Kara-TAY

Aidan started Karate on Tuesday and is loving it. Back in October we went for a trial week but then decided not to join until after the holidays. Every week or so, Aidan would ask when he could go back to karate so I knew he really liked it--it wasn't just something he tried and forgot about.

He was so excited when he got his gi on the first day and the instructor--excuse me Renshi--put his belt on him. Then he went off into the dojo with the other kids. He paired up with an older boy who was a brown belt and that boy showed him what to do and how to do it when Renshi gave instructions. I was amazed how quickly he picked up on things just by watching what the other kids were doing.

Yesterday, I was so proud of him when Renshi did a block and asked what the name of that particular one was. Aidan raised his hand and said "Circle block!" which was really a circular block but close enough. This was day two of karate. I am amazed how much he remembered!

There is a lot of excercise and stretching in the beginning of class and I was afraid that Aidan would get bored with it. And with the karate instruction--yesterday they spent 20 minutes working on the circular block and I was thinking he was going to be bored but he wasn't. It is good for him to realize that karate is not all rock 'em sock 'em like on tv with Spongebob and Sandy.

I also think this is going to be good for him because it is something that is just his. All his life it has been "Aidan and Gavin" when doing activities, etc. So far, Gavin has absolutely no interest in doing karate. Which is kind of OK by me since I honestly don't know if we could afford to have both boys do it! (Sad but true.) Sean is signing both boys up for soccer this spring so maybe Gavin will find an interest there. I know Sean is hoping that at least one of the boys will follow in his footsteps.

So, I hope that Aidan will stick with Karate. I think it will be great for building his focusing skills and self-confidence.