First Dan grading - boards get broken

Yesterday Callum, Declan and I did our First Dan grading. We combined that with trying for our Patterns Badge which made for a gruelling afternoon.

We did every pattern multiple times at the start of the grading - which is a bit like doing an hour of very active dance routine combined with a memory exercise. All three of us achieved our Pattern Badges.

Then it was on to sparring. Given I broke my toe on an opponent's elbow when I did my Black Belt grading I had been looking forward to this bit with great trepidation - for myself and for the boys. I let out a sigh of relief when we all came away with some bruises and strains but nothing broken.

Then there was knife-defense work and one-step-sparring which demonstrates self-defense techniques. We'd all done a lot of work on this bit and were feeling pretty good about it.

Finally, three hours in, was the section that really marks out the First Dan. Up until then most of what you do is similar to the Black Belt grading - it just needs to be done better and with more passion. With the First Dan you have to break things. First came breaking boards with side kicks. We'd practised breaking for the last month but the boys had never managed to break a board as thick as the one used in the grading. Callum aced this bit which was a huge relief. I stuffed up my first kick but then was fine. Declan broke with his left foot without trouble but had problems with his right - he broke the board on his third try.

Axe-kicks came next, sweeping your leg up and then hammering it down. Again it took Declan a couple of goes but he got there.

Finally we had to break a pile of ceramic roof tiles with our hands. I had a stack of five to break, the boys each had a stack of two. I managed to get through on first go. Both boys took a couple of tries, Callum three in fact, but did it in the end.

I was so proud of them. Getting through the thing is an achievement. Getting to First Dan at their age is a real achievement - and from a different direction getting it at my age isn't to be sniffed at either.

But the real achievement, in my view, was dealing with being unable to break things on first go. To put this in perspective there is an audience of 50 people watching you do this, if you fail you don't pass the grading, and when you do fail it hurts and you lose focus. It's a strange thing but failing to break hurts while succeeding doesn't - an equal and opposite reaction thing which means when your hand bounces back, rather than crashing through, it really hurts. So when you're having to summon your focus to hit those tiles for the third time when your hand is throbbing and you're feeling like everyone is watching you and judging you - that takes a degree of resilience which I was thrilled to see the boys display.

And now we're through that we're not allowed to grade again for two years. Which may be enough time for my body to recover...

Declan's Report

Declan had an excellent report for his first half year in OC. Almost everything was "Outstanding" and "Always". Some of the comments:

Declan is a highly articulate and inquisitive student who works with creative energy to explore abstract ideas. He loves facts and gistory and is highly motivated in academics. His ability to relate his varied knowledge base with topical issues and eloquently convey information with clarity and conviction is a special strength. Declan is a loyal and supportive friend and is conscious of, and sensitive to, the feelings of others. He will often include students who appear isolated or lonely in whatever he might be doing. His friendly nature and highly developed sense of fair play have made him a well-liked class member.

Callum's Maths report

Callum got his Maths report during the week and he did exceedingly well. Sadly his first test is going to haunt him for the remainder of the year. He did the test without the required calculator and, while his result impressed the teacher hugely, it didn't score as highly as it otherwise would have. The teacher emphasized in the Report that, because of this, his position (16/56) in no way reflects his abilities.

Breaking Boards

Evan, Callum and Declan have all decided to go for the next black belt stage of Tae Kwon Do at the end of this term. It's the level at which you are permanently a black belt, and you get your name sewn into the belt (in Korean).

It means they have to break boards with their hands and feet, so they have been practising hard with special boards that can be put back together. Declan, in particular, likes to show off to any visitor, which is probably good practice.

They have been going twice a week, which is really good for their fitness. It's quite interesting to watch the boys having stiff muscles for the first time - shows they are working quite hard.

Festival of Jennifer

My birthday, being on a Friday this year, didn't lend itself to an enormous festival, but the boys (after careful IM conversation with Evan - "is she awake??" - made me coffee and brought it up to me in bed, with a side serving of presents.

Callum had the evening with a friend, so didn't get to share the delicious roast lamb we had that night, and they both were out the next day (Callum at his friend's party, and Declan at the zoo with his uncle) so that Evan and I could take a seaplane trip to Cottage Point for lunch.

Declan, as well as the necklace from them both, decided to give me my own choice of game (up to $5) from the App store for my ipad. I disappointed him by still not choosing minecraft.

Special award

Declan's class is doing Richard III, as part of a general study of mediaeval history. Our family has always been quite into Richard III, so we've been having long conversations about whether he really did kill the Princes in the Tower. Declan decided to do his own essay about it, in which he concluded that Richard didn't kill them, as it would have been a pretty silly thing to do, and Henry VII was much more likely to have done it, as he was clearly nastier. His essay was illustrated with historical pictures of them both, and quotes from key historians of the period.

His teacher was so impressed, she gave him a special award.

Independence

Since the burglar alarm incident, Declan has been quite happy to come home after school by himself on Thursdays. He even gets on with his maths homework, while he is waiting for Evan and Callum to come home from programming after school.

First Half report

At Mosman High, they get a report every half year. But to spread it out, Year 7 gets theirs first, so it is really a first term report. He got a wonderful report, and a Principal's award to go with it to recognise how good it was. The Principal's comment said:

Congratulations Callum; what a fabulous report and thoroughly deserved! Callum has made a wonderful start to his high school years and he is highly valued by his teachers for his diligence, talent, conscientious approach and engagement with the learning process.

His best subject was History, followed by English and Science. There was no report from Maths (since that is year 9) so we'll have to wait to see how that goes.

Grandparents Day

At Mosman High, they have Grandparents' Day, where the grandparents are invited to have a look at the school and see performances. Callum was chosen to make one of the welcoming speeches, which (by all reports) he did with great flair and panache. He said that he was mobbed by people congratulating him on how well he had done.

His speech was contrasting his school life with his grandparents, and he also managed to talk about all the cool places he had been to school around the world, which made him quite famous amongst his classmates.