This has been a BIG karate weekend for us. Lots of extra work and fun. Last night the big kids and I went to our first sparring class. We were all a bit nervous because we had no idea what to expect. We had no idea how challenging and fun it would be. The first thing we did was get on all of our gear. This gear includes "boxing" gloves, boots, a monster thick vest, and a padded helmet and face shield. We keep wondering how much extra weight we added just to gear up.
We spent the hour of class time learning new skills and trying to learn how to even move with all the gear on. We were sweating to death even before we got going. We were all paired up with equal age/height partners. We have met a couple of other families in our classes and so all the moms were put on a team. Kat & I had both had a rotten mom day, and we were ready to duke it out on the mats. The other mom was pretty timid, so we went easy on her, but not on each other. We learned how to do a round kick and a hook kick. We learned that the power in your leg/foot is 5x stronger than your hand. We learned alot about control and discipline and making sure you didnt hurt each other in the process. Ceana felt a bit discouraged. There were skills we tried that we have not learned in classes yet. She also didnt get the whole point of "beating" on each other. We talked about how we are constantly learning new things, and that the point of this and our black belt class is for personal self defense. I think it is going to take her awhile to warm up to it. That is ok. I wish I would have thought to grab my phone during class and gotten picts and video. Just was so involved in everything. Our instructor had everyone pair up and actually demo in front of everyone else. Part of our training is learning to be comfortable in front of others whether we are successful or not, and how to handle each one. The kids were all paired up to spar each other, and I didnt even get it captured, except in my mind's eye. I also completely forgot to have the girls get picts of me too (sorry mom, will remember for next time :)) It was great to see the kids work with each other, to see the different levels of skills, to see everyone cheering and clapping and hollering. It was quite the adventure. Ceana & I discussed on the way home about the things she is really interested in, and would like to learn about. One of those things is weapons training. Little did we know that we would get an extra surprise this morning.
Class today was our normal black belt class. Except it was anything but normal. One of our instructors is a high level black belt who has specialized in weapons training. We got an extra treat today as he did mini demos with each weapon before we started class. Again, wish I would have thought to grab my camera. He was amazing. It was exactly what Ceana was hoping to ask about today, and instead she got a full on demo. She was pretty stoked about that. Something she thinks she wants to try. She was extra excited when our instructor told us about special seminars that are only offered to the black belt and leadership students this summer. I know several of us will be signing up for those! Class today was working with one of our weapons and with bare hands. It was pretty intense and a great workout. We also had a board breaking exercise. Again, we had to get up in front of others, and success or not, be willing to go through with things. That is a skill that can always be improved. For our family, esp, it is a great thing, knowing that we are somewhere safe, with awesome support and encouragement, and win or lose, we can find success. The girls gave it good tries, and our instructor was great to encourage them. I was excited to break it on my first try. Kat & I did "high 5's" over that one. We really are loving class so much. It is amazing how much it has helped our family as a whole, esp in such a short time. I will try to remember to take my camera to the next set of classes. Our next post will hopefully be about our belt testing next weekend. I will be sure that Preston has the video and regular cameras to capture everything. It will be a BIG family day!
We spent the hour of class time learning new skills and trying to learn how to even move with all the gear on. We were sweating to death even before we got going. We were all paired up with equal age/height partners. We have met a couple of other families in our classes and so all the moms were put on a team. Kat & I had both had a rotten mom day, and we were ready to duke it out on the mats. The other mom was pretty timid, so we went easy on her, but not on each other. We learned how to do a round kick and a hook kick. We learned that the power in your leg/foot is 5x stronger than your hand. We learned alot about control and discipline and making sure you didnt hurt each other in the process. Ceana felt a bit discouraged. There were skills we tried that we have not learned in classes yet. She also didnt get the whole point of "beating" on each other. We talked about how we are constantly learning new things, and that the point of this and our black belt class is for personal self defense. I think it is going to take her awhile to warm up to it. That is ok. I wish I would have thought to grab my phone during class and gotten picts and video. Just was so involved in everything. Our instructor had everyone pair up and actually demo in front of everyone else. Part of our training is learning to be comfortable in front of others whether we are successful or not, and how to handle each one. The kids were all paired up to spar each other, and I didnt even get it captured, except in my mind's eye. I also completely forgot to have the girls get picts of me too (sorry mom, will remember for next time :)) It was great to see the kids work with each other, to see the different levels of skills, to see everyone cheering and clapping and hollering. It was quite the adventure. Ceana & I discussed on the way home about the things she is really interested in, and would like to learn about. One of those things is weapons training. Little did we know that we would get an extra surprise this morning. 
Class today was our normal black belt class. Except it was anything but normal. One of our instructors is a high level black belt who has specialized in weapons training. We got an extra treat today as he did mini demos with each weapon before we started class. Again, wish I would have thought to grab my camera. He was amazing. It was exactly what Ceana was hoping to ask about today, and instead she got a full on demo. She was pretty stoked about that. Something she thinks she wants to try. She was extra excited when our instructor told us about special seminars that are only offered to the black belt and leadership students this summer. I know several of us will be signing up for those! Class today was working with one of our weapons and with bare hands. It was pretty intense and a great workout. We also had a board breaking exercise. Again, we had to get up in front of others, and success or not, be willing to go through with things. That is a skill that can always be improved. For our family, esp, it is a great thing, knowing that we are somewhere safe, with awesome support and encouragement, and win or lose, we can find success. The girls gave it good tries, and our instructor was great to encourage them. I was excited to break it on my first try. Kat & I did "high 5's" over that one. We really are loving class so much. It is amazing how much it has helped our family as a whole, esp in such a short time. I will try to remember to take my camera to the next set of classes. Our next post will hopefully be about our belt testing next weekend. I will be sure that Preston has the video and regular cameras to capture everything. It will be a BIG family day!
1 comment:
Wow! So many new experiences every time. Fun!
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