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.