Not the tallest person

Even though I go to the children's classes at our dojang during the week, I am rarely the tallest person, or if I am, I am only the tallest by an inch or so.

We all went to Master Hughes's Wednesday Ninja Kids class. I don't think I was the tallest, but I was the oldest. I volunteered to help out and got the job of holding the pads while the children kicked. But I got a workout, too, during basic moves. Then we did sparring.

I think I am actually pretty good at sparring.

This shocks me.

But I don't think of it as fighting. I think of it as petite allegro, that part of ballet where we practice fast footwork and being light on our feet .

The way I'm sparring (right now anyway) is light-footed and fast. It seems to work.

I was paired with Patrick, a 10-year-old brown belt, who is a forms genius. But he is not light on his feet. He is slow and very strong. But fast and light beats strong when it comes to sparring. I beat the tar out of Patrick, as Patrick's dad pointed out, scoring point after point on him with my very limited knowledge of fancy kicks.

What kinds of people could I beat with my sparring approach? I don't know.

I also don't know what I think about it becoming one of my favorite parts of TKD.