Also

Also, I told this kids this morning that I joined karate and they were super excited. All thoughts of embarrassment apparently forgotten. Eve offered to teach me the first kata and Lex said I would be great at it. They were so sweet. When they got home from school Eve asked how my karate class had gone and, when I told her I had trouble with one of the blocks, she demonstrated it for me and had me try it with her. So sweet. Lex did ask, hesitantly, if we would be belt testing together, but I reassured him that grownups test at different times than kids. I asked if he would come to my belt tests and he said “yes, definitely!”

Blue/white belt! (part 2)

Lex finally got his belt test tonight.  They took him from the regular lesson and brought him into the small dojo for a private belt test.  I really appreciate how understanding they are and how willing they are to work with the kids.  Lex was so disappointed that he missed the belt test two weeks ago and he was worried he’d have to wait for the next one.   It was so nice of them to do this private one for him.

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They invited me in to watch. Lex did great. He was worried that he was rusty on a few of the katas, but he did them well anyway.

He rejoined the class after the test and at the end of class they gave him his new belt while everyone watched. There was lots of cheering. Sensei said that to earn a striped belt you need to demonstrate that you know all of the moves for all of the katas up to that belt, and to earn a solid you need to know them solidly with sharp movements and defined motions.

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I love this picture because it looks like Eve is cheering for him. I don’t know if she was or if she was just jumping around (I was focused on him at this moment), but in the picture she looks like she’s giving him a big hooray! :)

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Funny angle and zoomed. There were so many kids in the group today that I couldn’t get a good shot. Oh well. He’s got a blue belt with a white stripe now and a huge smile!