I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
What could be dearer to a grandmother’s heart than her grandchild’s smile? Well, for several septuagenarian South Korean grandmas, smashing wooden tiles with their heads comes close. These grandmas are studying taekwondo and many of them have already earned high level black belts. Taekwondo is a martial art from Korea characterized by fast, high and spinning kicks. Many young men have to learn it as part of their military service. Presumably these grandmas have the equivalent of a 4F classification, so they’re taking it for other reasons: their health and happiness. Except for sometimes forgetting the moves an hour after they learn them, the women are having a blast. “Coming here is much better than going to the hospital,” says one high-kicking granny. Better outfits, too.
With thanks to Randi Hacker for this text from the Center for East Asian Studies I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.
