Yesterday, Caitlin, Emma and Cole had a tae kwon do tournament. Usually, they're at Mesa College, which is a nice short drive from us (and an even shorter drive from Mitsua, our favorite Japanese market, where we always stop after tournaments and have sushi...YUM!) but this time it was at Southwestern College. Where is Southwestern College, you might ask? ALL THE FREAKING WAY DOWN IN CHULA VISTA!!!! That's practically in Mexico! (At least compared to me. lol) Granted, it's only like a 35 minute drive, but I SO didn't want to drive it.

Anyways, I digress... We went to the tournament. It started with warm ups, which their instructor led, so the kids thought that was great. You know, at the last tournament, I noticed that their instructor (Sa bum nim Matt Armstrong) had about 8 times as many students as the rest of the instructors that were there. I had wondered at the time, why that was. I think I've figured it out though. He's just an incredibly charismatic guy. Not only that, but he is awesome with the kids. They absolutely adore him. Of course, he's a great teacher as well, so that doesn't hurt. But, I have seen many of the other instructors lead the warm ups for the kids (we're talking like 500 or so kids) and you just don't get the response from the kids with the other instructors as you do with Matt. I think that's what really makes the difference for him. He makes the kids want to show up. He makes the kids want to stick with it. He makes the kids enjoy what they're doing. So, a LARGE number of his kids stick with it and keep showing up session after session after session, and they spread the word and their friends start going as well. I just don't know that the other instructors have that kind of response. And the number of kids I saw were ONLY the ones who showed up at the tournament! All of the kids classes have something like 30+ kids in them, and only like 4 or 5 from each class show up at the tournament, so you can only imagine how many students he actually has when he had like 70+ students at the tournament!

Anyways, again, I digress... So, girls sparring competition was first. Emma got fourth place and Caitlin got first! I was so proud of them! Emma got a kick to her lower back, which took her out for a bit, but she recovered enough to finish her fights. Then came boys sparring. Cole was eliminated in the first round, but he did awesome! He's only 4 and kids don't usually start until they're 5, but because he has two older sisters in classes, Sab bum nim Matt allowed him to start at 4, so he's really the smallest in his age division. (He's in the 5-7 year old category) Next came the kata competition. Caitlin and Emma did wonderfully. Emma did palgae 3 the best I have EVER seen her do it. Caitlin made a few mistakes (which is odd for her) but she kept going and finished strong, which is exactly what she was supposed to do. Cole also did an incredible job! He didn't forget a single move and didn't seem nervous at all! I'm so incredibly proud of all of them. Cole did Palgue 1 and the girls did Palgae 3. Cole is a yellow belt, first degree (although, he just passed his advancement test and will be receiving the rank of yellow belt, second degree next week) and the girls are purple belt, second degrees (although they also just passed their advancement tests and will be recieving their green belts next week!) Here are the palgues that they did:

Palgue one:

Palgue 3:
I think one of the things I feel bad about the most in regards to moving is taking the kids away from their current tae kwon do classes. When we move, the girls will have just received the rank of blue belt, second degree. I hate the thought of moving them somewhere new, sticking them with a new instructor and them having to feel like the new kid. I hate the thought that their new instructor isn't going to know what they can do, know their names, and have the same bond with them that Matt does. More than even taking them away from their school and all of their friends, taking them away from their tae kwon do classes is going to be the most difficult part of moving. :( I can only hope that they will have as much of a positive experience in their new class as they have in the classes they're currently attending.