LISTENING AND RESPECT

Gage goes to World Tae Kwon Do Center with Grand Master Hong. The two things he teaches most are listening to and respecting your parents. He has such a way of making all the kids love him, yet respect him fully at the same time. They don't dare disrespect him, and yet he is also very kind and loving. Gage really likes it and I think it's really good for him. Grand Master Won Ki Hong is from Korea and has a very thick accent. It took Gage some time to adjust to it and understand what he was saying. He and his wife (who works the desk) love Gage. They always comment on how he's so smart and "like an old man". Recently, Grand Master has been getting after Gage to not be so serious and to smile more. It's funny because he's not like that anywhere else but there. In this picture is one of Gage's favorite friends, Yi Geon Pak. He is also Korean and has such good form and technique. He's a good friend to Gage, always encouraging him.

On this night, Gage was testing for his green belt. He always gets very nervous on testing nights because it is very formal and serious, even more so than his regular classes, and there are a lot of people there. The first part of his testing is sparring, where they partner up and spar each other. That's what Gage gets most excited about. At the end of the skills test, Grand Master will ask each student various questions, all different. For Gage, he asked him about his family and if he is kind to his sisters, even when they bug him. He also asked him to demonstrate how he responds when his mother calls him. He even asked me to play my role, and then let Gage respond. Gage did it, but it really embarassed him and as soon as Grand Master moved on to the next student, I saw Gage wiping tears away.

Growing up, my brothers went to a wrestling studio under Mu Chang. He was a Korean man who taught my brothers innumerable things. He became a close family friend and I remember once when I was very young that about four or five of his friends/family came from Korea to stay with us for a few days. That was really neat. As it turns out, Grand Master is a very good friend of Mu Chang's and really enjoyed talking with Dad about it when he came to watch Gage once. I am hopeful that Gage will learn the same principles and qualities that my brothers did. Confidence, self-discipline, respect, honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, hard-work and fun.