Victory Tae Kwon Do club starts their students sparring at the point when they reach orange belt status so if this is the same for most clubs his opponent would have four to six months additional experience with sparring even though their ages would be very close to each other. For Jackson to gain a win he would have to be quick on his toes and mindful of what his opponent was up to.

With the conclusion of the second round the referee conferred with the judges to decide which course of action would decide the outcome of this bout. From our position in the stands I could only conclude that when the referee brought the two coaches together it had been decided that there would be one more round and the person who scored the first point would win the match. With this information the coaches strategized with their students and for me my nerves were going haywire so I can only guess at the state of mind for the guys on the mat.

With Jackson and his opponent set in the middle facing off, the referee signaled the start of the final round, the sparring sudden death round. The one who attacked and also defended the best would become the winner.

There was no doubt in Jackson’s mind that he wanted to win, right from the off he set about the task of scoring that decisive point and at the same time remained fleet of foot. Several combinations of snap kicks would put his opponent on the defense and a decisive push kick eventually settled the match. A well deserved win in his first ever sparring competition and also the most important thing, laying to rest the fears that had remained with him since last years competion.

With both parts of the competition behind him we could now relax and enjoy the rest of the competition and the remaining competitors and of course the picture that tells the story, two gold medals outside the Walter Pyramid accompanied by a big smile.

We decided to watch several sessions of the sparring to see how quickly they would call the group numbers, then knowing the time lapse we found it an ideal time to get something to eat and drink and at the same time it would reduce the stress level for both him and us. The usual selection of event food was available so we opted for the pizza with Gatorade which would give him energy when the time comes.

Once he started eating he definitely started to perk up, he needed that energy boost and not a moment too soon as we noticed that the groups were moving a lot faster than before and it was time for him to don the protective pads. The gum shield had been reformed during the past week since his adult teeth were in and all other pads had had their day with the washing machine as they had taken on a distinct gamey smell after all the practice during the previous weeks. A quick trip to the bathroom and fitting of the groin protection cup hid nicely beneath the uniform giving little indication to the spectating public, unlike some of the competitors who opted to display their cup outside their uniform!

With the display board now reading groups 331-337 we made our way out of the viewing stand and down to the lower level where the competitors were making their way to the holding area. At the entrance we came across some of the older members of the club who were very supportive and gave Jackson extra coaching until it was time to line up by their group number ready to be led to the holding area.

Once his group was led away we made our way back to the stands watching to see which section of the hall his bout would take place. We were hoping that it would be in front of the Victory club group stand but of course it was the furthest mat away. With cameras in hand we made our way over, hoping to capture the match on video and hoping that the families in that section would tolerate us taking a couple of spots near the railings. The event personnel would not allow any blocking of the stairway, obviously for safety reasons but nonetheless highly annoying when you’re trying to get the best shots.

The next mat over at exactly the same time, the first black belt match for the club was about to start. I thought to myself, Jackson really needs the support right now as I’m sure he is really nervous but I need not worry as Grandmaster Kim took over from his son Master Chris. The first round ended with Jackson holding a one point lead and looking the stronger and more aggressive of the two, a pleasant surprise for me as he was certainly concerned earlier.

Grandmaster sat Jackson down as in a boxing ring removing his gum shield, supplied the water and a brief pep talk and a good pat to the chest padding before setting him out to the center ready for the start of sparring round 2. As I said earlier, to capture the video would be hard without blocking the stairway so I must apologize for the unsteadiness as the yellow jackets decended upon us! With round two underway Jackson was quick to extend his lead to two points, attacking, dodging, faking and all the tricks he had learnt under the guidance of the Grandmaster and the Masters.

He was but 30 seconds away from the end of the bout and certain victory when his ribbon became untied from his chest protection resulting in a timeout. Once the ribbon was retied Jackson attacked before the referee announced the start, sending the referee to stop the bout and speaking to him. I’m sure this broke his concentration allowing his opponent to score a quick couple of points and draw level. Time was running out for both of them, each trying to deliver the decisive kick or punch that would give them victory but with time expiring each competitor returned to their seat awaiting the verdict of the judges and what would happen next.

He had gone last year just to see what the expectations would be and it had left a lasting impression on his young mind, for one he had only been at the club for a total of 4 months and he was a yellow belt. He had watched the Poomse part of the competition but once the sparring started that was when the image left a lasting imprint on his mind. The black belt competitors had been super aggressive and it had frightened him to the extent of never wanting to compete in that part of the program.

Now a year later and attaining the level of brown belt he was going to be part of that event but would he enter for both sparring and Poomse.

The Poomse part of the competition was not a problem he could overcome his nerves once the competition started, he was a strong competitor and had managed to gain first place in his Victory club run Poomse competition earlier in the year where probably a total of one hundred and fifty competitors of all belt levels had attended. At this event, The JKI, there would be a minimum total of four hundred competitors that would take up the entire Saturday from the opening ceremony at 9:00am to the last sparring competition at 8:00pm spread over a total of eleven rings, let alone the spectators supporting the competitors.

His instructors Master Chris and Master Claire had been training all the students for many weeks to prepare them for this event. Master Chris had spent countless hours going over the techniques for sparring and had held additional training time for those who wanted to be at the peak of their game come that day. Master Claire had perfected the students on their forms or Poomse to ensure their technique was good and at the right speed and strength to give them the best possible chance to impress the judges.

With two weeks to go before the tournament and the registration deadline looming Master Chris assessed each student and suggested what he felt would be their strengths, in Jackson’s case he said that he should enter both Poomse and Sparring. Jackson was extremely nervous with being entered into sparring but as Master Chris pointed out it is not about winning, it’s about what you can learn from the experience. He said that in his first competiton he had failed to win but had come back with a wealth of knowledge and became stronger the next time because of what he had learned at that competiton. With that said the relevant information was jotted down on a card together with weight and rank providing us with the necessary information so that we could register him for the competition online.

Reluctantly Jackson said he would try his best and that night we enrolled him for the forth coming tournament in both disciplines.

Over the next two weeks training was intense trying to perfect both sparring and poomse, extra lessons were provided for those who wanted to attend and Grand Master Kim provided an open Sunday for a select few of his students giving them invaluable additional training. Jackson benefitted from this extra training but at some point he began to become confused with some of his poomse with the slight nuances between Grand Master’s technique and his daughter Master Claire’s. The difference between the two was a slight change in one of the moves where a more modern version was used by Master Claire. He insisted that he was doing it wrong but once we conferred with Master Claire she explained that both versions were correct and that he would be displaying the modern version.

Still skeptical leading up to the competition he even announced that he just wanted to compete in sparring. With his stress level rising because of the forthcoming tournament now was the time to backoff and have several days leave from the studio.

It’s amazing what a couple of rest days can do, he was back to his buoyant self. With one day to go, he was looking forward to the challenge, knowing he would be borrowing his friends Nintendo DS to help him during the waiting period, easing any anxiety that he may have been having. The morning of the competition was an early start, we had to meet at the Walter Pyramid to collect his credentials and buy our entrance tickets. The doors would open at 8:00am with the opening ceremony at 9:00am with the onset of the competition with poomse starting at 9:45am, his group number was 151.

With the group number starting at 100 a couple of hours would pass before his number would be displayed allowing for several practice runs behind the bleachers. He asked Jose, a second degree black belt if he was nervous and he assured Jackson that he was always nervous before competing which helped him with his own nervousness. Finally his group number is displayed and it’s off to the holding area until a ring becomes available, of course it’s the furthest from our seating arrangement. My wife races over to the otherside of the stadium to video the advent and I stay and capture it with my camera. The Brown belt poomse for our sons group resulted in a victory for him laying rest a lot of nervousness, with one part of the competition complete it is now a waiting game until the sparring starts.

I would have liked to display the video that my wife captured but it was way too large to be displayed so please forgive my poor efforts.

I had been fishing at the lake maybe once before with not as much as a bite but hey, maybe they will have some fun and it’s out in the open with plenty of fresh air. The children’s lake where they would be fishing had been restocked for a special “tagged Fish” event that would span over the entire Christmas period from December 15th through January 6th with the opportunity to win prizes for each tagged fish that were caught. This would result in each tag being exchanged for a spin of the “prize wheel” and the prize being determined by where the pointer stopped, in addition the child’s name would be placed in the draw for the grand prize which was an Xbox 360. These prizes ranged from a free days fishing to fishing lures and the grand prize draw set for January 6th at 2 p.m.

I didn’t think much more about the fishing as I was at work and the rest of the family were at Irvine lake on Friday 21st December, my last day before the break. I kept getting intermittent calls on how many fish they were catching and to cap it all the Barbie pole was really making out!

Jackson was the first to actually strike on a fish and to his surprise it was a healthy sixteen inch rainbow trout with one of the tags behind its dorsal fin. This was the first fish that he has ever caught and from that moment he was totally obsorbed by the process, mastering the casting was something that is going to take time but nevertheless it’s alway a good sign to have a successful first outing.

The total amount of fish caught by the group came to twenty with three of the fish having tags, this was quite fortunate as there were three children altogether. This allowed three spins of the wheel with each of them guaranteed a prize. For my two children they came away with a free days fishing but this amounts to two free days for Jackson as Madeline fishes free because of her age. The cost of this fishing trip was $20.00 per adult and $9.00 per child 4-12 years of age and the beauty of this is, you don’t require a licence with the lake being privately owned.

Every fish that was caught was big enough to eat and with the quota being reached everyone left in high spirits with the cooler filled with that nights supper.

I was keen to leave work that evening, to see what they had brought home and to hear the stories of the day. I was to clean fish but it had been decided to do it the next day but with them being on ice that was not going to be a problem, they would keep until the morning.

No mention had been made about the grand prize draw in the New Year, there had already been a great result and I felt eager enough to want to return during the break to see if I had any luck. We had paid no more attention to the grand prize with so many people in the draw, what would the chances be to come out a winner?

It was during the Christmas break that we were able to go fishing as a whole family and with great success, another tagged fish and an eighteen inch fish being the biggest. A totally enjoyable day that spanned from ten in the morning to four in the afternoon with a total of six fish being caught. All in all a very enjoyable break leaving me well rested to start the New Year.

The first week back at work was slow as people dusted off the remnants of the holiday bringing us quickly back to the weekend again. It would be this weekend on Sunday that the draw would take place but we had totally forgotten about it. Sunday afternoon comes around and I’m working on the computer as the telephone rings, my wife answers and is a little wary of who it is on the other end as she does not recognize the voice. I remember her saying “Excuse me, who is it?” then her exclaiming “You’ve gotta be joking” and shouting out to Jackson “You’ve won the grand prize , the Xbox!” His first reaction was to start screaming “Hooraaay, Hooraaay” then can we go get it. Much to his disappointment this was not possible until the next day when they would have it at the fishing shop at the lake.

Collecting the prize on Monday was a very exciting moment for him, it had been wrapped in Christmas wrap and he was to open it for photographs for the Irvine Lake website, a great end to the Christmas holidays and yet, a question to be answered, “Will there be prizes the next time we come fishing?”

I had decided that I would take a couple of days vacation after the long Labor Day weekend as those two days would be the beginning of the school year, with Tuesday marked as an orientation day and today, Wednesday, the first day at school. This morning started off sharp with the alarm set for 6 AM, not that I manage much sleep last night so getting up proved easy enough even though my normal routine requires an early 5 AM rise.

First thing is to get showered then get the pot boiling for a wake me up cup of tea. We’re tea drinkers rather than coffee, my wife cannot stand coffee which is fine with me although I do occasionally need one for my early commute.

With the mornings being that much darker the children are sleeping in longer which allows us to get ready before the mad rush. Children have a whole new speed when it comes to getting ready and that is SLOOOOW and knowing that, we made sure that everything was preset to remove as many obstacles as possible. The backpack already had his scissors, crayons and large glue sticks packed. His name had been inked on the scissors to reduce any melt down at school should there be two of the same, which no doubt will be the case. His small cooler that fits in the backpack has his nutritious mid-morning snack and bottled water so with that all set we can wake him up and let the fun begin.

Jackson had had a restful sleep so the fact that it was now his first day at school did not faze him one bit, he was his bouyant self. Giving him the choice of clothes can be a long process but he was determined to wear green, his favorite color with his jean shorts. The brushing of teeth, washing, brushing hair, the getting through that “get ready” period obsorbed 20 minutes of the precious time remaining, leaving a mere 15 minutes to have breakfast and last minute potty breaks before hitting the road.

During his breakfast of cereal and apple juice we go over the rules set by Mrs. Chalabian just to clarify areas that we know Jackson has a tendency to do, like giving personal space and keeping your hands to yourself. Boys tend to be very expressive when they are comfortable, they will be in the face of their friends shouting or poking just to make a point. We explain the reward policy for good behavior and his ears instantly perked up at the thought of getting a prize from the “treasure chest.” The consequences for misbehavior didn’t receive such an enthusiastic reception but I’m sure he understood the point.

With time now at a critical stage we have to leave, who knows how many vehicles are going to be trying to navigate the parking lot.

Although the school is less than a mile away we had to drive rather than walk because this is also a test run for when our daughter starts her playgroup. The start times are very close so my wife has to know what she is dealing with especially if she has to drop Jackson off first then drive on to the next destination.

As we approach, the organized chaos reminds me of the commercial with the smart credit card at the food kiosk, everything is running smooth as the cars enter and drop off their children, then move on. The last thing that is needed is a newcomer to disrupt the rhythm and cause a traffic jam, fortunately for us the rear playground has been opened up so we can park for the first day.

Once parked up everything is checked before we get out, we need the camera to record the event and don’t forget the backpack. The cars are coming in thick and fast now so let’s take care as we cross the playground to the kindergarten side. As we go through the gate you can see other parents with their toddlers in arms, some are playing on the playground equipment and others are standing in line waiting to go into class. You can see the nervousness of some of the children, for others it’s no big deal but as you know anxiety can spread like wild fire. It only takes a couple of kids in the class to break down and before you know it the rest will follow suit, we have to keep an upbeat tempo to reduce the impact of the change in surroundings. We need the door to open and start filing in the kids, the longer the wait the more time to think. Today of all days it’s overcast so there’s a chill in the air compared to the previous days heat, sweatshirts would have been a good idea.

Eventually the door opens and we start taking our children in, the backpacks need to be stowed away in cabby holes and there is already one child who has bolted. The reality hits home and a couple of the moms are sobbing as their precious one sits ready for instruction. We take the opportunity to snap a picture of our son with his teacher before sitting him down, he seems to be fine.

As we file out and the door is shut the children are ushered to the front of the class and sat down on the mat. I glance through the window as I pass by, control is already maintained as they listen intently to Mrs. Chalabian. I think to myself as we walk to the car he’s growing up fast yet he’s still our baby.

Getting out of the carpark was a lot easier than getting in, as we drove by everything was still in the playground apart from the few stragglers who were running late. A few minutes earlier it was a beehive of activity but now all you could hear was the sound of cars on the tarmac. I look at my watch and think, he’ll be having his snack break in just over two hours, what an odd thing to think of so soon.

I had already decided to press on with the Jungle Fort project for the few hours before schools out. I need to get it finished and with it being so close it gave me that added incentive to press on. All materials had been cut and it was a simple process of sanding smooth so that the preserve could be applied. I wanted to erect the Rock Wall this coming weekend and maybe the picnic bench as well, it was strange without Jackson demanding play time as I was sanding.

The first day at school is about to end as we wait for the gate to open and the children to file out. It looks like alphabetical order as our Jackson comes bolting out with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen, drawing clutched in his hand and a good behavior token in the other. “It’s great,” he exclaims, “I really like my teacher. If you be good you get a ticket and after ten tickets you get a super ticket, theeen you get to pick out of the TREASURE CHEST!!! and and if your naughty you don’t get a ticket.”

He moved out of his mothers home over a year ago to live at his now mother-in-law’s house. The issues that he had with his mother have not been disclosed to me but I can only guess. I know what sort of turmoil you go through as a young man, I’m sure most do, it’s part of the growing up process. Even so, being able to afford a place of your own in the UK is a tough call especially when a reasonable paying job is hard to find.

His latest venture is creating his own designs on a software called Bryce 5, like I said to him practice makes perfect. As in anything that you do, you have to work at a skill to perfect it then you become an asset. Today’s employment market is so competitive that unless you have a unique quality it is easy to be lumped with the rest. To have an edge is always going to put you in the forefront of any employment list. All I can hope is that he uses his “street smart” qualities together with the ability to learn new skills to set himself apart, only time will tell.

In the mean time his new adventure in marriage will provide the impetus to do well.