Soooo…I had a TaeKwonDo class this morning. I went without CootieBoy, who opted to sleep in after a late night of videogaming (gotta love summer vacation). It was a family class so it had kids as young as 5 years old up through adults like me and another mom that was there, Em. The master started us off with general cardio exercises like jumping jacks and a few runs across the room and back. Then he had us working front snap kicks as we went across the room.
Then came the relay.
And this was my Waterloo moment at TKD. He lined us up in groups of three. I was with two young boys who were adorable but NOT fast. I was next to the only other adult in the class, who was also with two children. The master announced we’d be doing a relay front snap kick race and the winning team would only have to do 10 push-ups while the other teams would do 20 push-ups. The race began, and even though my team most definitely would not win, I figured we could beat the other Em’s team. She and I both started our lap at the same time, but her kicks are much faster than mine (she’s a blue belt and so has been doing TKD much longer than me). I finished the kicks just behind her and turned to run and catch up and eventually beat her. I was two steps into my running when my foot dragged on the rubber mat floor just a bit too much, and I could feel myself starting to lose my balance.
My brain knew in an instant that I would be falling. And rather than tell my body to slow down to regain its balance, my brain said, “Just keep running! You can beat the other adult!” So I kept running. And three steps later I was pitching forward toward the ground. My glasses went flying, I face-planted on the rubber floor, and I knew immediately that I was going to be sore in the morning.
A couple of the junior instructors came over to make sure I was okay, and I assured them I was as I got up and put my glasses back on. When everyone was setting up for the NEXT RELAY RACE, the master came over to check on me and I said, “I was trying to beat Em!” which made him laugh in relief.
The rest of class went well – my team didn’t win either relay, but that’s okay, neither did Em’s team. So we both ended up having to do 20 push-ups and 20 squats for not being on a winning team. Once done with the relays, the master had Em and me work on our curriculum, and this time I was able to learn the first half of the poomse routine that I’ll need to know for testing. I came home and showed CootieBoy what I learned and he gave me a couple tips to help with my form.
He’s sad he missed my faceplant though.