Brian's Other Children

Aren't they the cutest girls?  Especially since they always oogle over Esme.  Brian has been teaching them since he started his school 3 1/2 years ago. They are his first generation of students to test for their Dan (black belt), which happened yesterday.  The semi-annual test that rotates cities also happened to take place here in Salt Lake.  They did so well!  They range from shy and quiet to feisty and sassy and are best friends.  He's known one of them since she was Eli's age.  Now she's almost taller than him!

The highlight for me was when the most timid girl didn't break her required or creative board breaks and the regional examiners gave her one more chance.  It didn't seem like she was even trying,her foot flopping off the board, so I figured nothing would happen when the testing board gave her the another try.  Brian was the proctor, so he told her she had another try.

Afterword I talked to her mom who said she had just turned off the video camera when her daughter forcefully and precisely smashed through the two boards with a side kick. Later some parents overheard her telling the other girls that it's Brian's voice that calms her and gives her confidence and he hadn't spoken to her before the other two break attempts.

It's a big event. Takes place over 3 days with people traveling from Montana, Idaho, and Colorado.  People come to test for black belts and teaching certifications, a pre-evaluation if they're testing next time, and to participate in clinics taught by the masters.  Salt Lake is right in the middle and the biggest city, so there's always a big crowd.  This Fall the test will be in White Fish Montana, practically on the Canadian border.

Brian had to figure out the schedule for classes, where they could be held, hotel, restaurants, maps and directions.  The best thing he did was book Tucano's for the final banquet after the test.  Most of the people are from small towns and were amazed at the food.  At the banquet lots of people were thanking me for my sacrifice.  I really didn't do much but wait patiently while he was out until 11 pm for a few nights and make some treats for the visiting masters and parents who helped behind the scenes.

Brian sure loves his martial arts.  It's something he needs to do to feel complete and happy. He especially loves teaching.  He's just the right combination strict and friendly, maintaining respect while letting the kids have fun.  His classes flow with the perfect amount of philosophy/culture, theory, and application.  And he loves the kids.  If money is tight, he doesn't send them an invoice.  If they need extra practice he stays after.  Parents even tell him about hard things going on at home so he can keep that in mind and help.  Some need more confidence.  Others need to be reined in.

He's out helping kids and even making some spare money as a hobby while other men blow the whole day watching football, playing video games, or golfing.  I have to say, I do pretty well being patient and understanding on those long nights. I'm so proud of him.

Brian, As Of Late

Waiting for Eli to finish decorating his gingerbread man 

at the Swiss Christmas Celebration in Midway.

How about a Brian update. He has some serious Christmas spirit. I'm more stressed about getting gifts made and he's constantly wrapping presents (even the ones in the stockings!), making gingerbread, reading Eli Christmas stories and even wants the two of us to read The Christmas Carol together. I know he said he's make a cookbook for our family gift to people, and even though it didn't happen, he did spearhead Project Christmas Cards which will be coming soon.

I'm glad he's now taking a couple week break from Soo Bahk, the 3 evenings a week it kept him out late, 8 being late for me. But in the Spring he will be hosting his region's Black Belt Test, in which 4 of his students are testing for their black belt. This will be his first generation and he's working hard to make sure they're the best candidates the testing board has seen. He's having a party soon where the 5 of them come to our house, eat Korean food, watch his first black belt test and go over their forms and board breaking and such. Hosting the test in Salt Lake will be another ordeal, arranging transportation, lodging, restaurant for a banquet, and sign-ups as well as gifts for the Masters (testing board) from Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, and Montana. No stress.

At work he's in charge of film-ordering so people around the world can get geneological records in the form of micro-film/fiche sent to them and he just launched, quite smoothly, in Europe.

When the Bishop was looking for a calling for him at church, I warned him that eventhough he works at familysearch.org, he DOES NOT DO GENEOLOGY. We were worried when he got his calling, but aparently the Bishop really does know what he's doing since Brian will be the "family history consultant" that teaches the class, so people can learn the process and new technology to help them. If hard questions come up he can just ask the experts at work. The other older guy with more experience actually searching and compiling family names are the actual consultants there to help people in the ward.

In his spare time on the weekends he's helping me out by cleaning the bathrooms, taking the kids, and making dinner. Isn't he too good to be true?

Soo Bahk Do Kid

Thanks to the new Karate Kid movie a local TV reporter, supposedly the funny guy for Channel 2's morning news, called Brian on Tuesday to see if he could spotlight his school the next morning. The kids were excited, coming to a practice the night before and waking up at 5 to be on TV. During the newscast they would check in and Bri would answer questions and the kids gave demonstrations. I'm not sure how long the link will work, but here it is:

http://connect2utah.com/2news-this-morning-story?nxd_id=95575

If It Breaks It Doesn't Hurt

Tonight Brian held a board breaking tournament for his students and everyone loved it. There was a lot of clapping, breath holding, and "ohhhhh..." when people didn't make it through, which was often. My favorite part was watching Bri of course, although, my main motive in being there was to take pictures and go out to Korean food after. Here are his impressive breaks:

Reverse Roundhouse Kick

His favorite kick, kind of over the shoulder. Took a couple tries. Which was good for the kids, especially the timid ones that find breaking hard, to know that it doesn't always work, even for the teacher.

Palm Heel Strike

a.k.a. the "one inch punch" because he starts with his fingers touching the board and somehow gets his palm through.

Very impressive. Everyone's favorite.

4 Board Power Break

Unlike the last one, requires lots of distance to get through 4 boards.

He's still gloating... uh... I mean grinning about this one. His first time breaking this many.

Then we all went and took over a little Korean restaurant. There were so many people having fun, eating and talking. As Bri visited all the tables, holding Esme, I realized he hasn't just spent the last 3 1/2 years teaching martial arts. It's like a family. Learning a new culture, watching the kids and a few adult students learn discipline, respect, and self-confidence, besides the technique and testing material. I'm really proud of him. He's a really good teacher that cares about his students as well as preserving the art and has a good time doing it.

Most Wives Cringe

When it's time for the various sports playoffs I barely know they're going on. Today I know about the super bowl because PBS is full of game day cooking shows. I could care less about sports and am lucky enough to have a husband that feels the same way. I guess another lucky combination is when the wife is just as hopeful for and zealous about a team's success.

Like lots of other stay-at-home moms, I look forward to evenings and weekends when my husband is home, except I don't have to share him with the different teams on the TV depending on the season. Not bragging, just appreciating my fabulous husband. (I happen to really love this picture of a friend's husband.)

I know Bri would like to watch boxing or ultimate fighting, but the violence really disturbs me, so he doesn't. He loves martial arts and does a lot of scholarly and philosophical reading and discussing related to it. It gets even better, his hobby (more like a lifelong obsession) keeps him fit instead of flabby (unlike certain fans of "da Bears") and even brings in money.

I agree with what Bri says at the end of each class he teaches: "Soo Bahk!"

In fact, he just walked in the door from teaching his Saturday morning family class and I took his picture asked him "What's tomorrow?" and he got a stressed look after some thought and said, "Valentine's Day?"

Official

Brian has been teaching martial arts for a year and a half now in Salt Lake with his school's name being Wasatch Martial Arts Academy. He has around 45 students in 7 classes a week, ranging in age from 4 to 40's. He has a website and a blog (check it out, he put some clips from the test last week), a business license and spends all kinds of time doing bookkeeping, but for some reason it wasn't until last week that I finally got the feeling like his school was official.

On occasion of the black belt test he was hosting he came home with a box of shirts and water bottles stamped with his school's logo. I was pretty excited. The logo is actually a picture of Brian. I wore one of the sweatshirts on a brisk day to meet him downtown for lunch. Riding the train on off hours can feel a little uncomfortable (despite my city experience and non-judgmental nature) with all the strange folks riding with me and the boy. I felt extra safe with my martial arts logo, not an easy target when I could be hiding some painful skills. Don't tell anyone I'm not.

Back To School For Us Too

Brian started his fall term of Soo Bahk today. His teaching schedule is getting busier and he's especially glad that he has enough oldsters interested to start an adult class. He likes being able to get into the philosophy a bit more.
I'm always trying to find an excuse to bring treats, so we came today with cupcakes for the first day of class. Eli's getting better at watching class. Last year he always had fits because he wanted to go out on the floor with the students. Today he watched studiously for 5 minutes until he needed to wander with his stroller.
I've enjoyed Brian's 2 week break from martial arts. Every day he would ask when he could do Soo Bahk again. Now I'm realizing I should have appreciated the break more, seeing how busy he will be. On the one or two nights he isn't doing Soo Bahk he will be with the young men from church. At least he's doing stuff he really loves (and needs, he gets cranky if he goes too long without Soo Bahk).

Eight Days, Ten Hours

The countdown ended Friday night when we went to the airport to pick up Brian. Eli's facial expression was priceless as it went from a thoughtful searching of the crowd to an elated smile once he picked out his dad coming down the escalator. We're not used to this separation business, so it was pretty hard for us. He was out of range for much of the time, so we couldn't even talk on the phone. Now we are appreciating each other extra much. At the airport Eli was clinging around Brian's neck like a little monkey and wanted him to sit in the back seat with him on the way home.
Brian feels quite confident about his test and even won 1st place in forms and 3rd in sparring in his division (3rd Dan, ages 18-30) at nationals. So far we've found that 3 of his students took home trophies too. Thanks to almost constant workouts and little sleep, he came home a bit sore and without his panza! We're all glad its over and even more, we're proud of him. I'm sure he now has plenty of posting material to put on his blog about the experience and everything he learned.

THE Test

Brian will be landing in San Diego soon. His stress has been growing and this morning said that he couldn't believe today was finally here. Between today and next Friday he will be testing for his 4th degree black belt; the test is called Ko Dan Ja. This will make him a master, or should I say Master. He's delighted that 8 of his students are also able to go to the Soo Bahk Do Nationals to compete with forms and sparring and learn from international and highly-ranked instructors. He was surprised a week or two ago when a Master here in the Rocky Mountain Region (region 8) called and asked him to be on their sparring team competing at nationals. He said he has to be aggressive because his students will be watching. I wish we could be there to see him, but he will be busy the whole time, Eli doesn't travel too well, and it would get pretty pricey with flights, hotel, and food. We'll be missing him. He even surprised me with flowers last night so I won't be so sad. I surprised myself and got a little teary after we left him at the security check. Luckily this is his 5th and last trip for the summer. The others have all lasted at least 3 days each and I'm running out of home projects to do to pass the time when Eli's asleep. While Brian is gone I will make him star of "Picture of the Day."