Eight Years Old and Absolutely Merciless

Two small children in dobok uniforms stood facing each other in a taekwondo ring with the gravity of people settling a blood debt. What followed was one of those rare internet videos that works on three levels at once: objectively adorable, technically a sporting event, and somehow the most intense combat footage I’d seen all year. The strategies deployed—the circling, the feinting, the occasional windmill kick that connects with nothing but pure ambition—suggest years of practice and a deep personal grudge.

At some point one of them telegraphed what I can only describe as a Kamehameha attempt. It didn’t land. The match continued. I watched it three times and I’m still not entirely sure who won, but I know both of them are more committed to their craft than I’ve ever been to anything in my life.