Friday was Gavin’s Tae Kwon Do day. We arrived 30 minutes early to class so I let Leif and Gavin play bin the grass by the beach. After a while, the instructor showed up with her dog, Oprah. The kids ran around with the her and played catch and all that good stuff. At 8 o’clock it was time for class to start. It was a very small class. Literally. Only 3 students showed up for class and they were all Gavin’s age and size. Needless to say, it was kind of a fun class. Leif was loving it too. He was able to run around the room, play with Oprah, and interact with the other kids.
At the beginning of class, Leif pulled a hand target out of the equipment bag and put his hand. He seemed to know what it was because he was going up to the other kids and holding it up so they could kick it. The two other kids in the class were lightly tapping the target with their foot. Leif turned to Gavin and held up the target. Gavin looked at him and swung his foot hard right to the target. Leif’s hand swung around like a pinwheel and then he gave Gavin stink eye. Gavin felt bad and only tapped it from then on. I think Leif will be bullying his older brother in a year or two.
Later, when it was time to run laps, the instructor clapped her hands and yelled, “Line up!”. Leif obeyed and followed the kids to the starting point. “Ready…” the instructor called. Leif stopped and turned toward her. “Go!” The three kids bolted for the next corner and Leif followed as fast as his feet would go right behind them. As they turned the corner, Leif turned towards the next corner, a ways behind them. The kids turned the next corner and Leif turned to face them still. By the end of the second lap, Leif was in the center of the room running in small tight circles. It was so cute.
The kids had a good class. It was a good opportunity for the instructor to focus on her younger students while also being able to have fun. The end of class, as usual, is sparring time. Only two of the 3 kids there are advanced enough to free spar. Gavin was one of them. Leif again decided to join the fun. He grabbed a piece of headgear from the bag and I helped him get it onto his head. He ran around with Gavin and the other boy who was geared up and was having a blast. But then I had to contain him so the two boys could spar. They faced each other, bowed, and were instructed to start. They went at each other furiously. The other boy had the upper hand over Gavin. Leif wasn’t having it. He got up and ran into the middle of the fight. The instructor called “break” so Leif wouldn’t get bashed, but Lief ran straight for Gavin’s opponent, headgear still on, flailing his arms. He was in attack mode. 1 1/2 years old and already defending his older brother. It was quite a site to see. I hauled Leif back to the side so the kids could finish up their sparring.
The three boys lined up for the end of class. Since the kids were all white belts and Gavin was the first in line, he got to act as the high ranking student and called for the bow to the instructor. The three kids and Leif really enjoyed their private class. In turn, the instructor seemed to enjoy having a small group of good kids.