My Karate Kid!

Yesterday was a big day in the CityFamily/CountryFamily household. The Son tested for his first karate belt! Now, let's be honest, at 4 and a half, the karate belt testing isn't all that involved but we were all still very proud. He did a good job in class. He has a tendency to talk. A lot. If you know The Son or are a regular reader of this blog, you're probably not surprised to hear that. All in all, he did a pretty good job of keeping his mouth shut at the appropriate times. His form is getting better and he was able to do his "Dragon Form 1" with no mistakes.

The excitement of the evening was when he got to break a board with is foot. I've seen other kids do it and even then it's kind of exciting but nothing compares to your own child doing it. It was cool and he did it on the first try! Of course, I have lots of pictures to show you. 

Here's the class, you can't really see The Son in this picture, he's in the upper left hand corner of the room but I wanted you to see  how many kids showed up for testing day. There were four kids testing for belts, but the others were getting stripes on their belt. It works out that a child tests for a new belt approximately every four months. We also have six different times during the week that your child can attend class (twice a week) so the classes are usually much less crowded, sometimes there's only two or three kids attending. 

Stretching...The Son is not very flexible but surprisingly, none of the kids really are. I guess I thought kids were more naturally flexible but what do I know? 

Waiting while some of the higher belts do their forms. You can see The Son waiting "patiently" in the corner. 

Getting ready to break the board with Master Fisher's instructions. 

Right before he did it! Of course, I didn't get a picture of the board breaking actually happening since I wanted to watch it and not take pictures of it. Give it four months, I'll take it next time. ;) 

Here he is taking off the white belt and getting the orange one. I am so proud! 

A couple shots of him after he got the belt and his certificate. You can also see him holding the board he broke. It's not exactly thick either, is it?

We had a great time and even got to go out to dinner afterward. The Son wanted to go to McDonald's of all places but we talked him into something a little more "upscale" and headed to a local pub/inn where we dined on yummy buffalo wings and sandwiches. It was a great night!