Tae Kwon Do - Belt Test and Break-a-thon

We just had what I'll call a "Very Tae Kwon Do Week-end."  Friday night Daniel, Lucas and Caden had their first belt test and Joshua and Chase came along to support.  They each did great, demonstrating proper form, technique and skill all culminating in breaking a board.  Lucas and Caden broke theirs using a hammer fist and Daniel broke his with an axe kick (!)  Each boy wrote a bad habit on the back of their board symbolizing their intent to break that bad habit the way they broke the board (I hope it works ;)  Each boy successfully advanced to the next belt level and enjoyed the ceremony celebrating their achievements.

Saturday morning was the Break-a-thon and it was a great event.  We got to see several demo teams perform, the highlight being the Master's Demo at the end.  It was truly amazing, so fun to watch.  Boards, bricks, apples on knives all broken in spectacular ways.  Then the boys had the opportunity to break boards of their own, raising funds for Randall Children's Hospital.  Eight schools were involved and collectively we were able to raise very close to $20,000!

Here's footage of Daniel's board breaking at the belt test.  It's really good!  If you feel so inclined, please leave a comment as to whether the footage played for you or not. I'd be much obliged :)

Caden in the foreground, spot Lucas down the line!

Break-a-thon!  Lucas used punching techniques:

Daniel's turn!  He used a combination of kicks and punches: