Conni has said for a while that when she grows up she wants to be a "fighting teacher". She had never taken karate or anything, so this kind of came out of the blue. We decided to enroll her in a community ed karate class this summer to check it out. Its a five week class, once a week, and its much cheaper than trying to start a regular class.
After her first class she said she didn't like it. Her teacher was pretty loud. Conni had a chance to go one on one with her teacher and practice punching and kicking him. He would shove her around a little (not hard or anything) to try to get her more riled up. She did NOT like this at all. She wanted to be done. But, just cause something is hard doesn't mean we give up.
The second week, she was nervous again. She practiced the moves, working very hard to be accurate and follow her teacher. But, when it came time to put on the gloves to go one on one with the teacher again, Conni was jumping at the chance to be first. This week after class she said she liked it.
Yesterday was the third class. She was so excited to go and couldn't wait to get started. She remembered the moves and worked even harder to improve her technique. She paid close attention when they were taught a new move, and tried very hard to mirror her teacher exactly. When her teacher came around she complimented Conni on how well she was doing. She told her if she keeps it up, she can go with the more advanced kids in the class. Then of course she got the chance to go one on one with the teacher. She was flying high after class.
We went straight to the church for my young women's activity after class. Dave was going to meet us there, so Conni had a few minutes to play. She disappeared by the chalkboard and surprised me with this awesome drawing:
This is her, all "gron ap" (grown up) teaching a fighting class. I am so proud of her sticking to karate even though it was hard. She fought through and now she loves it. Now I just have to figure out how we add this to the busy school schedule in the fall...
