My daughter's first lesson

[Bulltahr]

Not much i can say mate. It's such a magic thing to share it all with our kids. Especially father-daughter. I know what you have there. Love her taking it home to practice on!!

[JR 137]

Today was a great day. I assisted teaching in my daughter's class. She was one of 3 white belts around her age, and the rest were higher kyus and older. We broke into two groups, and I had her group first. Worked with them on basic kicks and blocks. Kathryn was very receptive to me and was proud her dad was in charge.

The other kids get pretty silly, so I went with it. We were doing one step sparring (aka numbered self defenses), and I let them hit me. They had a lot of fun with it, but it was really to correct their technique - they (except Kathryn) were punching with their wrist bent, basically hitting with the heel of their hand. I stopped them after a few times and had them punch my hands the right way, then continued the drill. They were all fired up to be able to hit me. Those little fists of fury pack a lot of pressure.

Kathryn has a habit of watching the senior students in class instead of herself in the mirror. I got her to face straight forward when she's doing her stuff rather than angle herself toward the seniors. Made a big difference.

I thought she'd be silly and goofy with me teaching, and she was at first, but I put a quick stop to it in a positive way. It was great to teach again. I haven't taught a karate class in about 15 years. Even though the class wasn't entirely mine, my group was for the majority of the time. Hopefully the three of them will remember the corrections I made.

[bushido_man96]

Sounds like a good class! Teaching your own kids can be an experience, to say the least!

[sensei8]

Sounds like a good class! Teaching your own kids can be an experience, to say the least!

I wholeheartedly agree!!

[JR 137]

She's been at it for a little over 3 months now. She improving every class. There's 3 different teachers who teach the kids, depending on the day, and she's been great for all of them. She's so focused and determined to do her best. All teachers have complimented her on her focus and attention during class.

Not sure when the next kids' promotional test is. She keeps asking when she's going to get her blue belt (blue is the next belt after white in Seido) because blue is her favorite color. I genuinely wonder if she'll want to wear a yellow belt or any other color afterwards.

I've been trying to get her in class twice a week, but it's tough. She definitely willing to go, but she has other things a few nights during the week, and it usually works out that she's too tired on the nights she can go.

[IcemanSK]

That's fantastic news!! I'm glad she's enjoying it.

[sensei8]

Sounds like a good class! Teaching your own kids can be an experience, to say the least!

I wholeheartedly AGREE!!

[JR 137]

Kathryn promoted to blue belt on Monday night. Blue belt comes after white in Seido. She's so happy she got her blue belt and wants to wear it around the house. Blue is her favorite color, and she says she doesn't want any other belt.

I know I keep saying she's improving so much, but she really is. The new material is going to be pretty hard for her. Every beginner, especially kids, struggle with Taikyoku 1. I thought it was the hardest kata to learn, and I've seen pretty much every white belt (without previous experience) struggle with it longer than pretty much any other kata, simply because it's nothing like they've done before. Once they get that one down, the rest aren't radically different IMO; it's mainly a matter of substituting different moves and steps. She'll get frustrated, and I'll help.

To me, the best compliment from the instructors is that she loves karate. She's focused and determined. There hasn't been a single time when an instructor has had to keep her attention. She does the right thing; she's never been told to stand still, pay attention, etc. The instructors love teacher her. That's what it's all about IMO.

[JR 137]

Kathryn promoted to advanced blue belt last week. We're not the type of dojo that promotes every other month; we promote when the student is fully proficient in the required material. Add to that, my CI doesn't follow the pee-wee syllabus for the younger kids, instead he follows the junior syllabus (the one for 8-15 year olds). In order to promote, she had to know the following:

Sanbon Tsuki Kata 1 and 2 (they're Seido kata that are only taught to the young kids; 3 steps forward with basic punches, and 3 steps back with basic blocks)

Taikyoku 1 and 2

4 basic blocks - high, low, inside out, outside in

Front kick

Roundhouse kick

Side kick

Groin kick

Knee kick

Morote tsuki

Awaze (spelling?) tsuki

Zenkutsu dachi

Kokutsu dachi

Sanchin dachi

Kiba dachi

Basic self defense 1 & 2

Non-contact sparring

Japanese terminology for all of those and more

She was the only one testing, and was doing her usual looking at others thing she commonly does. Towards the end, my CI called her out in the middle and had her perform her kata and self defenses in front of everyone; not to prove she knew them, but to prove to her that she knew them and didn't need help. She nailed them. Not a single mistake, zero self doubt. He asked her to demonstrate kihon, and only used the Japanese terms (i.e. "Show me jodan uke. Mawashi geri").

I'm so proud of my little girl. She's not even 6 yet and she's learned all of this stuff, inside and out. She loves it and is excited (yet nervous) about learning material for her new rank.

The only hiccup is that I've only been able to take her on Saturday mornings due to other stuff she's involved in. She's getting bored with waiting for over an hour by herself during my class (she sits in a chair watching my class, playing on her iPod, coloring, etc.). She's said several times that she doesn't want to go. After some Jedi-like questioning on my part, it's because she's bored for that hour. Once she's on the floor, she loves it. I've got to figure out a way for her to not lose interest because of the waiting around.

[bushido_man96]

Keeping the kids from looking around to others during training is a trick. Especially during forms. Sometimes, singling them out is the only way to get them to know they don't have to look around.

It sounds like she is doing a great job!