The Candidate

One spent 3 1/2 hours at taekwondo today and emerrged an official candidate for his 1st dan. Yes, we have a real, live black belt candidate in our midst. We would have two of them, but Two's pre-test will have to wait until he recovers from the stomach bug that struck him down last night. Throwing up 12 times in 12 hours does not help one prepare for a 3+ hour test; hopefully he will do his evaluation some time this week and (fingers crossed) will come home with his own application - complete with essay, of course.

Right now we are all very proud of One, who did all nine patterns so well he was never asked to repeat one, and who broke two out of three boards on the first try (#3 took 3 tries, but nobody's perfect). He loved the entire pre-test experience so much I think he will enjoy his actual black belt test more than any human being has the right to enjoy such a stressful event. He even had time for commentatry on the four 5th through 8th degree masters who examined him today. Master P "has a head like polished wood - it gleams!", Master G "looks like he always looks, part okay and part like he might be mad at you", Master M "was the nicest one, with lots of white hair and a big smile", and Master S "stared at me through his glasses like a basilisk the entire test." Even in the middle of a test, One was taking notes.

Congratulations to my amazing 11 year old!