Black belt boy

Proud as proud could be is my description for us as parents at the moment.  Henry attained his black belt in karate at the recent grading.  He showed commitment and focus, and somewhere in his quiet demeanour I'm sure he's proud of himself too.

During his grading he needed to demonstrate his execution of basic kicks, punches and blocks.  He went through a series of rounds of kumite (sparring) against other advanced students.  He was required to complete all the kata's during that grading cycle from beginner to advanced, as well as select another advanced kata to perform on his own.  Then he had to do a speech on "what his family means to him".

Obtaining his black belt was a goal he set himself when he started karate.  There have been times he has wanted to quit but he's also wanted to see it through and get that belt.  He was originally going to quit again after getting his black belt as karate fatigue had set in with all the lessons he needed to do during the last grading cycle (we've been doing four classes a week since the start of the year).  There has also been a bit of fear, knowing after he got his black belt he'd have to join the teenagers and adults classes to progress.  His kids black belt is the equivalent of an adults purple belt, which puts him in the advanced classes in the older age group.  We've convinced him to stick at it another month.

He's done a couple of the adult classes now and doesn't look out of place at all.  At first he was overwhelmed and there were some tears, but he all the kids before him who got black belts are in these classes too, so he's not alone.  Also, now he is really learning the art of self defence.    

In addition, four days before his black belt grading he was pulled out in front of his class and awarded a Student of the Month trophy.  We had no idea he was going to receive it.  It was also the first time the centre had awarded one.  His Sensei announced all the Sensei's over the past month had been secretly awarding points to students for attitude, skill, commitment, focus and respect.  Henry had the most points by a landslide and was unanimously voted Student of the Month by all the Sensei's at his centre.  He really is the quiet achiever.