(No this is not about Germany’s chances at the World Cup)
Queen E took her first taekwondo grading, while Rockstar and Friend (also most senior belted in our group – yes folks, Most Senior Belt among our bunch of friends was a girl) took their Red Black.. Been super nervous leading up to this… Now we are checking out like teenagers who are done with Finals 😛
Rockstar’s grading call came slightly early, so he doubled his training in the weeks and month(s) leading up to the exam, he wanted his red black belt so badly. The senior class which is mostly attended by older kids later in the night is…. extremely disciplined. No horsing around, the older kids are really there to train.
Come Sunday morning, this is one way the two rockstars are different:
Rockstar: <wakes with a deep breath> O..kay. Today’s the day.
Queen E: It’s today?? THE EX-AM IS TODAY??? YYYYAAAAAYYYYYYY!!! <jumps up and down>
Rockstar: OMG. D’you understand the meaning of the word exam? Hah? Hah?? You have to actually pass it to get the belt ok…
Queen E: <pause> YYYYAAAAAYYYYYYY!!! <jumps up and down>
Most of our group with kids taking grading don’t live anywhere near the local sports centre where the exams are held, and don’t know the area well; we’ve had people joke about writing off parking ticket costs (no idea where to park but will deal with potential wheel clamp on a Sunday night later) just as long as their kids make grading. (Since there’s lotsa Cantonese-challenged kids from our area taking gradings in this very local setting, we’ve also joked that if they speak to an Asian-looking kid in Cantonese and the kid completely doesn’t respond (being Korean or Singaporean/Malaysian, Dutch-Vietnamese, French-Chinese or any other smorgasbord of nationalities who look like they might otherwise speak the language but hear only Bing Bong Bing Bong In Their Heads when you speak to them) – it’s probably kids from our area haha). It’s also a very interesting local Hong Kong experience for us (well, we live in Hong Kong, right?)
So this Sunday evening as we prepare to camp there for several hours rather than tow kids about an unfamiliar area knowing they have to make it back for their grading times, I start making roast chicken finger sandwiches to swap for things like Korean sushi with other mum friends whose kids will also be up for grading… When you start having siblings at different belt levels/ exam times…. picnic 😀
Then she fell asleep along the way.
The cabbie glances at her briefly in the mirror and volunteers, “Don’t worry, let her sleep, it’ll be awhile more before we get there.”
Me: I don’t know who I’m more anxious over, the one taking his senior belt grading, or the one taking her first ever grading.
Cabbie: I know what you mean, I’ve got a boy and a girl too la. Little kids are tough. My son only got into the 9th primary school we tried.
Me: ?! Were there just too many applicants?
Cabbie: <laughs> Nah, he just never said anything. Finally I said to him, “Look, 1 school or 2, maybe. But 8 schools. There’s just no way the problem isn’t you.” <laughs again> So when we got to the 9th school he finally started talking. So that’s where he went to school. <shrugs> He’s doing fine in college now, but when he was a kid….!<shakes head>
Ok we’re here now. Good luck!
One day not too long ago, one of the older boys Queen E um, engages in lengthy debate with, about things like whether his feet should be on or off the mat, came to class proudly. “Yellow Belt, Queen E!“ and for the first time I saw Miss Indomitable flinch and go quiet. I felt it from all the way outside in the corridor where I often skulk 😛 (All you mums who hide behind corners and in doorways so your little kid doesn’t know you’re still there know what I’m talking about right.)
It hurt seeing her hurt, but unlike sensitive, over-thinking Rockstar, Queen E is tough as nails. Where Rockstar is Do You Know What Happens To Your Body When You Lack Oxygen, Queen E is Don’t You Want To Know What It Feels Like When You Start To Drown. They have literally said that to each other. I believe Queen E used the word “dizzy” while gagging on pool water.
On some level she kinda needed to see that her Partner In Crime at taekwondo class had earned his belt through his efforts, while she hadn’t yet. But Please Dear God may she not need too many of those lessons before she comes round. Or decides she would be awesome at Hip Hop instead. And so she came to the party kinda late this grading, and thank God she got through.
Quick “before” shot – Rockstar is nervous, I’m nervous, and Biggest Cause of Our Nervousness has a wicked little half smile)
As always, the grading hall is full of echoes, loud noise and bustle, as the instructors are calling out loudly for the kids to line themselves up according to their belt colours, and parents find the queues to register their kids. Near the door I see another little white belted girl we don’t know move in obediently, brushing tears off her cheeks. I bet she actually knows all her moves at her fingertips. Queen E…. Uh-oh. She’s so excited. I hope she can remember enough to pass, and doesn’t just get completely caught up in the excitement…!
Queen E tries to sit up very straight with the noise of all the kids finding their positions around her……… and then turns and engages the two Yellow Belts in the neighbouring queue, obviously buddies who are discreetly jabbing each other, with “That’s not funny.” Stuck in the parents’ queue, I see the two boys turn curiously and start talking to her. Please dear God let her not start dancing about in excitement or join the jabbing contest, since she is not likely to be as discreet as the older children…!
We leave the hall, they close the doors (which btw have papers stuck on the glass panels so you can’t look in…) And then… it’s over.
Rockstar’s turn
They must’ve told her she needs to practice, practice, practice because she doesn’t stop clutching the book and looking through it for some time. She’s also uncharacteristically quiet. Maybe the whole tense and serious grading experience finally impressed it upon her.
Sitting there, she doesn’t even eat our sandwiches or sushi. Not even the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies Mum Whose Daughter Is Taking Red Black With Rockstar offers.
Kings arrives, cuddles the kids, and drives the champions home….
Epilogue:
Well he ate the sushi. And the sandwiches.
I really like martial arts for little kids because of the belting lesson – if you don’t show respect and discipline, you don’t get to learn the next steps that go with the next level of belt. And the level after that. And so on. The lesson is that learning is a privilege. The visual of the different coloured belts (plus nowadays also the additional sparring etc gear that comes with) that you earn at each level is one they see all the time, and one that is reinforced over and over, each lesson. White Belts sit down, Yellow Belts stand up and learn these additional steps. Now the Green Belts. And so on.
Next stop, ESF Sports Camp. Because if you really want your team to win, sometimes you have to learn to pass the ball.
Congrats to both Rockstars for getting their colours for the next level. Miss Rockstar does look so serious when looking through the book. Do they get the results immediately on the same day?