The Determination Of A Seven-Year-Old
The only thing we should expect our children to do in school or in competition is for them to give it their best. If a child studies hard and gets a 78%, we as parents should be proud. Likewise, the reward in sports is how much the child tries, not whether they win or lose, or get first place, second or tenth.
It is my hope that Jonathan recognizes that I am so proud of him because he showed exemplary attitude and effort in Saturday's 7th Annual Connecticut Tae Kwon Do Championship in West Haven.
Attitude and effort. I recall Jonathan's baseball coach using those words and how they were the keys if the young and inexperienced Tigers were to fair well in the fall league. I recognized right away that it was attitude and effort that made everything worthwhile.
Jonathan had been losing his enthusiasm for Tae Kwon Do recently. Partly, this was due to his baseball success. This was also partly due to other reasons not worth mentioning here. Needless to say, he had been encouraged at home to continue until he earns his black belt: Andersons do not quit. So I admit that going into Saturday's tournament I wasn't sure what my son was going to do.
Jonathan had achieved quite a bit of success in other tournaments. But this was before he had lost his enthusiasm -- before things changed in his mind. And I know that without enthusiasm, his effort and attitude could easily have gone as well.
As usual, the morning of the tournament saw Jonathan as relaxed as could be. One thing I will always say about my son is that pressure of these situations do not affect him in the least. He was joking around with me and couldn't wait to get to West Haven High School.
He chose not to do forms, so we took some time working on his breaking technique. That was when I first saw it. This kid did not plan to lose. All those bad feelings, all the questioning about whether or not Tae Kwon Do was good for him was thrown out the window. He wanted to break those boards. We even did a practice run-through using real boards and he broke them all on the first try.
When time came to compete, he went out there with his fellow competitors. He went third of the four in his group. One of the others who went before him was a friend of his named River who already earned gold with a terrific performance in forms. River shattered his three boards on his first shot. More pressure -- well, not for Jonathan. He got up and also shattered his boards. Jonathan and River took first and second respectively. The first thing Jonathan did was congratulate River.
Attitude and effort.
The last event was sparring. Jonathan won his first match against another friend of his, A.J. -- who had also won gold in breaking -- by a score of 3-1. It was very close. His second match was against a black belt. Now, at this point I was already so happy and proud I would have been happy no matter what the outcome. Jonathan showed to me that he came to do his best. And really, that is all I could have asked of him. He had already won in my eyes.
Jonathan went two rounds with the black belt. During the first round, he lost a point for kicking to the head (an accident -- but it warranted the deduction). It didn't matter. He won 4-3. He earned his second gold medal of the day.
I had told Jonathan before sparring that now it was his turn to shine. He knew what I meant. And he shined as brightly as a little boy could.
It wasn't the gold around his neck that made me proud of him, though. It was the gold in his heart.
It is my hope that Jonathan recognizes that I am so proud of him because he showed exemplary attitude and effort in Saturday's 7th Annual Connecticut Tae Kwon Do Championship in West Haven.
Attitude and effort. I recall Jonathan's baseball coach using those words and how they were the keys if the young and inexperienced Tigers were to fair well in the fall league. I recognized right away that it was attitude and effort that made everything worthwhile.
Jonathan had been losing his enthusiasm for Tae Kwon Do recently. Partly, this was due to his baseball success. This was also partly due to other reasons not worth mentioning here. Needless to say, he had been encouraged at home to continue until he earns his black belt: Andersons do not quit. So I admit that going into Saturday's tournament I wasn't sure what my son was going to do.
Jonathan had achieved quite a bit of success in other tournaments. But this was before he had lost his enthusiasm -- before things changed in his mind. And I know that without enthusiasm, his effort and attitude could easily have gone as well.
As usual, the morning of the tournament saw Jonathan as relaxed as could be. One thing I will always say about my son is that pressure of these situations do not affect him in the least. He was joking around with me and couldn't wait to get to West Haven High School.
He chose not to do forms, so we took some time working on his breaking technique. That was when I first saw it. This kid did not plan to lose. All those bad feelings, all the questioning about whether or not Tae Kwon Do was good for him was thrown out the window. He wanted to break those boards. We even did a practice run-through using real boards and he broke them all on the first try.
When time came to compete, he went out there with his fellow competitors. He went third of the four in his group. One of the others who went before him was a friend of his named River who already earned gold with a terrific performance in forms. River shattered his three boards on his first shot. More pressure -- well, not for Jonathan. He got up and also shattered his boards. Jonathan and River took first and second respectively. The first thing Jonathan did was congratulate River.
Attitude and effort.
The last event was sparring. Jonathan won his first match against another friend of his, A.J. -- who had also won gold in breaking -- by a score of 3-1. It was very close. His second match was against a black belt. Now, at this point I was already so happy and proud I would have been happy no matter what the outcome. Jonathan showed to me that he came to do his best. And really, that is all I could have asked of him. He had already won in my eyes.
Jonathan went two rounds with the black belt. During the first round, he lost a point for kicking to the head (an accident -- but it warranted the deduction). It didn't matter. He won 4-3. He earned his second gold medal of the day.
I had told Jonathan before sparring that now it was his turn to shine. He knew what I meant. And he shined as brightly as a little boy could.
It wasn't the gold around his neck that made me proud of him, though. It was the gold in his heart.
posted by E-Luv at 12:44 PM
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