Purple belt
Dalton, Tyler & Dad- testing for Brown belt

Also, coming up in March we have a Regional Tournament. I am sure I will face some of the folks that have been in the previous two tourney's. I'm sure one fella that I faced in the Sparring Finals both times is gonna be looking to whoop me & will be bringing his A game. Just means more work and effort to be ready ;-)

Hope everyone has a great week!

Peace 2 U n u'rs!