Owen tested for his purple belt last week when my Mom was in town. He had to do a front kick through a block of wood which he did without any problem. Some of the more advanced belts had to head-butt a block of wood, the kids were really excited to watch that, or else do very complicated 360 turn kicks. One poor kid could not get his block after many attempts but there's a lot of pressure what with all the parents watching and taking pictures, some parents are even videotaping the whole event. I tried to keep my picture taking to a minimum, one when he breaks the board and another when they all pose with their new color belts. I'm glad that Owen seems to still be enjoying karate but also taking it more seriously, he's a bit more focused and not staring off into space or playing with the wall any more.
This past friday I brought the kids to class and got to see them practicing with their bo staffs (long pieces of pvc pipe wrapped in duct tape). They would take turns doing figure eights to confuse their opponent (more confusing to the one doing the figure eights as this seems pretty tricky for the 4 to 6 years olds) before striking above their opponent's head, the opponent is supposed to have his/her bo staff above their head to deflect the strike. They would also do high blocks and low blocks and take turns swinging the opponents staff out of the way. This was like a dream come true for the kids, being allowed to fight with big sticks, and an absolute nightmare for me to watch. Owen kept holding his bo staff like a baseball bat so his opponent would have to step forward to strike Owen's staff, which he did quite enthusiastically, and it was very close to Owen's head. Fortunately, they seem to be done with their bo staff training for now.
Owen tested for his purple belt last week when my Mom was in town. He had to do a front kick through a block of wood which he did without any problem. Some of the more advanced belts had to head-butt a block of wood, the kids were really excited to watch that, or else do very complicated 360 turn kicks. One poor kid could not get his block after many attempts but there's a lot of pressure what with all the parents watching and taking pictures, some parents are even videotaping the whole event. I tried to keep my picture taking to a minimum, one when he breaks the board and another when they all pose with their new color belts. I'm glad that Owen seems to still be enjoying karate but also taking it more seriously, he's a bit more focused and not staring off into space or playing with the wall any more. 
This past friday I brought the kids to class and got to see them practicing with their bo staffs (long pieces of pvc pipe wrapped in duct tape). They would take turns doing figure eights to confuse their opponent (more confusing to the one doing the figure eights as this seems pretty tricky for the 4 to 6 years olds) before striking above their opponent's head, the opponent is supposed to have his/her bo staff above their head to deflect the strike. They would also do high blocks and low blocks and take turns swinging the opponents staff out of the way. This was like a dream come true for the kids, being allowed to fight with big sticks, and an absolute nightmare for me to watch. Owen kept holding his bo staff like a baseball bat so his opponent would have to step forward to strike Owen's staff, which he did quite enthusiastically, and it was very close to Owen's head. Fortunately, they seem to be done with their bo staff training for now.
1 comment:
how impressive! way to go owen! (although i would have the same sentiment regarding the bo staff if i were in your shoes...)
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