Karate Boot Camp

I'm trying my hardest to get my daughter ready for her Black Belt exam and I can see all her hard work paying off. And the great thing about this is that she can see that all that work has its rewards too. This is a big step for a kid, I think. She is so proud of herself, and she should be!

As you probably read a couple posts ago, there are many things she needs to accomplish before she'll be ready to test and I think we have a handle on it. We are breaking all that material down into manageable chunks so it won't seem so daunting, both to her and to me.

Each day after school she comes home and gets right to it. She starts with her sit-ups by having me time her for 1 minute to see how many she can do. She's up to 44 without having her feet held down. The exam only requires 40 but she wants to work up to 50, just in case. Smart move on her part as they are known for surprising students on these exams. Then she does her push-ups, military style. They have to be perfect tor they don't count. She's up to 5 perfect ones and maybe 5 more okay ones. Pretty great considering a couple weeks ago she could only do 1! Then she does her pull-ups. Her record is 3 in a row (which is 2 more than I can do!). Last week she could only do 1. The next step is to work on her material. She already knows the first 9 of 30 self defense techniques. And the best part is that all this practicing only takes about a half hour.

Maybe it's because I'm her mom but I think think this kid totally rocks! As a parent, it is always great to see the look in your kids eye when they "get it". She thought she'd never be able to do this stuff but now she knows she can do it and that has really brought out a new side of her personality. Pride in herself.

I give lots of credit to all you Black Belts out there. You truly earn that belt. Speaking of Black Belts...x-nonymous, where've you been?