3-year-old Indian-American earns Yellow Belt status in Taekwondo

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Zoe Shaikh, a three-year old Indian-American, is the youngest child to have earned a yellow belt in her Taekwondo class among the three locations in Chicago that are part of the chain of United Taekwondo Center that she goes to.  Not a small accomplishment for that age, her parents feel. Her coach is Master Kang from Bill Cho’s United South Taekwondo Center on Randall Road in South Elgin, Illinois.

Zoe’s loves includes not just Taekwondo but her lively imagination takes her to the land of Superheroes who likes to pretend being, and also draw, and paint. The abilities of a Yellow Belt would go well with that. Even though she qualifies as a “toddler” a word that describes anyone from the age of 12 months to 3 years, Zoe also loves to cook, according to her mother, Shazia Shaikh.

“She is so fascinated by the shape of a round roti and when she tries to cook small things like roti, she is the happiest person anyone can see on this planet. She thinks it (making a roti) is very easy to mold as play dough. She also loves to makes Indian masala chai for her dad,” Shazia Shaikh told Desi Talk.

At the age of 3, Shaikh is a cleanliness freak and doesn’t like to keep her stuff in a mess. “She can’t even see a mess around her and therefore is very good at cleaning her room,” her mother said.

Being an outdoor person Zoe loves all kinds of sports and activities whether it is a cultural dance festival or a 5K kids run. She has fitted swimming classes to her busy schedule.

Most importantly though, Shaikh likes to teach her younger sister, who just turned 1, all the animal sounds and alphabets.

“She is the best elder sister anyone can have,” Shazia Shaikh added.