Monday, February 26, 2007

Test Day

D has been in Karate since October. He started out loving it, then hated it for about 2-3 months. Last month he started loving it again and decided that he was ready to test for his yellow belt.
He started out with a plain white belt and had earned the required 4 stripes. On Saturday he tested and achived his yellow belt.
They were required to do Kata's. Each belt has a unique Kata and the higher belt you are testing for requires you to go through each Kata. D had to do the white belt Kata. When he goes for his orange belt he will have to do both the white & yellow belt Kata's.
One boy there was going for his purple belt (2 degree's below black) and had to go through a bunch of Kata's and also do contact fighting with another student. It was really neat.
D was so nervous but he did a great job. You could see the relief on his face when he was finished.
Once he was done he had to sit quietly and wait for the higher level belts to finish.
Then they had to go through a round of questions from the 6 black belt committee and answer questions regarding karate in general. The higher up you were the more difficult the questions. The time had finally come for him to find out if he had achieved his next belt level. He had to go and stand in front of his Sensei (who is a formidable man) and talk to him about being promoted.
Then he took off his old belt and it was replaced with his new yellow belt. He tried to get it on himself but couldn't get it tied so another black belt assisted him with getting his belt tied.
Since D has been taking Karate his attitude and discipline has improved dramatically. He usually does what he is told with little or no complaint. I can't believe the change in him sometimes.
I was told at the beginning that it would teach him discipline, respect and accountability but I never imagined that less than 5 months later that he would almost be a different child.
D still has his moments, as does every child, but I see him maturing and growing at an unbelievable rate.

I am so proud of my boy!

15 comments:

Tara said...

That's wonderful news! Excellent work, D!

My nephew used to be very skilled with temper tantrums. Then he started Tae Kwon Do and he too has improved and matured.

minijonb said...

That's great!

And now when he makes the "I know Karate and 3 other Japanese words" joke, he's not kidding =;-)

Keep us posted on what color his belt turns into next...

laura b. said...

That is so cool, Rachel! I have always wanted to take some martial arts classes myself, but haven't yet. None of my kids have been in any martial arts so far. This really makes me want to encourage my youngest son and maybe my daughter to give it a try.

Anonymous said...

Good Job D! That's excellent!

Rachel said...

Tara ~ The discipline that they learn there is fantastic. I rarely have to ground him anymore.

Minijonb~ He can count to 10 in Japanese.
While testing the black belt that was running the testing kept saying
Domo arigato and my mind would instantly complete it with Mr. Roboto.

l.b. ~ It is pricy but if you can afford it I would say to do it. I had to sign a year contract. if you can go month to month to decide if you really like it.

reformat ~ He did such a great job!!

Anonymous said...

Wax on, wax off. You can do it Danielson. HI.

Good for him.

Anonymous said...

what style of martial arts is he taking?

FW said...

Very cool Rachel! It has made me consider it now for my son. I never thought about the positive aspects of martial arts like this before.

Anonymous said...

Devon did great! You are right to be proud of him! And someday maybe he'll make Rush Hour 14 with Jackie Chan!

Rachel said...

Dennis ~ I need to have him watch the Karate Kid. Thanks for the inspiration.

Anon ~ He is taking Traditional Uechi-Ryu Karate. It originated in China and migrated to Okinawa.

Furtive ~ The interesting thing is people tend to use extra-curricular sports as something to be taken away as a punishment for poor behavior. When I signed D up they emphasized that it shouldn't be taken away as a punishment because it teaches self discipline and respect. I guess that they have a LOT of kids with ADD and ADHD with fantastic success.

Playtah ~ Maybe Jackie Chan but with a Chris Tucker accent.

dmarks said...

Don't knock "Rush Hour 14". Jackie Chan will be able to work some mean tricks with that cane and walker. I'm also looking forward to Chris Tucker's speech slowing down with age so I can understand him for once.

Lydia said...

That's a great achievement by D and of course you're so proud of him. And it's wonderful that it's teaching him so much, but that he's clearly taking it on board. Good for him.

Mrs. Hairy Woman said...

WTG D.. so nice to hear you are doing awesome.. Keep up the hard work.. The Payoff in the end is being a great kid and being proud of your accomplishments... as is you Momma..

David in DC said...

Good for D.

Self-discipline is a great thing to start to master when you're young.

It can serve you your whole life.

Erica said...

So happy for you! If I ever have a boy, I will make sure to send him to karate!