Stars and Stripes Tournament

Ok - so we have been doing this whole Taekwondo thing for a year now!  Can you believe that...time flies when you are having fun.  Isabella started in September of 2012 as a suggestions from a friend to try it out because we were having issues with her discipline at school.  I was at that time the parent getting calls about my kid hitting others, or pushing in the line, or getting up during quit time..etc.

My first thought was - HELL NO...I don't need her to be around any more violence ---she is bad already.  But I took her anyway and let me just say - that after the first class I was sold.  The school is run with so much discipline and respect that I was in awe of these kids.  I knew without a doubt that this was going to be good for her!

Within a week of going her teacher called again - not to give me a "bad update" on Issy but to tell me that whatever I was doing was working because Issy was a completely changed kid, and she thought I should know!! So - after that we have kept going and not looked back.

The following April (we had been trying to get her to do it for months), Makaila got in trouble for a bad grade and as a form of punishment ( i know- horrible mother), I forced her to take a class with her sister! Well, the first two classes were iffy and I wasn't completely sure she would stick it out..but within the week she was loving it. 

Come May - they put up a sign for parents to join for free (a mother/fathers day promotion), and Makaila kept pushing me to do it...so I asked a few questions and as it turned out the school policy is that a family paying full tuition for two students , had the privilege of any additional family members to join for FREE!!

Now that just goes to show that this little hobby is not cheap by any means...we pay ALOT of money for the girls to do this and well if you know me at all then you know I don't like to pass up any freebies...so I joined!!

We have gone to in school tournaments, we have travelled the great state of Texas for state wide Class C tournaments and we all even joined the Leadership division a few months back (which allows us to accumulate points for state, district, and national ranked tournaments!!!

We are committed to being black belt Ninja's!! It is great exercise, it is a great teacher and display of respect, that I feel is important for my kids and I to have, it is fun and I love that it is something we do as a family.  While Danny hasn't joined the classes yet...he is our constant cheerleader.  He takes the girls to class, he watches them practice at home, he tents to our bruises when we spare, he comes to watch us at tournaments - so he is in too!

Our daily schedules are as follows:

Mondays - we wake up, go to school or work, come home, Issy has class at 5, I have a Hit class at 6, Makaila and I go to our class at 8....showers and bed.

Tuesdays - we wake up, go to school or work, come home, Issy has class at 4:45, I have a HIT class at 6:15, Makaila and I go to class at 8.....showers and bed.

Wednesday - we wake up, go to school or work, come home, Issy has class at 5:30, Makaila and I go to class at 8.....showers and bed.

Thursdays - we wake up, go to school or work, come home, Issy has class at 4:00 (this one is hard to get her to - but sometimes it works out), I have a HIT class at 6:00, Makaila and I go to class at 7.....showers a late dinner and bed.

There are Saturday morning HIT classes at 8:20 am that I usually attend, and there are classes for the girls too - but usually by the weekend we are worn out and I let them skip this class!

Now in between there we have to do the daily things like homework, projects, groceries, making dinners, eating dinner, getting the last minute things for school that they knew about a week ago but failed to mention, you know...all the daily living stuff!!

I know it is time consuming and hard work...but we love it!!!!!

Our school is hosting a State wide Class C tournament this weekend at the Humble Civic Center.  If you don't have other plans or you want to come cheer us on - we would absolutely love that!!!!!

We are currently ranked as follows:

Isabella is a Camo Belt Jr. (means she is in the age group of 6 - 13yr olds) - she will be competing in both the forms and sparring division.  Her rings should start up at about 9:30 am. 

Makaila is a Green Belt (attends the adult classes at our school) - she will be competing in both forms and sparring!  Her rings should get started sometime after 10am.

I am a Green Belt, and will also be competing in both Forms and Sparring.  I don't think they start the Adult (older - ones anyway) level matches until about 1:30pm.

I am beyond words proud of my little ninjas...they are great and watching them is just fun and exhilarating!!  I hope you can make it out to cheer them on and take a few good pictures!!!

Have a great weekend and check back next week to see how everything went!!!