"Do, or do not, there is no try" (Thanks Cathy)

We've been working hard on Seth's Tae Kwon Do revision since he started his classes with Excalibur Martial Arts getting him through the belts. He loves going to his lessons  and since going he has become fitter and a lot more confident. Since passing his purple belt a while back he's been working on the revision for his orange belt. He has had 15 questions to learn including a series of words in Korean. Seth passed his physical a few weeks back and his teacher told him to let him know when he was ready to be asked his questions. 

After going over and over his questions I still didn't think that Seth was feeling confident enough to answer them but I was surprised when Seth told his teacher that he was ready, answered all his questions confidently and was rewarded with his orange belt. We're so proud of him and the look on his face made it quite clear that he was feeling pretty proud of himself too, and to right.

Gifts from the Pirates is brought to you by the colour 'Purple'.

We had a great start to the weekend just gone. Seth had a Tae kwon do grading a few weeks back but needed do sharpen up on some of his moves so has been practising at home. Last week he passed the physical side which he was really excited about so since then we have been practising his questions so that he can move up to his purple belt. 

Seth has such a great memory and picks up things really quick. Seth passed his questions Saturday morning and is now donning the purple belt with pride. He had a lovely smile on his face when he strutted in the house to show mommy. We're all very proud of him and I can be safe in the knowledge that if there's ever a situation when I need to say 'low block' to someone in Korean (its bound to happen at some point haha), I can confidently say "Najunde Makgi". 

"Why do we fall, sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up"

After a chat in the school playground one afternoon with Williams mom Vicky (Seth's best friend) we decided to start taking Seth to a Taekwondo class. We had talked about sending him to Karate or something similar mainly to boost his confidence and give him a good social life outside of school, it was an added bonus finding out that William went to this class as we knew that it would keep him motivated.

I'll be honest its not my cup of tea at all but Seth really enjoys himself while he is there and the lessons are just long enough for him not to be exhausted. Seth has a rare muscle condition and we assumed that there would only be so far that he would be able to go but Excalibur Martial Arts have been amazing at making sure that Seth is able to join in and he is not expected to do things that the other children seem to find easier.

I say all this but Seth doesn't let anything bother him. He is a very confident, happy and extremely affectionate little boy and were so proud of the way he is turning out.

Saturday is no longer called Saturday in our house it's Taekwondo day, although for a short time the weekdays didn't have names either, he just called them 'William days'. Seth loves seeing William and his brother Matthew at the classes every week and even though they get very excited and have a run about before class as soon as Mr McGinley starts talking, the look on their faces is all business.

Most weeks im quite shocked by some of the things that seth does, he kicks higher than i ever thought he could and when i show him the pictures i have taken he gets a very satisfied look upon his face. He is definitely getting more confident which is what we hoped for.

Mr McGinley's children also attend different classes of his and Mrs McGinley is always there too and their a lovely bunch and easy to talk to which is great for when your sitting watching. Seth's favorite parts so far include punching through 2 blocks that are slotted together (i think he felt pretty tough after that) and a padded man shaped suit with foot and hand straps that Mr McGinley wore while the children attacked him, after that class Seth asked me if when we got home could i masking tape pillows to my arms, legs and torso so we could scrap (I'm quite sure Mrs M wouldn't be very happy if i started strapping the bedding to myself).

A few weeks back Seth had his first grading and was really excited that he moved from his white starter belt up to a single purple stripe. The first 3 belts arn't official Taekwondo belts but i think its great that these have been introduced for the younger children as its great for easing them in to the grading system as im sure they get a lot more intense as the the grades get higher.

It turns out that Mr McGinley is also a bit of a Star Wars geek (just what i needed, more influence from the dreaded force). On a recent Summer event for the class he was dressed as Obi Wan Kenobi and guess what Seth was dressed as...

I really hope that Seth sticks with his classes as its really doing him the world of good physically and mentally. Its a great weekly add on for Seth's physio which we do with him at home every day.

I'm quite sure that Opeie will want to do what his big brother is doing when he is older and if he does then that's great although i think i would like to sway him more towards music and learning an instrument, I always thought it would be cute if we learnt one together but we'll see. 

Who knows, if Seth keeps it up maybe we'll see him at a future olympics???