Tyler gets his yellow belt

After 3 months of hard work, Tyler was able to test for his yellow belt in Karate, actually it's Tae Kwon Do, a Korean form of Karate. He had a little problem with his 6 step sequence as he was adding two extra steps, but the instructor let him do it over (3 times a charm). He needed to do his first two forms Kuk Mu One & Kuk Mu Two which he did very well. He also needed to break a board and unfortunately he got a board with a big knot right in the middle, but after about 20 or 30 kicks, the board broke in half. Instructor Rich was very proud that he didn't get discouraged and kept kicking and kicking and kicking until it broke. So now it's time to watch out, and don't piss off the kid, as he'll kick your butt.

Tyler started Karate

Well, being Tyler doesn't want to wrestle, play baseball or soccer, we decided to enroll him in Karate. Along with his friend Shawn, he goes to Karate three nights a week. Being he is just starting, he is only a white belt, but he is working hard to get his yellow belt which he can try for in another 2 months (he has to be a white belt for 3 months). Tyler seems to really enjoy himself, and is starting to "get it" as at first I thought he never would.

The instructor is a very nice young man who is in the Black Belt Hall of Fame and his training goes directly back to Grandmaster Lee Won-Kuk. This Grandmaster only allowed students of the HIGHEST character to join his academy and the training was extremely strict and disciplined. Grandmaster Lee began training a young boxer by the name of Duk Sung Son, who became a Grandmaster also. While in the USA, Grandmaster Son taught Joe Trovato, who later relocated to the Pocono Mountains in PA, and taught Rich Gross. Sensei Gross then went on to be the instructor for Sensei Paul Maglionico who is head instructor at the Mountain Karate Academy where Tyler trains. Grandmaster Son is one of the top Martial Arts Masters in the world, and it's exciting to know that Tyler is being trained by this generation of apprentices.

Instructor Paul is very good with the kids, and he really enjoys teaching his skills to them. Tyler is looking forward to the day he gets his yellow belt.