Almost two years ago I decided to enroll my older son Sasha at the Eternal Martial Arts school. I made that choice after being fed up with him coming to me after school depressed because he was being bullied at school. He is a sweet kid who loves to read and who expresses himself primarily through art. And no matter what school he moved to, he remained a walking bulls-eye.
At first, I wanted to take classes with him, but after noticing the large crowd of parents observing, I got self-conscious and asked my husband to join with Sasha instead. During their first belt test, I went like all the other moms to support my son and take lots of pictures. Naturally, I was proud of him. It felt good to see him preforming with confidence. After his test the higher belts began their test. I stayed until the end to watch the black belts test as well. Watching the black belts perform with power, agility, flexibility, speed, control and most of all confidence, really made me want to join the school and one day become a martial artist myself. My friends laughed at me when I told them about my decision. Phrases like ""You are too old"", ""It's a man's sport"", and ""You?re gonna look like a fool out there"" were just a few I was hearing. Nonetheless, I joined the school and before long I fell in love with Tae Kwon Do. It was a perfect match for me. It provided some of all the disciplines I liked: yoga for flexibility, pilates for strength, weight-lifting for power, running for endurance and good self-defense skills.
And although I did look like a fool at first (like a drunk tying to walk on a plank), it didn?t take too long to pick up. A year later I competed as a blue-belt at the AAU Nationals in Austin, TX, and I won a gold medal in point sparring. It was a proud moment for me, but not nearly as proud as the day my son Sasha came back from school beaming: ""Mom, you won't believe this, but today I stopped a bully from cleaning his buggers on my friends! I held his hand tight and told him to stop it. He backed away and my friends thanked me!"" It felt good to see him finally confident and happy.
We have been a part of the Eternal Martial Arts school for almost two years now. We became good friends with the owner (and instructor) Master Joshua Hong and his employee/instructor Walter Rodriguez. These guys are not only truly talented instructors with kids and adults alike, but great guys who I can trust my kids with. And believe me, I don't trust my kids with many people.
Just last week, my husband, Emery, and I joined forces with Master Hong in running the school. We are about to renovate and expand in an effort to bring more families together whose lives, we hope, will be as enriched as ours have been.
Katarina Terzic Conrad
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