(365/47) This evening I dropped off my eldest son at his karate class and ran some errands. About halfway through the class my phone rings and it is his sensei. My immediate thought was, "oh no, my boy is hurt". He reassured me nothing was wrong but that he wanted my permission to award JR his next belt tonight at the end of class instead of scheduling a formal testing. He said he was really impressed with him, that he had run him through the test a couple times already tonight, and that the "attitude" they have been waiting for, the "black belt attitude" he had been working toward but eluded him, the last stripe to his belt to be awarded before he could advance, had finally clicked. It was there and he was on fire. He said he had never interrupted a class to make this kind of exception but he was that impressed with JR's performance tonight and really believed it was time to advance him.
I hurried up and ran into the building and the look on JR's face...he was sure he was in trouble. His sensei had asked for my cellphone number without any explanation to JR whatsoever so he was definitely on edge.
The sensei was right, he was on fire. Even though he thought there was trouble afoot, he never lost concentration and he just kept working. I am always amazed at the progress that is made in between belts and with the last couple tests I have been stunned to the point where I nearly forget to snap pictures. Tonight was no different. WOW!
To say that I'm a proud mom is an understatement. At the end when the sensei spoke with him about the black belt attitude and JR's accomplishment and potential, I was in tears.
Congratulations Kid! This one was more about a personal transformation, an understanding within yourself, than physical sweat. AWESOME work! I am so proud of you!
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