Taidhgin competed in his first Inner Dojo Tournament tonight. The students compete against each other as practice for regular tournaments and also as a chance to earn "credits" with the dojo that are entered in a raffle. Anyway, you may not know that Taidhgin is the youngest in his class. He is enrolled in the 6-12 class, not the 3-5 class, and the next youngest kids are at least a year older than him. In tonight's competition, he was up against kids who were almost two years older than him. He held his own, did the best he could do, and came in second place for his "age" group (of which he was the ONLY five year old). Here is a video of one of his rounds....
I know it may not seem like much or appear all that impressive, but he has made huge gains since August- both physically and mentally- and tonight he proved it. He sat up there in front of over 20 classmates, in front of three senpais and a shihan, in front of easily two dozen parents and siblings....and never even once broke a sweat. Even when he forgot the next move of his kata, he paused to remember- held his position in the meantime- then moved on when he remembered what came next.
As much as I miss the little baby he was and I couldn't be more proud of the little boy that he is now, I watched the little man in him tonight and know that we are doing right by him so far. My job now is to make sure that the confidence and determination that I saw tonight remains an integral part of who he is and who he becomes. There are adults out there that would have broken in front of that crowd, but my little peanut kept right on going...not a tear, not a cry, nothing but grit. That's my boy...
And that silver medal for his work on his Kia Ni Ju Go? Well, it's hanging right next to the Principal's Medal he earned for being such a nerd. Who says you can't be well rounded at five?
