Not that I think the black belt will enable her to eliminate any opponents in an actual assault but hopefully it has equipped her to defend herself adequately before running away (well, at least she won't just stand there shrieking like a guniang!) The taekwondo training has definitely boosted her confidence in the way she carries herself physically.
As part of the last grading test, she had to perform a fixed pattern, pattern kicks, then a pattern of one of the earlier belts as called out by the examiner. This was followed by three sparring sessions - two with her peers and one with a black belter. We videoed the whole test but it's a bit long (and shaky) so I've only included the last part of the sparring session (with a peer and a black belter).
Just for info, junior black belt is for under 16's. And here she is in her junior black belt gi!
Gasp, fierce man! I really love that kids, especially girls, take up martial arts. The very thought of being able to defend yourself will surely lend self confidence, and is a definite morale booster. Who wants to be the helpless damsel of yore??
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Lesley-Ann!!
Well done Lesly-Anne! No one better mess with her. have you thought about letting her take up muay Thai? Sean has been taking lessons since he was 6 and it's really good aerobic exercise plus it teaches you how to defend yourself.
ReplyDeleteI think that's it for her martial arts training, her heart's not really into it. She's ballet through and throgh :) But I love muay thai! I have a bit of that in my kickboxing class and it's really fun.
ReplyDeleteAd: Definitely good for girls esp, martial arts. I've always felt so helpless as a kid and now my kickboxing classes are so therapeutic!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Lesley-Anne! Black-belt, donch pray2! Please don't beat up my boys okay :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Lesley-Ann! You rock!!
ReplyDeleteMon, I really admire you letting your kids taking up this sport. It's a good sport. I'm such a coward, watching the video already sent shivers down my spine, cannot imagine if my gal is the
one kicking or being kicked. Hmmm...but you are right that it should at least equipped one with basic self-defends. For that resaon, I will pluck up my courage to find a class for my gals. Tks for sharing!
Chris
has equipped her to defend herself adequately before running away
alamak Mon, there's some cut & paste comments from your msg that I forgot to delete from my comment....LOL.... sorry...
ReplyDeleteChris
"Auntie Lilian, when you come visit, I teach Brian and Sean some moves ok?"
ReplyDeleteChris: I'm also very chicken lah, when she was doing the sparring, half the time I was covering my eyes and cringeing!! Andre's was even worse, his opponent was so fierce, kicked him in the face and tummy. Nearly gave me a heart attack.
But I guess it's a good skill, definitely important for self-defence :)
Even if it's not for self defence, it certainly helps in building confidence. A good friend of mine here runs an Aikido school. I'm thinking of sending N there next year.
ReplyDeletePF: That's a great idea. A cousin of mine takes Aikido and he has great things to say about the sport. I think it's definitely a skill worth aquiring.
ReplyDeleteWould your gal got herself all bruised up after the test? My niece had reached to the brown belt level in taekwondo but she gave up cos she got her leg kicked by her sparring partnes and came back bruised. Since then she had phobia and had requested to stop the class. I really feel that it is such a waste..
ReplyDeleteXP: L-A used to have a few bruises but it wasn't so bad cos she had to wear guards. Does your niece wear them? There are leg and arm guards as well as knee pads, they're essential when you go higher up. I agree it would be a waste to give up the class due to a phobia of bruises, hope this solves the problem.
ReplyDelete