So Lance tested again in karate tonight. Happy Birthday, Mommy! It wasn’t a half bad way to celebrate my birthday I have to say. It has been fun to see Lance progress in karate. He is not the first child we have put in the “Little Dragons” program, but he is the child we have kept in the longest. He has loved every minute of karate. So if anyone is considering karate for their child, girl or boy, I highly recommend it. It is so good for them physically and mentally.
The tests in the Little Dragon program are a little bit different than the traditional karate class the older children are accustomed too. They are less structured and focus on certain key elements. A lot of their tests focus on coordination, motor skills, and simple direction following. They go around a circuit and do certain drills for a certain amount of time demonstrating that they can do each of the skills.
Lance getting ready to do some jump-ups. Notice he has to jump up onto something as high as his knees? Yes, that’s quite the challenge for some kids. Lance took it on with a smile on his face.
Although Lance had a smile on his face and he did make it up the height of the jump-up level, the first attempt was also a failure in that he landed on his backside. The point was to jump up and then jump back down and land on his feet. That is not exactly what happened the first attempt. They learn to visualize what is right there in front of them and think through what they need to do to solve the problem. He got it after a couple of attempts.
Punching drills. Punching the bag with a proper fist.
More jumping drills. This time they had to jump as high as they could in place. It was fun to watch all the little jumping beans.
Jump-over drills. They had an object (in this case a “bopper”) to jump back and forth over – sideways – repeatedly. That was lots of fun to see them not move it out of place. Their faces were priceless when it moved.
This is the line-up and “following directions” drill. They were supposed to be standing at “attention.” Lance is all the way on the left. You’ll notice that some of the boys have a difficult time with the standing at attention part of this drill.
Instructor Ms Carol Parenti emphasizing a “bad person” trying to get them during the blocking drills. Her facial expressions was priceless. The kids always get a kick out of her during class.
Check out that knife hand!
And another knife hand! Way to rock the knife hands, Lance!
Jumping kick at the bag. The kids were all trying to knock over the bag.
Every test comes with a break included. The little kids have the option of wearing hand protection. Take a look at Lance’s hands. You’ll notice that he is bare skin. He was the first child to break straight through the board without any protection whatsoever. Way to go, Lance! Way to break that board! Of course, I have to say the child is a trend setter as he chose his next break to be a “head break.” Yes, be broke that one too!
Removal of orange stripe belt and presentation of blue stripe belt. They lined up the traditional karate class for the presentation. The belt presentation was done by owner and Grand Master Johnnie Murphy, assisted by Instructor Carol Parenti. Lance’s brother, Kyle, is 2nd from the left. Lance’s cousin, Darin, is directly behind him and his cousin, Brianna is directly to his right.
Grand Master Johnnie Murphy tying Lance’s blue stripe belt on. Congratulations, Lance!
Lance as a new blue stripe belt!
It is too bad this picture is a little blurry, but it shows the pride he’s got. He is proud of himself and he ought to be. Way to go, Lance!
way to go Lance. Good job buddy.