Karate Testing :: Baeoh Belt 12-18-14

 

Baeoh the Tiger

**For my digital subscribers-- there are several videos embedded in this post that you may not see from the email version- be sure to go to the blog to see the videos**

I'm totally behind in blogging... so terribly sorry!!! My goal is to blog each night with something that either happened (to get caught up), or my thoughts on various topics (once I'm back on track with updates).

Going back to December, Gus had his test for his Baeoh belt! He was very excited about this one, because after Ara, they go from Tiger Level I to Tiger Level II. Cool things start to happen once they get to Level II.

One of the things that Gus had to do for this test was to recite the Tiger Oath all by himself. This is a HUGE deal for so many reasons, but the main one being that he's in special needs preschool for speech delays and sensory processing disorder. Karate has been such a wonderful thing for Gus. It's given him an outlet for his energy, has been teaching him about manners, respect, and teamwork, and he's learning how to focus and stay disciplined. I credit all his success to his amazing instructors.

When it was time to recite the oath, Gus was amazing. He was loud, proud, and just was spectacular. Of course, I had tears in my eyes as I watched him recite the words that they say before every class, and I was so proud of all that he's accomplished. (See video below)

After the oath, they did a few practice drills of their form and then they worked on stranger danger. I love that they work on this because you never know when your child would need to know what to do if a stranger tried to approach them. 

(See video below for his stranger test)

Once the stranger test was finished, they had to do their form. Each new belt brings new basic moves that they add to the ones learned before. He learned Songahm I for his Ara belt and then had to do Songahm I and an additional part for the Baeoh belt. He's learning Songahm II right now and will be tested on this for the next belt (February). (See video below)

The last part of the testing is when they get presented with their new belt. Because he's at the beginning of the program, he gets a matching patch with each belt. Eventually, he'll keep the same patch and just get the next belt (like a 1/2 step).

 (See video below to see him presented with his belt.)

We are now in the class for level II and III kiddos and it's like a whole new game. He's in class with kids that have been in karate for a lot longer and have much higher belts. They usually do the warm up together and then Mr. Burns takes the level III kids and works with them, while the other instructors work with the level IIs. 

Gus loves going to karate and has been doing so well lately. He's been asked to be the leader and been earning high-five awards left and right. He has almost completely filled up his first star card (25 stars to complete-- 5 high five awards= 1 star). We are so proud of him and have really enjoyed watching him grow and learn through his twice a week classes. 

Next belt:

 

Cheeri the Cheetah

10-21-14 Karate Testing

 

Ara the Turtle

Gus's karate instructors were super exited to share with him that he was ready to test for his Ara belt. We were excited as well, but a little confused because the program was changing to a new curriculum.

Typically, he would have been testing for his orange belt, but because the program was totally being changed, all the white belts tested for the Ara belt. This is also a white belt, but it's a different belt from the one that they get on their third day of class. The Ara belt is white with a light green stripe through the middle. With the new program, they have new uniforms too, and now they get a patch that matches their belt.

I wasn't sure how the testing would go, but it was super easy. Because of the new curriculum, they decided to make it an Expo and they introduced the whole program, and then all the former "Tiny Tigers" were together for testing. Now there are no more "Tiny Tigers" they're all just Tigers.

Here are some pictures of Gus testing and then getting his Ara belt!!

We will be testing this month for the Baeoh belt! Once he gets this belt, he'll be using Ssahng Jeol Bongs (nunchuks)!!!

Karate Gus

Gus has been going to karate for a while now. It'll be a month tomorrow. We've had a few ups and downs along the way and went so far as to be totally unsure if karate was the right choice for him.

The first couple of classes were hit or miss. However, the one constant thing was Mr. Burns. A few weeks ago, we decided to take Gus to the Saturday class since we had a Build and Grow clinic that same morning, we figured, we'd do karate from 9-9:30 and just head over to Lowe's after for the 10am clinic. The class was a huge mistake.

Not only was Gus not cooperating, but the instructors did not know how to deal with him. Mr. Burns was not there, and Mr. Yu and Mr. Park were the two that ran the class. Their style is so different from Mr. Burns. We left the class feeling unsure if karate was going to work for Gus, and embarrassed by Gus's behavior. They were working on stranger-danger and it was clear that neither instructor wanted to work with Gus one-on-one. :-(

That next Tuesday, we came to class with Gus and Mr. Yu asked to speak to Steve to find out if we had decided to sign him up or not. We had discussed it over the weekend and said we were not comfortable with paying a lot of money for something that we weren't sure was a good fit. Steve told Mr. Yu that we needed more time to decide if Karate Atlanta was the right place for Gus.

After class, Mr. Burns approached us and asked us if he could speak to us in his office. I immediately felt a sense of dread... like he was going to say, "thanks, but no thanks." He had us sit down and asked how we felt Gus was doing in karate. He then said that he liked having Gus in the program and felt that he could handle Gus's needs. We openly discussed how we felt that weekend and like no one wanted to work with Gus. He said that not everyone is capable of dealing with preschoolers, much less preschoolers like Gus. He was saying without saying it, to not bring him when he couldn't be there to teach the class.

He then asked about how we felt about things. We were very honest and said that we think it'd be a great thing for Gus, but it takes time and a lot of patience for them to work with him. We said we felt embarrassed and sad for Gus on Saturday when no one wanted to work with him. Mr. Burns said to never feel embarrassed by what Gus does-- they can handle him and the last thing we should worry about is being embarrassed by who Gus is. He said that he hopes we'll keep Gus coming because he's learning from Gus and Gus is making him a better instructor. Made me like him even more than I already did.

So we decided to sign him up for classes. The week before school started he was having some issues. Last Tuesday (not this past Tuesday) he decided he didn't want to go at all. He threw a fit and then at karate he refused to wear his belt and was crawling under the chairs. It was horrible. Mr. Burns took away Gus's belt. He didn't participate at all and sat out the entire class. Then last Thursday, he crawled around under the chairs for a bit, but eventually came out and participated.

This past week, he started school and I told Steve that we might have to miss this week. He gets up at 5:45am and by 4pm, he's exhausted. Thankfully, on Tuesday he had an okay class. He started off not wanting to take his shoes or socks off, but was able to turn it around and go out and participate. He earned a black stripe for his belt for completing his turtle picture, and he turned in five "High Five Awards" and got another black stripe. However, he didn't have his belt, so couldn't put it on anything. He asked Mr. Burns for his belt back and Mr. Burns said no. Not until a full class was completed.

Then today, I was fully expecting the worse. It's Thursday of the first week back, and the "fun" of going back to school has worn off. I thought for sure that today would be difficult and he'd refuse to go to karate. Hugh had just fallen asleep at 3pm and when Gus came in from school, I asked him about karate. He wanted to go.

So at 3:30 I got Hugh up and we headed to karate. Gus didn't fight at all, went out and sat and waited for the class to begin, and had the best class ever. He was doing such a great job that he got to break a board... TWICE!!

And of course, I have two videos of the boards being broken. (Email subscribers-- there are videos on this post on the actual blog)




I was so happy for Gus today. Not only did he have a great class with full participation, but he earned his belt back, AND got a green stripe for his belt!!! Totally unexpected! He also earned a high-five award!! It was a fantastic class and I hope we've reached the turning point where he'll be enjoying it and wanting to go from now on! He certainly felt good after class and was very proud of himself.

The kids will be testing for their next belts coming up this month. I don't think Gus is ready for his yet. No one has informed us about him testing, so I think he'll be staying right where he is for a bit. I'm okay with going slow... as long as he's having fun and learning each week, we're happy. :-)

He Did It!

 

We've got a white belt in the house!

We weren't sure how karate class was going to go tonight. When we told Gus he needed to get dressed to go, he said no. I didn't feel like fighting over going, and neither did Steve. However, it only took a few times of telling him to get in gear before he did what was asked.

Today was the best class yet for Gus. He really likes Mr. Burns and was eager to give him the homework sheet from Thursday (Gus had to do various things around the house to earn a good report from us). He listened and didn't sit out at all today, which was wonderful!

Gus was super squirmy and active today. We're hoping that with karate, he'll learn to calm down and focus his energy in other ways. We'll see. I do like that the class is led by men (which is nice because men deal with children differently than women do) and Gus is always around female teachers/coaches. It's a nice change for him to have men in charge and leading the way. The class is almost all boys too, which is also nice for Gus.

 

The belts for today... would Gus earn his?!?!?

While we were there today, we were approached by Mr. Yu about scheduling our meeting with him. Today was the last day that Steve would be able to come to class for sure, so I asked if we could meet today, and so we were taken to the back office to discuss the pricing of plans. 

We looked at everything and he gave us a sheet to take home with us with all the pricing on it. Steve and I are 99% sure that we'll be enrolling Gus on a full-time basis, but we need to discuss it more this weekend. For now, he's going with his Groupon (16 classes and a uniform for $30) and we're using up as many of those classes as possible before we decide for sure.

We came out of the meeting and had a few minutes to watch the rest of class. It's only a 30 minute class anyway, so the time really goes by quickly. I do like that it's only 30 minutes though because it's just enough time for him to really focus. If it were any longer, I think it'd be hard for Gus to maintain his behavior and attention.

One of the self-defense skills that they learn at this age is all about strangers. Today, Mr. Burns gathered the kids up and they talked about good strangers and bad strangers and the importance of knowing the difference between the two. He shared that if someone ever approaches the kids, they need to yell "NO!!!" and put their arms out to push the person away.:-)

 

The end of class arrived and it was time for Gus to stand up and get his white belt!! He was so excited and when he finally had it on he said, "This is sooooo cool!!!"  :-D

While we had been in the meeting, Gus earned his second "High Five Award." We are so proud of him and it's exciting to see him starting to enjoy karate!

Karate Gus

We headed to karate on Tuesday and we were all excited, well maybe not Hugh, but Gus and I were excited. We talked on the way there, about listening, giving a good effort, and responding with "Yes, Sir!" each time he's asked a question.

We arrived at 3:50 (ten minutes early, as instructed). Gus was taken to the mat, shown to face the flag and bow, and then where to go for checking into class each week. Then he was instructed to sit on the floor and wait for the class to begin.

 

A quick picture for daddy at home before leaving for class

 

Sitting with a new friend while waiting

One by one, the other kids arrived and there were like 20 total kids. It was a HUGE class and I was honestly surprised at how many there were. They called each child's name and had them stand, say "Yes, Sir!" and then run to their circle on the floor. And every child followed directions, except for Gus.

 

This is Mr. Burns

 

Not THIS Mr. Burns

When Mr. Burns called his name, he just stayed there on the floor.  Mr. Burns asked him if he needed time to get ready and Gus said he did. So Mr. Burns continued with the warm up, while Gus sat there. It totally pissed me off, because I knew Gus was just playing around. However, because they don't know him, they just let him sit.

Every five to ten minutes, Mr. Burns would ask Gus if he was ready, and each time Gus said no. :-/

At Karate Atlanta, they have a parent meeting on the third class to explain the program and costs. Mr. Yu (program director) was coming around to each parent and explaining the meeting and setting up times to meet with him. He totally skipped over me.

Class ended and just as Mr. Burns was wrapping things up, he was able to get Gus to come to him and show him a few moves. It wasn't great, but at least Gus got up at the very end.

So we I left his first class feeling deflated. I was partially embarrassed, partially confused, and partially annoyed with the whole situation. I wish that someone had talked to me ahead of time so I could have told them that Gus can be somewhat stubborn when starting something new. He needs someone to come directly to him and, not exactly "baby him" but sorta. I was confused because when I asked him if he had fun, he said he did. I was annoyed because he just sat there and didn't get anything out of the experience.

I will say that he did have to poop as soon as we arrived, and I think he felt rushed and uncomfortable with me in the little bathroom with him (he usually poops in private). 

So on Wednesday, I sent an email to Mr. Yu to ask him about meeting about the program and shared that Steve would be coming with me on Thursday, and asked if we could meet Thursday. His reply totally caught me off guard. He said they weren't sure if karate was a good fit for Gus yet, and until he participated a few more times, they didn't want to schedule anything.

So when we went to class on Thursday, we had just been at the GA Aquarium all day, and Gus was SO MOODY. He was just overly tired and stimulated, and we had been going since 7am. I was certain that it was going to be another disasterous class.

We arrived and Gus followed all procedures. He sat and waited for class to start and made a few new friends. This class, there were only six kids (not sure what happened to all the others) and it was much better.

Gus initially said he didn't want to participate and I thought, "Here we go again..." but it only took a few minutes and Gus said, "Excuse me, sir... I'd like to help you!" And Mr. Burns was excited for Gus to join the class.

This first class is called the "Tiny Tigers" and they're all white belts. He actually doesn't get his belt until he's earned it... and we're told it's the third or fourth class. Because his first class was horrible, I don't know if they counted it or not. I know when we left class on Thursday, Mr. Burn's said something about getting his belt next week, so we'll see.

Gus was on fire! He was such a great listener and doing all that was being asked, that he earned his first "High Five Award!" He gets one each time he does something outstanding and after five, he turns them back in for a special stripe on his belt!!

 

SO PROUD!!!

Gus finished the class with the rest of his peers and at the end, he even went up to Mr. Burns and thanked him. It was really sweet.

Mr. Yu came over to me and said that he wants to see Gus participate in one more class, and then we'll set up our meeting. I told him that we only have the two classes next week to work with, because they're on a modified schedule (5pm class instead of 4pm) and Steve will be able to join us. Otherwise, Steve will not be able to come.

I am most impressed with how great Mr. Burns is with the kids. He is so hands-on and patient and really good with kids. Gus was very comfortable with him and warmed up to him immediately. I love that he was given "homework" for the week. He has to practice some moves and then there's a whole check list that he has to complete in order to be ready for his belt. 

I love that karate is not just about being respectful twice a week for 30 minutes each time-- it's all encompassing and they expect him to listen at home, do chores, and be respectful at all times. I really like the values and core components.

I'll be sure to post how he does next week and you'll see pictures of him earning his belt if/when he earns it!!