More About Karate

Okay, it doesn't hurt as much to re-type stuff a day later!

So Ben went to his cousin Taylor's Karate Birthday Party a couple of weeks ago. He didn't actually participate at all, just cowered on the bench by me, but seemed to really enjoy watching. Actually, by the time Taylor was opening gifts and handing out cake, Ben was raring to give it a try. The karate portion of the day was by then DONE, of course, but his interest was peaked. And - big surprise - they handed out "VIP passes" to all the parents on the way out the door. "One month free!"

Now, this isn't the first time Ben's missed out on some great fun due to shyness. And it bothers me a lot. I was every bit as shy, and I missed out on WAY more than I care to remember. That was part of the reason I didn't just throw away the VIP pass; I thought maybe karate could give the kid a real boost in self-confidence. Here are some other reasons I didn't throw it away:

- The instructor was really very good with the kids. Very patient and kind and encouraging without pandering or allowing them to expect less of themselves.

- There was a lot of emphasis placed on respecting and obeying your parents. "How many times should your parents have to ask you to pick up your toys?" "One time sir!" I am SO all over that!

- They did an awesome Stranger Danger lesson. Not scary, very practical. Even fun.

So yesterday we went to an Introductory class. Just Ben one-on-one with an instructor. By pure coincedence, the Kovach crew was there for their lessons, so Aunt Christi helped out with Josh and Joseph for part of Ben's one-on-one (in a separate room).

So first Ben got his uniform. WAY cute, as you see below. Then he learned how to bow (including one to his parents at the end of class!) and say "YES SIR!" and "NO SIR!" and "I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT YOU!" and got right into kicking. They keep nice noisy X-ray blanks around for learning how to kick and punch. He had to learn how to "Hi-YA!" nice and loud; he was being much too sweet about it at first. Even loud it was still darned cute. He learned kicking and punching and when it's okay to use karate and went over Stranger Danger again.

Then we came to Concentration. "Oh man," I thought, "this is where we fail." The instructor pulled out a small yellow sticker that he stuck to the wall at Ben's eye-level and told Ben he'd need to focus on it for 10 whole seconds. I thought there was no way. Then he warned Ben "I might talk to your Mom, or leave, or go order a pizza. You stay focused no matter what!" No way, I thought, he's incapable. So he said "Go," and then came over and explained their whole program to me. Took at least two minutes, and Ben concentrated like I've never seen before. It was awesome! So I think this will be very good for him.

My favorite part of the program is the part where he has to get six stripes on each belt before he can advance to the next one, and only three of the stripes have to do with learning karate moves. The other three are for doing well at school, being helpful at home, and having a good attitude. This is SO what he needs. So I gave them my wallet and an arm and now we're in! I'm pretty excited about it.

Then Aunt Christi told us they have an old uniform that was just about Joshua-sized we could pick up on the way home if we wanted. BOY did we! I think I heard a hundred times yesterday "I LUFF Kwatee!" So now Joshua has his Kwatee uniform, and if I can ever figure out this gall-durn video thing you can see him and Ben both suited up and going through a little lesson. I'll probably start Joshua one of these days, but I don't think he's ready quite yet. I'll have him try it through their Buddy Week program sometime and see how he does. In the meantime, Ben's only too happy to have a reason to give him orders.