Taekwondo grading

It's Sunday morning and I am at Toa Payoh Sports Hall. It's 8am and I'm here with many other parents who accompany their kids to grading tests every 3 months.

Xavier has been learning Taekwondo for almost a year. He had to go for grading, which hopefully sees him attain a green belt. He attends weekly classes with this club called the Raiders.

The letter from his club states we must be at the sports hall by 8am. We arrived at about 7.45am, which is a good thing because the car park was full by 8am. I learnt this from previous experience. I used to have to park at the Toa Payoh Hub because the car park at the sports hall was full.

I take my hat off to the numerous black belt instructors who take time off their relaxing weekends to accompanying a group of mostly kids for their grading. I don't think these instructors get paid. Maybe a small allowance or just drinks. They do it out of their passion for the sport. I have not found a passion for any sport after I left school. The only sport I do is to go to the gym and that is for personal vanity.
The Raiders club conducts classes at several locations, including Sembawang and Sengkang. It is quite a big group compared to the other clubs at the same grading. You can see the size of the group in this picture. It took up virtually half the length of the hall while other clubs take up only one quarter or one fourth.


The thing about grading is that the "junior" belts go first. So it is white belts, yellow tips, yellow belts, green tips, green belts, blue tips, blue belts, etc. I think blue is followed by brown then black. So I have to wait for longer periods as we go for more gradings. I upgraded myself in the process, moving from a book to a laptop for the wait.


The grading went smoothly for Xavier but there was a girl in his group who had to do her routine twice after the group completed the routine. I think she didn't kick correctly. But I had to give it to her for not giving up! Hope she passes!!

After the grading, it was off to Ang Mo Kio Hub for a nice sushi lunch at Ichiban Sushi. Then we went home for a rest before heading off to Sembawang Shopping Center, our weekend haunt. Jolly good weekend I must say. At least I did more than bum around.