Mary-Anne and I always encouraged our three sons to try different sports and activities as they were growing up. When our eldest son was transitioning from primary to secondary school, he asked if he could do some martial arts for self defence. So I took our three sons to a few different martial arts schools, before we found World Taekwondo. The other martial arts schools we tried didn't 'feel' right; there seemed to be an emphasis upon aggression, whereas World Taekwondo emphasised self-defence along with respect and self-discipline. Daniel joined in 1998, and over the following few years we all ended up joining in. Of course our middle son Joseph had to be different, so he did Judo for a while, before eventually joining in with Daniel and Matthew. Regrettably, our sons have had to use their skills for self-defence. While walking home from the corner deli one day a couple of kids decided to push one of my sons over and made clear that they wanted to fight. As soon as my sons adopted the stance for self-defence, the aggressors could see that my sons knew how to defend themselves and walked away. I decided to join in when I was 40, and Mary-Anne followed a short-time later. That was ten years ago and the fitness, flexibility, and strength we have gained have been fantastic. It's also great that we have an activity that we all continue to do as a family. Although I am a senior belt to Mary-Anne, when it comes to home life, she is still the boss.
Philip McMillan.
