A friend of mine decided her 7 year old son needed to 'man up' a bit, so she sent him to a local WTF club. He had his first grading this month. I texted her to ask how it went... the reply:

"Thanks, He passed. I was surprised, he looked like a strong man, not like my little boy. It was a very serious exa- at least for me. I was really stressed:-)"

First grading is the worst! I understand what she means about him looking like a man. Some of those kids are scary focused!

Hello trevek:

Any idea what the boy did for his test? While I appreciate and am often amused by the... "rigidity" and pseudo-adult conduct some demonstrate in their testing, or worse is required at it...

It concerns me... both tragicly artificial and draws attention in real situations no matter how minor which he might well encounter? Behaviors which attract/draw attention is a bad idea, no?

Its wonderful he passed and is being influenced positively... thats great. Do you get any sense how/"for" what he is being trained though third person infomation?

Jeff

I haven't seen them since he passed, so I'm not sure. What i do know, having trained with this group in mt TKD days, is that it is a really well run club. The head instructor is the sports psychologist for the Polish Olympic squad (all disciplines, not just TKD)and a nice guy. That said, I imagine it was a strict exam.

The lad isn't a hard case, so I can imagine why his mum found it a shock.

First tests are the worst. I remember my first test in TKD. When it was time to perform my form/pattern. I had stepped on a piece of tape on the floor. The tape was glued on to my foot real good. Because as I began my form little by little I was ripping the tape off the floor. Every step I took you could hear a rip. By the end of my form I had a 20 feet piece of tape stuck to my foot following me.

The entire class was laughing including the parents who were spectators and the panel of instructors who were judging me. I suppose I could have stopped after my first step and remove the piece of tape and request to begin again. But I wanted to show that I was focused and that nothing could distract me.

I never had any problems with testing - the audience was always supportive, even when I had problems passing the tests.

If I may say so, any school that has an audience that acts differently has an improper attitude.

Hi Ronin,

I spoke with his mother yesterday. Apparently the grading was similar to a normal class, he had to execute certain moves (punches and kicks, stances etc, and know some terminology.

Probably not much in the greater scheme of things but big enough for a 7 year old.

No sparring, apparently, they don't seem to be doing any yet.