One Happy Dog Speaks

My oldest is going to be hurting tomorrow. Or so I hope. He had karate in the morning, went to a karate party in the afternoon and while the youngest, dad and I jogged… he rode his bike. We went over two miles.

And the party was a work out. No joke… they zigzagged through some bags, jumped over some pads, under a pole, through some hoops, under a pole and through a tunnel. Repeat… over and over and over again. Take a look:

Then they had sword fighting.

And of course you have to have dodge ball!

Yaa… needless to say, he ought to sleep like a log tonight. Or so I hope!

The boys were invited to participate in a karate demo this last Saturday. It started out with a bunch of the kids doing some punches, stretches, kicks and a really cool pinion (series of moves) together in sync with one another. Then they brought out some equipment for the kids to punch and kick against. Here is my boys with their purple belts and stripes… (click to enlarge)

The sensei changed up the demonstration some and my boys had to keep coming out and doing things together. They kept looking at me when he would call them up together with that ‘What in the world’ look. I loved it. I knew why it was happening. He was having them run through their basics before getting their blue belts. That’s right, they got promoted at the demonstration. I took video but a friend got a picture for me.

And it was great seeing the smiles and the joy on their faces. It has been a long year working towards that one belt. Phew.

I’m very proud of my boys. Very proud.

Ok, they are too young to go to the Ninja Warrior show… but they have discovered they can climb the walls of my house. Sigh. I just know a foot will be through the wall soon… Click to enlarge.

Look Mom, I can turn on the light switches on my way up!

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Aren’t I cute?

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I can touch the ceiling!

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Front punch!

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Block 4!

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Block 3! (ok, I didn’t realize until just before I was going to post it I had them backwards… hey, I got the number right!)

Nothing like practicing karate while pressing your feet hard against my walls. I so know before summer is over my walls will be damaged.

On Saturday we went to our first karate tournament. It started with the youngest… in the forms. My youngest decided to do the hardest form he knew and had ONLY just learned a couple of weeks ago. I was happy when he got second… out of 11 other kids… some of higher belts! Here take a look!

Next was sparring. Sigh… I forgot to feed the youngest who has hypoglycemia. Yaa, you know where this is going don’t you. Here he is getting ready to spar:

He placed 4th out of 7. He had a complete meltdown. It took me over 30 minutes to figure out what was the problem. Ugh. I was too wrapped up in the tournament and all our friends who were in it. Live and learn. I’m sure he will do better next time.

Now for the oldest. His division was next. He had forms first. In the 7 to 10 year old group. He placed 4th out of 11. Here he is introducing himself:

He also sparred. He placed 2nd out of 10. Here he is with his 2nd place medal!

Yep, the boys loved it. Even the youngest said he wanted to do it again. And he promised not to have ‘a meltdown’. Yaa. He’ll need help on that one. The oldest was a GREAT sport. Congratulating everyone. I’m very proud of both kids! And the dojo! Everyone from our dojo got a trophy or medal (trophy was 1st, medal for 2nd and 3rd). What a great Saturday!

We have succeeded in getting the Karate Spar Equipment for the boys. Heck, I woke up the other morning and they had put it on over their pajamas. This was the first day we got it:

And now for the older one:

Looking tough!

Yipeee… the boys got their purple belts… and I took over 200 pictures. Not many turned out. Here are a few… I am very proud of them!

Part of the belt ceremony:

Tater can tie his belt… Tot… still not there yet!

The picture with all the Senseis didn’t turn out. Here they are with one Sensei:

Yep… it is going to be an interesting summer. They now can start to spar. Wonder if any of it will result in ER visits?

Just something to make you smile for Friday…

Who needs Lipovox when you can go to karate and have them work you to the point of exhaustion? Yaa… I have been doing karate with the boys. They weren’t ready for their purple belt testing but the senseis thought I was… they snuck that one in. I went. I almost died… but I succeeded. The running, the pushups, the kicks, the punches, and the number of mistakes… They ambushed us with some ringers from another dojo. I ended up with a guy I swear is 7foot. I was looking at his belly button region. I am sore already at 5am before the day starts. Yaa… now I have a bunch more to learn. Sigh…

Hard to believe we did it. But the kids remembered all the moves and successfully got their orange belts… so did mom… but I certainly didn’t deserve it. I’ll have to work harder now to make sure I keep up with the kids! Here are a couple of pictures… still catching up from ER and multiple nights with little sleep… more posts soon.