Saturday, February 11, 2006

Now I've Got a Little Coin in My Jeans. . .

Today was my first paying gig as a Tae Kwon Do Instructor. I won't say I wasn't a little nervous about it. I've been teaching classes for a few months now, but this was a new deal - private lessons for new students to get them familiar with the basics - bowing correctly, attention stance, horseriding stance, proper ki-hap, making a fist correctly, punching correctly and RAD (Recognise trouble, Avoid the problem, Defend yourself only if necessary) as well as a little about the philosophy of Tae Kwon Do and how it will impact their lives as students of the art. Since I had a specific # of objectives to cover in a half hour, I was a little nervous about how the timing would work out, but all went smoothly. The boy seems like a good kid, and he's the type to laugh when nervous rather than go all introverted, so he was easy to work with and the time flew by. I'd say it was definitely a success, and I actually forgot I was going to get paid, LOL! All my private lesson money is going to go into our travel fund, since we are planning to go to England, Ireland and Scotland in about 2 years. My other teaching is done in exchange for Prawnie's tuition.

After teaching, I came home to get John and drop him off so he could watch blackbelt testing today. He's going to call me when they get to the sparring so the rest of us can go down to watch them spar, break and get their belts. I don't think the kids could sit quietly through 4 hours, otherwise I'd like to watch, too, to see what we're in for when the time comes. Our blackbelt test is about a year and a half away now.

I feel creative today, so off I go before it passes. :o)

3 comments:

Sparrow said...

Congratulations on your first real cash payment! That's an odd thing for any of us who barter whenever we can :-)

Faltenin said...

I think that's a cool double morale-boost. You find out that you can do something important well (and what could be more important than teaching?) and it's sufficiently appreciated for you to get paid.

What sound does a clap make when typed over the internet?

C said...

Thanks guys!! :o)

Very Zen Q, Faltenin - like "what is the sound of one hand clapping?" LOL! It's Digital Age Zen. :o)