Today my eight year old daughter entered her first "real" martial arts tournament. "Real" meaning it was not just an "in house" competition, it was at at community gymnasium and was hosted by a different school and involved other styles of martial arts.
My little tae kwon do warrior entered the Korean style "kata" competition, doing the yuan yo pattern. She was so cute in her martial arts gear, her purple belt signifiying her rank, and her pink High School Musical flip flops, which she dutifully removed f before entering the staging area.
If she was nervous, she did not let it show. When I was her age, I would never have had the guts to enter any kind of contest or tournament that would put all eyes on me for any reason. My girl is such a determined child! When it was her turn, she did what she was supposed to do with a confidence I had not seen before. Maybe her kicks were not as high as the first place winner, but she put her all into her performance. A medal for fourth place is still an honor, even if there were only four competitors in that event. Her effort was first rate in my book.
As we were leaving the gym, I asked her what she thought of the whole thing. With a thumbs up, she plainly stated, "It was fun. Can we go eat at Wendy's now?" That's my girl!
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