Jamie, our energetic 5-year-old son, is a student of Taekwondo. Oh, yes, he's pretty fierce in his white belt with a black stripe! For the past 8 months, he has been a student at a local Christian Taekwondo University (originally founded by this man) that holds classes in our church building.
This week has been an especially exciting week for Jamie's study of Taekwondo. First, his instructors organized a Taekwondo drama demonstration for both services at our church this past Sunday morning, and secondly, he was able to attend a TKD seminar (also held at our church) last night that was led by Grandmaster Brenda Sell, the President of the U.S Chung Do Kwan Association and the highest-ranked female in the world. She holds an 8th Dan (degree) black belt in Taekwondo. Her husband, Sr. Grandmaster Edward Sell, who holds a 9th Dan black belt is the highest ranked non-oriental in Taekwondo. Jamie was so excited that he was able to meet a person who knew even more about Taekwondo than his instructors. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for him to be able to receive instruction from a Grandmaster. When he's older, I'm sure he will really appreciate knowing he took part in this special event.
Let me also tell you a little bit about the TKD demo Jamie participated in on Sunday. I know it might sound a bit strange, but it was really cool to watch! The group of students and instructors acted out a supernatural battle between good and evil set to the song The Champion by Carman. Jamie played the role of an angel who cheered for Jesus as he fought against Satan. Jamie displayed his tremendous acting ability as he covered his mouth with his hands in shock and disbelief when Jesus put his hands by his side and let Satan give him a fatal kick to the head (a symbol of the crucifixion.) Then, after a few seconds, Jesus stood back up (symbolizing the resurrection) and took down Satan and his demons one-by-one. The demo culminated with Jesus (played by Master Luckett, one of Jamie's instructors) breaking through a stack of concrete blocks, labeled SIN, symbolizing how Jesus' sacrificial death broke the bondage of sin. It was a really powerful demonstration of the redeeming work of Christ.
Afterwards, Jamie was proud of his involvement in the demo and extremely thrilled that he got to see Master Luckett break concrete for the first time! Certainly, after seeing the skills of Master Luckett (and also meeting Grandmaster Brenda last night), he has newfound inspiration for practicing his martial arts, but there's a more important lesson we hope he takes away from this experience. We told him that not only were we proud of how well he followed directions while on stage, but that we were especially proud that he had used his abilities to tell other people about Jesus. I really hope Jamie understands that is the most important thing that happened on the stage yesterday. I'll do my best to remind him whenever I have the chance.
If you want to locate a Christian Taekwondo University (CTU) near you, click here. We are thoroughly pleased with the physical, mental and spiritual training Jamie is receiving through his lessons. I highly recommend it!
Also, here is a video clip depicting the song The Champion. It is not a video of Sunday's performance, but it can give you an idea of the demo on Sunday.
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