Today Colin and I made the decision to pull RW from TKD. We were really disappointed with the way RW was treated at the last promotion test which was the final nail in the coffin for us, so-to-speak.
RW went last Saturday for his promote for his Blue belt, unfortunately it wasn't the best experience for him. He did well with his non-contact sparing and his pattern but when it came time to break his board with his heel in a hammer like swing - he wasn't able to break the board. My little man was in tears because his foot was aching and because this is the first time he's never broken a board and they tell him to do it again - again, he's unable to break the board. RW is beside himself... pain, disappointment... you name it, he felt it.
Now why wasn't he able to break the board? There are several contributing factors:
- the black belts (teens) that were holding his board picked the wrong thickness. They grabbed one that was meant for the older kids. Both of RW's instructors saw the mistake but nothing was done about it because they were already way behind with testing.
- the two black belts that were holding the board had the board raised a lot higher than it was suppose to. An instructor had to come by and correct them on the proper positioning of it
- what usually happens once they're unable to break a board is that child is brought off to the side and gets to calm down and practice with a black belt. The child gets their confidence back up and then gets another try.... Robbie wasn't granted this.
- we talked with RW's instructor and he said that he agrees with our argument but in the end it's Master Lee (the owner) who makes the final call. The instructor suggested we write a letter and with our arguments and ask to be passed, or at least given another shot to break the proper board. This past Tuesday night, after RW's TKD class, Colin went marching downstairs and typed up a really well worded letter. He skipped dinner and went over to TKD so that Master Lee would have ample time to read it and talk with Colin about it. The days went by and we didn't hear anything. We came to class today, Friday, only to find out that Master Lee left town yesterday and won't be back for two weeks.
Don't get me wrong, we're quite okay if RW doesn't promote. He just wasn't given the same opportunities as everyone else.
So, in light of all this drama, we decided to talk with our good friend Kim & Ty to see how Ty is liking Jujitsu. We got a bunch of information from them and RW went to give it a shot on Wednesday - he LOVED it. So we've terminated our TKD contract with Sung Lee and now RW will be giving Jujitsu a shot!
Everything happens for a reason :)
