Her first Karate test

Emma has been in karate now for about 4 months and for the majority of the classes, Tim has taken her. It was kind of their thing and I enjoyed my Evan time. However, tonight I took her as Tim had some other errands to run with Evan. So, I took Emma to karate at 4:30 and when we got there, there were three people there: three instructors. So, it was looking as though Emma would be the only one in her class this evening.

Emma was pretty excited for this particular class, as she was going to try to test for the yellow stripe belt. Her current belt was the beginner white belt. However her teacher, Master T, would do some small little skill tests every few weeks for "tape stripes" that he would tape on their belt to show improvement and their skill. Tonight, she was pretty sure that she was going to be upgraded to the yellow stripe belt and that was all she could talk about at that particular moment. That is, when she wasn't talking about the tree.

She had a great class - especially since it was only her and Master T. This class was very interesting for me as well as she is normally in a small little room that is closed to the parents. We can see what is going on through viewing windows, but we cannot hear what is going on. Tonight, I could hear everything that was going on.

I was so incredibly proud of her. She bows to get on the workout mat, she confidently asks, "Master T, may I please have a square?" (this is how he arranges all the kids) and she answers all questions with "Yes Sir" and then her strong "Hi-Yah!" when she kicks or punches. She has a little work to do with her form at times and remembering which move is where or what kick/punch to do, but overall for 5 years old, I thought she looked great. I really liked how Master T talks to all kids before class for roughly 5 minutes about the importance of homework, exercise, and respect. His saying "dinner before dessert" is how he stresses to the kids about practice before games, or homework before playing, just like dinner before dessert and how the important stuff comes first.

I know I said this before, but I was so proud of her. I was nervous for her as she was doing her test, but she was ready and excited for it. Her test was about 5 minutes long with Master T saying different drills and Emma performing them. And - she passed!! Once again, I had no video camera, but I am glad I was there to witness it and be a part of it.