When my daughter was born I had visions of pink, bows and tutus everywhere. I had dreams of her practicing ballet just like I had and loving it. It turns out that my daughter loves music, but when it comes to tutus she only ever loved them as a clothing accessory and ballet was never her thing.
Her interest in karate was sparked after a karate birthday party, believe it or not, specially since my husband decided to sign up for classes soon after. It was love at first sight. I balked at the idea at first, but we found her a summer workshop so that she could get her feet wet. After that, she joined my husband's dojo, which felt like a rite of passage to her.
It has been such a journey since that first summer workshop, three years ago. I have expanded my vocabulary but I still can't count to ten in japanese and her belt is always hard to tie just right. She has experienced a lot of growth in the process though. Her balance, strength and coordination are very much improved. More than anything, karate has helped boost her confidence as she gets stronger and her belt color changes. When she started, her first sensei would call her "sweetie tiger" because she would giggle in delight when they would practice Kata in class, specially if she had to block. She recently got her purple belt, and, as I was watching her test, I couldn't help but notice how confident she looked and how much her stance had improved. There was no more giggling, or uneasiness. She was oozing girl power! Will she ever be a junior black belt? Time will only tell. I'm the proud mama of a purple belt and I will keep enjoying the journey!
Thanks for reading!
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