So yesterday....there's another tae kwan do tournament. The good news was that it was about 1/2 mile away from our house. The bad news was...uh....it was run like most of the tournaments that we went too. Kim took Andy there about 9am, which was....ya know....when they told her to have him there. I showed up about 10am with Kellie, and lo & behold--they hadn't started yet. So I waited around for close to 2 hours, and watched a bunch of kids doing their routines with weapons! Do you have any idea how scary it is to see a 5 or 6 year old waving hatchets around in a martial arts demonstration? I asked the kids tae kwan do instructor why they didn't teach weapons instructions?
"You ever see a couple of kids having a hatchet fight in the street?"
Uh....no, and touche'.
So my back starts to bother me after two hours in the grandstand, so I bail and head back home--giving Kim instructions to call me when its Andy's turn to compete.
(Yeah, yeah....I know.....throwing Kim under the bus to a certain extent there)
Well, about 2:30pm.....the phone rings and its Kim.
"I am losing my mind."
"Why?"
"Why? Because there not even CLOSE to being ready for Andy. We are never going to another tournament sponsored by these people KICK USA."
She went on to describe how all the different kinds of martial arts were having their demonstrations first, and the tae kwon do events were being held last. Lovely.
Finally, she called me and told me that the young kids had started to spar and that I should make my way back. Andy had already competed in the "forms" or technique competetion and finished 4th. Again, the problem was that, unlike the last competition where he only competed against other tae kwon do competitors, today he was competing against people who were doing karate and other---ahem---more
"showy" martial arts. So finally....we get to the sparring events. Now, just to refresh your memory, at the last competition, Andy had been defeated in what was his first sparring match (other than ones in practice of course). I had told him that he looked really stiff in his match---like he was thinking too much about what he was doing.
I told him--Mr. Miyagi style--that what he needed was:
"Don't think. Do."
Wax on....wax off.
So then as their lining up the different opponents I see that Andy is going to face--
(GULP)
a blackbelt. Uh-oh. Major parental concern kicks in.
So the match starts....and Andy is getting wailed on. Once again, he's facing an opponent who's school teaches---although in a tournament its worth zero points--to punch at the mid-section. Andy's school doesn't teach their kids to do that, because they figure....if you're not getting any points for it....its wasted motion. Well, that's fine, except I think its a very big distraction for Andy & his teammates because its not something they see during practice. So....back to the match....Andy is having some real trouble and then:
The kid punched Andy right in the throat. And my son went down like a sack of wheat. Again...major parental concern.....and then...a funny thing happened.
It was like you could hear the theme from Rocky III kick in--suddenly....it was "Eye of the Tiger" blaring through the loudspeakers. Andy got up....looked at the other kid...and he wasn't thinking anymore--he was DOING.
And my son...Andy...the band geek. The pod. The nerd (all lovingly applied of course). He freakin DESTROYED the other kid. Wow. It was an amazing thing to behold. At the time of the throat shot, Andy was losing 4-1. The final tally on the match was Andy winning 12-7....so from the throat shot on, Andy won 11-4.
Andy had beaten a blackbelt! The other kid was clearly upset about it too.
I went over to Andy as he was resting and told him:
"Outstanding job. Do you know what happened? After the throat shot....you stopped thinking....and just reacted. Your instincts took over and all that stuff that you had been taught for the last 4 years took over. That's what it means to "do" instead of "think"."
Pretty interesting stuff this whole prideful parent business. It was a good day, and it wasn't over yet. And the best part?
My kid can kick your kid's ass!
Later,
Jeff
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