All About Taekwondo

[heutistmeintag]

ChiefKiasu:

Hi heutistmeintag! It's refreshing to finally see a post on how to make our children grow body muscles other than that of the brain :)!

I have always believed that we must take the opportunity to let our children pick up a life-long skill when they are young. Sports such as swimming and gymnastics are most effective if they are taken up before the age of 5, especially if the goal is for the child to do it competitively. I know of good swimming clubs and fencing schools, but too bad... nothing on TKD. It used to be very hot during my time in school, but the sport seem to have lost its lustre over the years.

Hi, I was glad I found this forum and to be honest, I was kinda disrespecful when I saw the term kiasuparents (let's call ourselves KSPs, lol) but upon reading thru, I found it very informative and amazing what parents are prepared to do for their kids. This may sound corny - I was pleasantly surprised to find that you as a \"founder\" was more rational than I had initially expected. I thought you were the super KS type. LOL

Personally, I felt that health is as important as intelligence and other mind-oriented achievements. I was told by a school PE head that a recent MOE study showed that healthier kids performed better academically and this is also supported by mind shaping school like MindChamps too. I think it's logical and scientific but somehow neglected by some parents due to ignorance, personal experiences etc.

Anyway, I typically encouraged my kids to take up sports that are more survival oriented (yeah, not kiasu but kiasee!). So they have already gone through swimming (bronze survival) and now training for their black belt in TKD. For the past 1-2 years, they had shown keen interest in competitive TKD (sparring) and I just want to support their interests.

BTW, you are like a role father model to me. As a father too, I have learnt quite a bit from your postings. You must have spent alot of time doing research etc Out of curosity, what do you work as full time? Hope you dun mind my personal question and if you are not comfortable to reveal, pls ignore and I offer my apologies for the intrusion into your privacy.

[heutistmeintag]

2bbtang:

Hi!

I do not have any experience to share on TKD. However, every weekends, I do bring my kids to do some art lessons @ Artboot Camp at Turf City Singapore. Right opposite, there is this school on TKD.

Here's the info.
#01-25 JH Kim Taekwando Institute tel 6463 0323 .

It is very popular. Every weekends is crowded with many students. Occassionally, they do hold islandwide competition. Maybe, you could check out this place.

By the way, Turf City has many other schools like :
Marsden Swim School
The Academy Of Fencing
The Pitch
Advantage School of Tennis
...many others.


Hopes this help.

Thanks for the info, I will keep that in mind. Hmm, I stay in the east and hence would prefer one eastside to reduce a amount of travelling. Petrol is so expensive thiese days.

[jedamum]

Hi heutistmeintag

may i know when is a good age to start TKD? and is it taxing? my husband who used to take up TKD when he was in P1 said that it is physically exhausting and doesn’t think that my puny K2 boy can handle the stress.

[heutistmeintag]

jedamum:

Hi heutistmeintag

may i know when is a good age to start TKD? and is it taxing? my husband who used to take up TKD when he was in P1 said that it is physically exhausting and doesn't think that my puny K2 boy can handle the stress.

My kids startred learning TKD at our CC when they were 7/8 yrs old but I have seen kids as young as 4/5 years learning TKD at the CC. It's not taxing until green belt when they started to learn sparring.

From there, they have to practice kicking, standard kick, reverse, double, triple etc. Boys I think like this \"phase\" as competition gives them the highs..not to mention bragging rights to their TKD battles.

I would suggest giving a try and if too tiring for your kid, then stop. K2 means your son is about 6 yrs old. At this age, they will enjoy the physical sports...

You can checkout at http://www.stf.sg/

[ChiefKiasu]

jedamum:

Hi heutistmeintag

may i know when is a good age to start TKD? and is it taxing? my husband who used to take up TKD when he was in P1 said that it is physically exhausting and doesn't think that my puny K2 boy can handle the stress.

Size can be deceiving. My puny little boy cleared up to his Gold National Survival Swimming Award in K2 and is like a shark in water. In fencing, he is the smallest boy in his class (half the size of the biggest boy in class), but is feared because it is so difficult to hit him (small target ). You'd be amazed with what they can do if they have an interest.

[ChiefKiasu]

heutistmeintag:

... Hi, I was glad I found this forum and to be honest, I was kinda disrespecful when I saw the term kiasuparents (let's call ourselves KSPs, lol) but upon reading thru, I found it very informative and amazing what parents are prepared to do for their kids. This may sound corny - I was pleasantly surprised to find that you as a \"founder\" was more rational than I had initially expected. I thought you were the super KS type...

But I am the super KS type like most of the parents here. OK... maybe not as super as some :).

heutistmeintag:

...Personally, I felt that health is as important as intelligence and other mind-oriented achievements. I was told by a school PE head that a recent MOE study showed that healthier kids performed better academically and this is also supported by mind shaping school like MindChamps too. I think it's logical and scientific but somehow neglected by some parents due to ignorance, personal experiences etc...

Ditto. In fact, it has been proven that adrenalin can flash short-tem memory into long-term storage. Some people will study first and then go for a jog or a swim to better process what they have learnt.

heutistmeintag:

...BTW, you are like a role father model to me. As a father too, I have learnt quite a bit from your postings...

No lah... I am but a product of combined knowledge of the community we have here. When we first started this portal... we are also blur like sotong... only know what the enrichment or childcare services tell us... even if \"swan\" us also dunno. Having interacted with the really great parents like jedamum and lizawa, I have learnt a lot and seen a great change to my own parenting style. I was an authoritarian parent to begin with... and now I'm trying learn to be authoritative. So me and my family has gained much from the community.

Amongst the things I do is part-time lecturing in one of the institutes of higher learning in Singapore. I've been doing that for the past 18 years... so I see the end result of the years of primary, secondary and pre-tertiary education provided by the Singapore educational system. But that's another story.

[amylqf]

ChiefKiasu:

so I see the end result of the years of primary, secondary and pre-tertiary education provided by the Singapore educational system. But that's another story.

Hi, ChiefKiasu,

A bit side track from the thread above.

I am very interested to hear from you on \"another story\" of singapore educational system.

I saw quite no. of articles quoted on the \"tuition nation\". I also heard from some parents that there is a big gap between primary school and secondary school standard. Through your teaching experience, what do you think? Is it something wrong with singapore educational system or is it the problem with our KS parents and society?

Thanks

[learningtobekiasu]

heutistmeintag:

Thanks for the info, I will keep that in mind. Hmm, I stay in the east and hence would prefer one eastside to reduce a amount of travelling. Petrol is so expensive thiese days.

they have a branch in katong. give them a call. its great if your kid takes an interest. my son has been in JH Kim since he was 4.5 or 5. he will be getting his red belt this month and probably black by mid year. it has done wonders for his fitness and confidence levels.

[heutistmeintag]

Thanks for the additional info and my apologies for responding late.


My older boy have gone to sec1 and my daughter is in P6. Their interests in TKD are declining and they decided to complete their poome grading and competitions this year. They want to move on to other sports.

It's kind of waste to stop here coz I know TKD will become an official sports in the inter-school calender in 2010 and they could have an opportunity to do well there. Oh well, they have a mind of their own now. ...

[JCase]

learningtobekiasu:

heutistmeintag:

[quote=\"2bbtang\"]

my son has been in JH Kim since he was 4.5 or 5. he will be getting his red belt this month and probably black by mid year. it has done wonders for his fitness and confidence levels.

[/quote]That's nice to hear. My son has a trial at JH Kim next weekend - Turf City. Hopefully he likes it.

He seems interested in MA because I do it but I'm not keen for him to learn the style that I am doing now at his young age.