Theme words - Focus

At my dojang, each of the belts has a theme word or phrase attached to it. The main hallway has a string of posters (yeah...kinda like those motivational posters in some corporate environments), one for each theme word. The three themes my daughters and I have done so far: White - Focus, Yellow - Enthusiasm, Orange - Goal Setting.

The dojang defines Focus as "concentrating with your mind, eyes and body". This means not only thinking about what you are doing but looking at it and not doing anything else like fidgeting. When I was a child, I was high energy and always fidgeting, messing with myself, or looking around at who knows what. Friends, family, and strangers would all comment on it. I've noticed this has carried over to my youngest. After 5 months of taekwondo, I've noticed a change in her that she actually pays attention more in class. She sits up straight with her hands on her knees and is really paying attention when the instructor is teaching. She also doesn't mess around so much when she is doing whatever activity (kicks, punches, escrima, etc) we are assigned to do.

Now if only this would carry over to the dinner table. She has a tendency to fall out of her chair because she can't sit still.