Yummy Salmon

Very easy, kid-friendly, from Cooks.com:

HONEY - GLAZED SALMON

1 lb. fresh salmon fillets
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 c. honey
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp. chili powder

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the salmon and saute until nearly done. Meanwhile, mix the honey, garlic and chili powder. Just before the fish is done, pour honey mixture over it. It will bubble up in the olive oil and form a glaze you can spoon back over the fish. Serve at once. Serve with a slice of lime.

My kids love this, it's very fast (buy the Costco frozen fillets and thaw them under hot running water), and it's a great way to introduce them to salmon. I serve it with quinoa.

Highly recommended!

Be grateful, and go kick!

First, a big thank you for the sweet get well card from the womens' class (plus Nick)! I so appreciate your support and your friendship. Thank you.

All you active, kicking martial artists reading this have an advantage over me: you can kick with your right foot, since it's not wrapped in an ace bandage and covered in a black boot. I can't put weight on my leg for a good six weeks, so I won't be kicking anytime soon.

Holy cow, I miss it. I really, really do. And I've been realizing some irony: in class, I have always thought of myself as the most awkward, the clumsiest one. Everything seems to take forever for my mind and body to grasp (just ask anyone who tried to teach me a double knife hand strike). But I kept trying, and eventually I got it.

However awkward a martial artist I was, I did not fully appreciate my body. That leg encased in black used to be able to kick! It used to pivot. My foot used to form itself into all the different toe shapes the cute Tiny Tigers practice (I can hear Master Sorenson's voice in my head: "Sidekick toes! Front snap kick toes! Roundhouse toes!). Now my foot can barely write the alphabet (the exercise prescribed by my orthopedic surgeon).

I think when I return to tae kwon do, I will be even more awkward than before, and more timid. I am freaked out thinking about kicking something with my fragile right leg just now. I have no idea how long it will take for my feet to angle like they're supposed to for a sidekick.

But I'll be back. No idea when, but I plan on returning. And when I'm there, I will be so, so grateful just to be sweating and kicking with all of you again.

New Parent Signature Sheets!

Hi everyone,

These are the new parent signature sheets, which are required for testing. The changes are mostly superficial. The new forms also come with a new testing card, so if you print these off online, you will get to see the new cards when you get your belt.

We also are posting the new schedule. If you have not seen our two studio schedule yet, be aware of all the class options that are available. Remember: please come to only two classes a week unless you have talked to an instructor or Nick at the front desk. With students taking more than their two a week, we are finding our classes exceeding what the planned staffing needs are.

Are first testing of the year is a few weeks away, but pencil in your calenders the following dates:
March 27, 4-7pm, Black Belt Testing
March 28, 8:30-12:15, Color Belt Testing
April 3, 6:00pm Make up Color Belt Testing (costs extra)
June 27, 8:30-12:15, Color Belt Testing
September 26, 8:30-12:15, Color Belt Testing
November: Black Belt Testing TBA
December: Color Belt Testing TBA

Mom, dad, come do some Taekwondo! Don't forget our family rates; pay for two students tuition, and the next two students tuition are free! Extra incentive for mom: during our women self defense classes, we have a very affordable daycare service available.

Belt Jump Camp and the One Room Schoolhouse

I've been doped up on painkillers all week, the result of a broken leg. So if this post is more loopy than usual, you can blame the foggy state of my brain. Thank you so much for the lovely flowers and the clever card.

I must say, though, that I am soooo grateful I did Belt Jump Camp before I broke my leg. Who knew that practicing plank every day would enable me to hop around on crutches with relative ease? I think my recovery is much easier because I invested a lot of time working out during the week before my accident.

All week long at Belt Jump Camp, I was reminded of the old-fashioned one room schoolhouse. You know, where everyone, at all levels, is taught by the same instructor. Belt jump camp consisted of three adults, ranks yellow green, green blue, and red; four children, ranks white belt, green blue, blue red, and black recommended; and our fearless Instructor Brown.

And we all learned together, and we all taught each other. I attended camp with my son, who explained to me that I needed to twist further to execute my spinning crescent kick. I watched him turn and decided that he must be joking; no way could I twist that far. But then Nick showed me the same drill Scott did, twisting all the way around to play pat-a-cake. Aha. Turns out Scott was right. Colin taught Scott his form, I helped Nick with his. Cory gave me pointers on my back kick (before I broke my leg, it was getting someplace. Sigh) Scott helped Joseph with his blocks. Cameron helped Cory with his form.

I don't mean to downplay Instructor Brown's role at all; it wasn't just us teaching each other, it was her teaching and leadership that made this environment possible. I've never experienced anything like it--in every other learning environment I've encountered (except perhaps my family) we've been divided by age or experience or grade level. It was refreshing and delightful to have everyone working together, supporting each other as we worked towards a common goal.

There's something to be said for classes that teach all beginners, or all intermediate, or all advanced students. A focused class allows the teacher to develop and explore the curriculum in greater depth.

But there's also a lot to be said for the community created by the tae kwon do one room schoolhouse.

Get well Emily!

Hi everyone!

This is Nick, typing from the office of Beyond Sports. I wish I wasn't typing in this situation, to be perfectly honest, I think Emily is the person for the job when it comes to great blogging...

Anyways, Our blogger, Emily, slipped on some ice last Thursday; she broke her leg in a couple of different places. Needless to say, she probably won't be kicking for a little while. The doctors say she will be in a cast for at least 3 months. We wish her a quick recovery, and hope for as little pain for her as possible. Most of us know what it like to have a serious injury like that, and we can all agree it isn't fun at all.

So Emily, get well soon! If I have to keep blogging in your absence, people are gonna find another Martial Arts and Healthy food blog to run to :-)