A few months after we quit Taekwondo, B suddenly asked me:

“Mommy, am I going to do Taekwondo again?”

I was surprised.

He had never been the child who woke up excited because it was Taekwondo day. He participated and usually had a good time once he got there, but he didn’t seem especially disappointed when we stopped.

“You want to do it again?” I asked.

He said yes.

Honestly, I was happy to hear that. Despite all my complaints about the fees, belt tests and inconsistent instructors, I had originally signed him up for a reason.

I wanted my small, sometimes-shy child to feel more confident and learn how to stand up for himself.

And then one day, he showed me that he had learned exactly that.

“Stop! I Don’t Like That!”

B came home and told me that another child had been pushing him. He said:

“I told him, ‘Stop! I don’t like that!’” That was already a big win for me. During Taekwondo, the instructors had practised situations where one person pretended to be a bully. They taught the children to use a strong voice and clearly say:

“Stop! I don’t like that!”

I was proud that B had remembered the words and used them in a real situation.

But then he continued:

“He tried to hit me. So I used TAE KWON DO SELF-DEFENCE!”

😀😆😃😆🥹😆😆😆😆😆

THAT WAS IT.

Suddenly, every monthly fee, every belt-test fee, the uniform fee and every coloured stripe on that still-technically-white belt seemed like they had been paid back in that one moment.

I had originally signed him up because he was small and had experienced hitting and pinching at daycare. I wanted him to feel confident enough to protect himself and speak up when someone crossed his boundaries.

And he did.

Maybe his kicks weren’t perfect.

Maybe he spent too much time looking at himself in the mirror.

Maybe he tried to perform Taekwondo using only his index fingers.

But when he needed it, he remembered what he had learned.

So, Was Taekwondo Worth It?

For us, yes—It was worth it because B became more comfortable in a group, learned to use a strong voice and gained enough confidence to stand up for himself.

I still think the program was too expensive. I still didn’t like paying $60 at every level test. And I still think the quality of the lesson depended too much on which instructor happened to be teaching that day.

Sometimes B had an instructor who watched him closely and made him focus. Other times, he pointed his fingers into the air and was told:“Good job!”

That inconsistency was frustrating, especially considering how much we were paying.

But the moment B told me that he had said, “Stop! I don’t like that!” and used his “TAE KWON DO SELF-DEFENCE,” I saw the year differently.

Did one year of Taekwondo turn him into a highly skilled martial artist?Absolutely not.

He was still technically wearing a white belt. 😂

But did it give him a little more confidence when he needed it?

I think it did.

So if he continues asking to go back, I will probably let him try again. I may complain about the monthly fee (not to him).

I will definitely complain every time another $60 belt-test notice arrives.

But I will probably pay it anyway. Because apparently, somewhere underneath all the goofing around and finger-pointing, he really was learning something.