Friday, December 11, 2009

Belt Promotion

Last night was belt promotion night at Kanthak Karate, it's always an exciting time. It's nice to see the kids move up after all of their hard work. It's nice for us parents too, after time transporting these kids to and from class, cleaning uniforms and paying for classes, to see that it's all paying off. Respect, confidence, how to handle tough situations, sense of accomplishment, sense of community, self-defense and amazing role-models are just a few of things that I love about this class. I know that if Noah decides to stick with it, he will become a great black belt. Speaking of black belts, on occasion I hear people wonder out loud why Mr. K doesn't get himself a new belt. You see his black belt is quite worn and ragged. Me, well I wonder why people would think that he should get a shiny new, pretty belt. His well worn belt tells me that he has worked hard for it and has continued working hard throughout the years. The belt to me speaks to a story and demands respect from his students. As a mom, sitting through yet another class, it is a reminder to me that no matter what else I have going on and how much I really don't want to be there it is all worth it...I hope that Noah sees this too and works to have a worn, ragged and well earned black belt too.

I told Noah a.k.a. NoJo that it was not a good idea to mess with her!

He tried showing her who was boss...

but she was having NONE of that!
They were practicing their moves for the all school demo but just so you know, I still wouldn't mess with her.

One last look at the green belt.

Proud of his new junior purple belt.
Love the group photos!
Noah getting his new belt...yes, I remember what Mr. K said last time, yes, that is Oliver in the background chatting away and yes, that is me whispering, "thank you sir," at the end. I didn't even realize I did that until I watched the video...the nerve of some parents!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Noah! As always I am very proud of you and your accomplishments.

GrandBob

Amy said...

Oh my goodness Tiff - I cant believe the action shot of Noahs head flinging back....I know I shouldnt have but I laughed a lot on this post. You are so good at retelling a story! Way to go Noah, but yah I wouldnt mess with her. lol. Also, I agree w/ you about the worn belt. I kinda feel like that about my various aprons I use...its like the more beat up they become = proof I work hard around here. lol

Shana said...

Congrats Noah! Excellent work as always!

Tiff-I agree with the worn belt. When Trevor was in Tae Kwon Do the story behind the various colors of belts was similar to your explanation of why you wouldn't want a new belt. Basically the student had to work many many years to turn his white belt into a black belt. In the past they were issued one belt and the harder they worked the more the belt became "stained" and eventually would be black. I am sure there are many versions of the belt colors but that is the one I heard.