Ka-rah-te

A few year ago, Michael showed Clara The Karate Kid. Since that time, occasionally Clara will ask Michael to be Mr. Miyagi (and I am therefore Mrs. Miyagi) and we pretend while speaking in a Japanese accent (probably politically incorrect, but there you go). After Clara finished her session of ballet over a year ago, she expressed an interest in doing karate, but I brushed it aside with the arrival of Robbie. Finally, after speaking with a couple of friends who have family members in karate, I decided to give it a try for Clara. We began in June and are now in the fifth month.

She has class twice a week for half an hour, which was the biggest deterrent (that and the expense). However, she can't really focus on homework during that time anyway since it's right after school, so it has worked out pretty well. Clara really enjoys doing karate, although the competency level/expectation for her is different, of course. Still, the instructor is encouraging, and she is improving in confidence. For example, occasionally after class they'll have a short game of dodgeball in the studio, and Clara used to cower in the corner and cry if she got hit. Now, she doesn't cry and has even thrown the ball back a few times, which is pretty huge. She also used to refuse to do the "grabs" where they practice what to do in certain situations, but then we went in and had a brief individual lesson and Clara since then has handled it well.

I love that they focus so much on discipline, character, respect, and safety. Another advantage for Clara is that it is an individual sport within a group setting, so it's not like a team is relying on each person to perform in order to win.

 It is pretty neat to watch Clara when she is in tune with her teacher. Here she is wearing her yellow belt right before they demonstrate their skills to the parents before receiving their next belt.

Her instructor, Mr. May, asked if he could have a hug, which she gave him. Here Clara is receiving her orange belt, which is the one after white and yellow.

Clara was very insistent that we take this action shot. She is proud of her new orange belt, and we are proud of her, too. I'm not sure how long we'll do karate since the advanced classes--after the next belt--require physical skills that aren't quite there yet, but we'll see.

In the mean time, I am determined to learn to tie that dadgum belt correctly--I don't know if it's because I'm left-handed or what, but I seem to do it wrong nearly every time, and at the belt promotion ceremony this past week, Mr. May said to Clara in front of all the parents when all the students were lined up, "Good try, sweetie, did you tie this one?" "No," Clara responded. "My mom did." Ouch.

Way to go, Clara!