Goodbye, Sir

This has been such a sad week for our family.  We just found out that our wonderful Martial Arts instructor, Mr. Muchenje, is leaving due to circumstances beyond his control.  I took these pictures at Caleb's last Tiny Tigers class with Mr. Muchenje.  Notice Caleb is the only one punching with his left hand.  Oh well.

 What a darling group of little boys these are.  Mr Muchenje, or Sir, as we call him, is so incredibly good with those little guys.  It is so fun to watch him work with them, and they have all come a long way.

As a special treat at the end of class, he let all the boys break a board.  Believe me, breaking boards is about as good as it gets!  (I'd rather break a board than eat chocolate, and that's saying something.)

Tough Guys!

The other boys had their last class with Mr. Muchenje on Friday, but the pics didn't come out.  This is not the end of Taekwondo for the VanBuskirks, but it is the end of an era.  A new teacher starts on Monday, and it will be interesting to see what that is like.  But the boys just love Mr. Muchenje, and are just sad about losing him.  

I am more devastated about this than the boys or Dennis are.  I have been through this before.  Mr. Muchenje's wife, Kylee was my original instructor.  I was so nervous and uncomfortable when I walked into my first women's only class, but she was amazing.  She built up my confidence and was an incredible teacher.  She just had a way of explaining things so you knew exactly what to do, and a way of making you feel like you could do it. She was MY instructor, and I trusted her completely.  She also became a dear friend in the process.  

Then, last spring, she was suddenly gone.  She got a job out of town, and she couldn't teach our class anymore. I was simply heartbroken, and so was she, I think.  I simply don't do well with change.  I wondered if I would continue on with martial arts, or if I should just quit.  I stayed.  Her husband, Farai, took over the class.  It was a woman's only class, and I think he was more nervous about taking it over than we were.  I had always liked him, but SHE was MY teacher, and this loyalty thing made it hard to jump over to a new teacher.  I am so glad I did though.  Although he has a different philosophy and teaching style than his wife, I found that I really liked his way too. He was really into self-defense, which I think is great.  I think it has been good for me to have been trained by both, because I have had balanced, well rounded instruction.   I consider them both MY instructors now.

So the news of his leaving has hit me just as hard.  The idea of a strange new teacher completely stresses me out, not to mention that I will REALLY miss them as friends.  I think that if I wasn't so far along in my training, I'd probably be calling it quits right now.  But Kylee and Farai had worked hard to convince me that a black belt really is attainable, and I finally started believing them.  Now that it seems like something I can really do, this happens. 

 I have been struggling with this question all week, and I have decided that I really do want to get my black belt - only I want to get it from MY instructors, the Muchenjes.  Period.  I just can't picture it any other way.  Who you get your belt from is really important in martial arts, both to the student and to the teacher.  If I get my black belt  from them I honor them.  They are thrilled with my decision, and I am honored that they are willing to work with me.  It will be tough.  It will mean long-distance, infrequent instruction with them, a lot of training on my own and with a few of the other gals who are almost there as well.  It will be a challenge, I know, but it will make it all the more rewarding in the end when Kylee or Farai (or both) ties that belt around my waist.  I love those guys, and I am determined to do this for them...and for myself, of course

Meanwhile, I think I'll mourn just a bit longer.