On November 14, 2009, in the beautiful new gymnasium at St. Patrick's in Norfolk, the Norfolk Karate Academy held its first annual tournament. I was proud to assist in the organizing of this awesome event. The kids had a great time. The smiles of the winners, the cheers of the audience, and the majestic regularity of the schedule justified all of the bustle, the hustle, the scribbled lists and the head-scratching moments when we all tried to think of exactly what was needed to pull it off. We did good! And I got an official NKA polo shirt to wear! It was fabulous!
The main event sponsor was of course Norfolk Karate Academy, but we were generously supported by Turtle Press Books, your online niche bookstore for all things martial arts. We also received prize donations from Fellini's Gourmet Pizza Cafe, and our volunteers ate muffins and drank coffee courtesy of Borjo's Coffeehouse, our neighbors on 45th street.
Here are some pictures of the event:
The winning line-up in the teen advanced sparring. A memorable battle!
Little kid sparring champs. No less fierce, but a little more willing to smile for a picture.
Karate moms at NKA are awesome!
Max takes on Master Odom during the grappling part of the event.
Tiny friends Sadie and Miranda came in first and second in their beginner form competition.
We love our new students at NKA! Yellow belts rocking the forms.
Benny had a day of ups and downs. There was one time when his emotions got the best of him and he kind of freaked out on another kid. Then there were times when he was delightful and patient, thrifty, clean and brave. The road to black belt continues, bumps and all.
Thank you to Fellini's Gourmet Pizza Cafe, Borjo Coffeehouse, and Turtle Press, and a big thank-you to everyone at NKA who helped before, during, and after the event. My children had a fantastic time at this NKA event, as usual. That is really all I care about, but that is everything!
For many more pictures, visit this Flickr set. If you'd like to download or print any pictures of your child, please feel free to do so!
One of the glorious benefits of homeschooling is being able to focus a curriculum around your child's passions. Instead of waiting around for a topic to randomly pop up that interests him, out of a collection of topics that may appear in a traditional curriculum, the homeschooled child can fully immerse in that favorite pastime or area of study, until the lines between play and work are magically blurred. This is the moment when learning is fun: the holy grail of homeschooling.
I know many of us have gone out of our way to make curriculum work for a horse-obsessed child or a Civil-War-obsessed child, etc. You make writing assignment, study vocabulary and spelling generated around the topic, create word problems with relevant elements. However, it's even better when you can find a book or curriculum that will do it for you, and I have! My karate-obsessed child is now a brown belt. How I wish I had this book when he was just starting out in karate. It's a wonderful workbook full of puzzles, writing prompts, short essays, and more. I know that my daughter Sadie, a white belt, will get a lot out of it, and I look forward to seeing how she develops in karate as she fills in the pages of the book.
"Welcome to one of the best adventures you will ever have in your entire life! It is an exciting journey--it's your martial arts journey. Your friend and your companion on this journey will be a different and a very special martial arts book. This book is better than a book about famous movie stars or television actors. This book is even better than a book about your favorite sports hero. This book is like no other book you have ever seen or read. This book is about YOU and it will be written by YOU and lots of people will want to read it. The best part will come one day in the future when your son or daughter will want to read the book that you wrote when you were just a kid! When your child wants to hear about your true martial arts's adventure, you will be able to share it with them."
If your child is just starting out in karate and is over the moon about the idea, this is more than a writing assignment; it's a way to link learning to what your child loves.
Benny got his brown belt on October 30. Can you believe it? It was a great day for Benny, an enormous day for me too. Benny has been doing karate since August of 2003. It has taken him at least a year to get through every belt, sometimes more than a year. For Benny, karate has been a terrific challenge. There were times when he spent whole class periods spinning and humming. Times when he was kicked out of class for being suddenly defiant over something incomprehensible. Times when we felt he would never be able to communicate with another child enough to be a good sparring partner, a good self-defense partner, even hold a punching bag for another student. He was distracted, disconnected, and disengaged, but he was always in love with karate, always wanted to go train. There were times when we wondered if it would ever "kick in" -- would he ever snap to it? Sync up? Get with the program?
In the last year, Benny has improved in leaps and bounds. Part of it is the input of new instructors at Norfolk Karate Academy. Part is his own maturity, at last starting to bloom. He got his blue belt in February, and now he has his brown belt. His test was absolutely awesome! Everyone who knew him "back then" was blown away by it, including his father and me. We could not get over how much he has changed.
The biggest responsibility for Benny's improvement falls to Master Bill Odom, owner and founder of Norfolk Karate Academy. Master Odom never gave up on Benny, he never made me or Benny feel like he was a hopeless cause. Yet he also never promoted Benny just to make him feel better, or just because his peers were being promoted. Because of this ruthless fairness, this absolute willingness to take each individual child exactly where he or she is and work with them as individuals, Benny's brown belt means a lot. Norfolk Karate Academy is in my opinion the premier training facility for karate in Hampton Roads. We've seen it grow from the very beginning, and I know why it grows firsthand.
After the test was over, Master Odom turned Benny around to the class that was all lined up waiting to be dismissed. He said, and I'm paraphrasing, "This is what perseverance looks like. Benny took a year on every belt, but he never gave up, he never stopped trying. Someday he's going to be a black belt, because he persevered through all those years." And I thought, yes, this is what perseverance looks like: the kid and also the guy standing behind the kid, who also persevered where a lot of other teachers would have thrown in the towel. Thanks, Benny, for being so committed. Thanks, Mr. Odom, for being so patient.
On May 9, the children competed in a Tang Soo Do tournament in Fayetteville. It was Sadie's first tournament and Benny's second. Sadie was the littlest little warrior there, with a pink mani-pedi, pink sparkle gel in her hair, and a sparkly butterfly hair tie holding her braids together. She was astonishingly cute, I confess.
The tournament was not well organized. It started (late) at 10:30 and then the children in Benny's ring (the biggest age group) were told to sit around the edge of the ring while all belt levels performed first for and then sparring. Benny is a child who sits still as easily as an elephant flies. He was sitting on the floor with nothing to do but keep quiet and watch for about three hours, I kid you not. There was absolutely no reason for this madness -- there could have been a schedule with certain belt levels at certain times, so that the rest of the kids could have gotten up to eat lunch, go to the bathroom, play DS, see the sunshine, etc. But whatever! Benny was remarkably well behaved, given the circumstances, and even though he got shouted at by a black belt at one point, I was proud of his patience and self-control in that ridiculous situation. I would have died if I'd had to sit there for that long. The adults planning the tournament should have considered if *they* would like to participate in such a thing. The other NKA moms and I were speculating if any moms had been involved in the planning. Our guess: No.
Here's Sadie's form:
And Benny's form:
In the background of that one you can see the other kids sitting around the sidelines, wishing they could go out in the lobby and get pizza, or still feel sensation in their feet.
Neither of our kids placed well in the form. The good news is that in the sparring Benny pulled out a surprise success -- second place. He was very happy!
I could spew some more bitterness and discontentment, but instead I'll just post some more pictures.
Sadie and her friend Keric getting some advice from Master Odom:
One of Benny's teachers, who has been very patient with him and really helped him clean up his form and in general get his karate more fierce and awesome. She got second place in the black belt division for grown-ups:
Benny made a friend while sitting on the sidelines. He was at the last Fayetteville tournament too, so they recognized each other.
The kids had fun, and the experience was great for them, if irritating for us. The next week, Sadie got her first yellow tip on her white belt! Karate is awesome.
For more pictures, some of them very grainy but definitely cute, check out my Flickr set.
Sadie and Benny showed off their kicks and punches with the rest of the little warriors in white from Norfolk Karate Academy, on the Mermaid Stage at the Larchmont Elementary Carnival last weekend. This was Sadie's first time out as a karate princess, and she rocked it.
Look at the face: serious, fierce, and focused. This is a little girl who would never leave the house without her tutu. Without her pink leotard with the sequinned stars on the front. Who collects Barbies like stamps. Whose Polly Pockets all live in their own elaborate estates. She is a girly girl of the first order. Glitter in her veins. Firmly believes in unicorns and fairies. You get the idea. She started karate in February at the same school where Benny has been a student for the last five years, and within two years had quit ballet and was at the dojo twice a week.
Here she is doing her form with her friend Keric. Keric and Sadie both have older brothers who are karate veterans. they grew up watching classes and playing together in the toy room at NKA. Don't they look *awesome*?
Of course, she wasn't the only little redhead to snap it out. Benny was also showing his skills, solo-ing on his blue belt form, Pyung Ahn Oh Dan:
We love karate...
...and of course we also love carnivals.
For more pictures and video, check my Flickr set for the karate demo.
1. Sadie started karate classes! She has been waiting to start for a while, but I told her she had to be 5 years old and 30 pounds. Well, she hit those marks at about the same time, so with trembling, fear, and much trust in Mr. Odom at Norfolk Karate Academy, I let her start. She loves it -- from the first moment she put on the gi she has been completely ecstatic. I had these illogical fantasies that she would have no contact with anything other than air for like two years at which point she would be allowed to maybe gently kick a pillow or something. Of course, she started kicking and punching things on the first night. GREAT. Here are a few photos from her first day:
Sadie started on the same night as her friend Keric. Here are the two new white belts with big brother Benny. As it turned out that night was Benny's last as a green belt -- he tested for blue that very same night!
2. Benny's blue belt test! Benny got his green belt in November of 2006. Taking over two years to go from green to blue is not normal. Benny has never been on the fast track in karate, and for all he deeply and totally loves the sport, he has never been particularly good at it. What I appreciate about Mr. Odom is his willingness to take as long as is necessary for each individual child. Some kids will go quickly through the levels. Others will take longer. Benny has never been promoted when he didn't deserve it, and has also never been made to feel less than the other children because he takes longer between tests. This is why I was so proud that Mr. Odom felt he was really ready for blue, and even prouder when he told me after the test, "Benny deserved every bit of that." Some schools will put the kids up in groups, or promote them when their friends get promoted. At Norfolk Karate Academy, I know that my kids will be treated as individuals, with patience and dedication to the long term result. That means a lot.
Sparring:
Form:
A great night for the fighting Netzers. Here's a link to all the pictures and video from that night. Long may they punch and kick. I have this to say about what karate is doing for my children: After one week in karate, Sadie told me she was done with ballet. She says she's strong, she says she's tough, she quickly learned to count to ten in Korean, and she's working on her first form. She practices constantly, and she *loves* the way karate is making her feel. I'm proud of my girly-girl and her desire to line up her sparkly slippers on the side of the mat and get out there and punch and kick with the boys.
Benny has been a student at Norfolk Karate Academy for years. Almost since the month the school opened. Benny is a long term project for the patient teachers at NKA. I have already written at this blog about how much I respect and admire Mr. Odom and his amazing teaching of karate for kids. Now I want to sell you, the mom or dad reading this blog, on the idea of karate for yourself.
When I first started sitting through children's karate classes at NKA, watching Benny do this punch and that kick and that form and this self-defense move, I often sat next to one particular mom with kids in the program, and we'd talk. We talked about our kids, our lives, and about karate and how fun it looked. One day she turned to me and said, "We should do this. We're sitting here anyway. Why don't we do this!?" I said, "I will if you will." The idea was hatched. We went to Mr. Odom and asked if we could join the class. Not the adults class -- the kids class. He, being a reasonable sort of person, with an open mind and a willing spirit, welcomed us enthusiastically. I trained in the kid class until Benny and I both got our yellow belts, at which point I switched over to the adult class.
In fall of 2006 I started getting serious about my kicks and punches, and eventually I had my green belt. Since then I've had a problem with aggravating my herniated disk, and I've had to stop training. It makes me very sad. There are more karate moms than you may realize, and it's for a good reason. Karate is a *great* way to get exercise, have fun, learn something, and work out your aggression and irritation with life and traffic. If I could start up again, I'd do it in a heartbeat. At the Norfolk Karate Academy, you can learn Gracie Jiu Jitsu, Tang Soo Do, self defense, and you can have a lot of fun doing it. Not just your kids, but YOU. Put on a gi, stretch out your muscles, and kick the crap out of something!
Norfolk Karate Academy has sponsored one winner at the GUESS Homeschool Science Fair, with a free gi, t-shirt, start-up kit and one month's free training at their huge and airy Norfolk studio. The winner of the Isaac Newton Award for Hard-hitting Research is Shannon, who will be enjoying her new karate skill soon! Congratulations Shannon, and thank you to the Norfolk Karate Academy.
Benny called in to the Tony Macrini show this morning to share his martial arts experiences.
Benny's karate teacher, Mr. Odom, of the Norfolk Karate Academy, was a guest on the morning show over at WNIS this morning.
I am an avid listener to talk radio when I'm in the car and the kids will allow me to change over from "They Might Be Giants: Here Come the ABCs" which is currently in our DVD player. (Benny is committed to getting Sadie educated on those ABCs, and I'm just letting him do it!) I even enjoy listening to the right wing bozos that come on in the afternoon. I get a kick out of hearing their ridiculous analogies and bizarre applications of "logic" and then ranting and raving about them to whoever will listen to me for the rest of the day.
Uh oh, here I go. Just one example, because I cannot help myself: The other day, in response to someone referencing all the military people who have died in Iraq, Rush Limbaugh pooh-poohed the distress over the deaths by saying that Iraq was safer than Philadelphia. Why? Because 400 people were killed in Philadelphia in a city of 1.5 million, whereas only 3000 people were killed in Iraq, in a country of over 25 million. Okay, I know, I know, you're jumping in your seat and raising your hand to say, "Wait! Wait! In order for that to work you would have to count the *Iraqi deaths too* you belligerently idiotic asshat! Let's do a recount with those numbers added in, since they are, in fact, people too, and do count when they are murdered or blown up, and then we'll see if Baghdad is still a lot safer than Philadelphia!" Of course, no one pointed this out to the Great One, who brags that he has half his brain tied behind his back, just to make it fair. Which half, Rush? The half that had a grasp of basic math?
ANYWAY!
I actually like listening to Tony Macrini, and used to listen often when I had Benny in preschool and was doing the trek over to Rosemont. Tony Macrini would never try to pass off some silly garbage like the "Iraq is Safe!" theory. So, this morning we switched on the radio on the way to the YMCA and there was Mr. Odom, our favorite karate dude, getting interviewed by Mr. Macrini himself. It was a good thing!
Benny wanted to call in and offer his insight into martial arts, so after waiting through a news break or two, he got on the air. Here's what he said, as far as I can remember:
"Hey, there. How's everybody doing today!? Well, we have lots of great stuff at the Norfolk Karate Academy. We have self defense techniques, well, for example, there's bear hug from behind, and headlock on the ground, and hip lift defense..." and then he kept on enthusiastically listing as many self defense techniques as he could think of, until he got cut off. It was pretty funny. I didn't get to hear it on the radio, because of the seven second delay thingy. But, Benny *really* enjoyed himself.
Another day, another entertaining moment in the lives of my children. It is never, ever dull.
My son got his green belt in karate last week. It took him more than two years to do it. I firmly believe that no other teacher would have gotten him to this point. Fortunately, his teacher is a saint.
When Benny started karate, in the fall of 2004, he was four and a half. I wanted to start him in martial arts because I thought it would help him to focus on the real world around him, to come out of his brain a little bit, and to engage with other people. This is a child who was constantly humming entire movements to concertos (in the right key too), had four or five imaginary friends, and wouldn't answer a direct question without having it repeated ten times. It wasn't that he was being naughty. He just really wasn't paying attention. To anything. Except what was between his ears.
Violin study was helping him, and we had/have a wonderful teacher, willing to patiently work on drawing him out of his insular world, while not making excuses for him based on his eccentricities. But I knew in my mind that Karate would be great for him.
I tried him at another martial arts studio in Virginia Beach, which had been recommended to me by a friend. They rejected him outright, because he was too spacey. Then the Norfolk Karate Academy opened up, just down the street, and I had new hope. I was looking for a happy medium between the lame-o McKarate franchises and the too-too-serious dojos with black walls and swords hanging from the ceiling. NKA seemed like just the thing. And Mr. Odom agreed to take him on.
Benny was any karate teacher's worst nightmare. Distracted, singing, picking his nose, rolling around on the floor, bugging the other kids -- it was pretty horrifying. Every week I expected to be told that we had to leave. But Mr. Odom did not give up. He repeated himself so many times that a weaker teacher would have been driven insane. He was kindly and brutally consistent in the face of Benny's completely erratic behavior. We saw the children who started at the same time get their yellow belts, their green belts, and on and on. More kids started, and passed Benny. Benny never got discouraged, and neither did Mr. Odom.
Two years and several months later, the child has a green belt. And he's acting like a green belt (for the most part) in class. Who can say what exactly brought about this change? Was it Benny's intense and almost irrational love for karate? Was it Mr. Odom's persistence and the quality of instruction? Was it just that he got older and more mature? I can't say precisely what the formula was, but I know that it worked. This little space cadet, who used to be about as serious as a school mascot, has now started to show us some real progress, some real performance.
It means a lot that Mr. Odom didn't just promote him automatically, when the other kids got new belts. It means a lot that he never let Benny feel humiliated that he wasn't advancing. He always made it clear what was expected, and he accepted nothing less. This means that the green belt means something real for Benny. He knows he earned it. And now he can't wait to get to karate and learn what's next.
Here's Benny's last class as a yellow belt. They're doing the second form in the kibon (basic) series:
Here's Benny getting his green belt and also a little motivational speech from Mr. Odom:
And here's Benny with his new belt, and Mr. Odom with his little orange project. The face you see here is an example of Benny's newfound ferocity in the karate uniform:
You can visit the Norfolk Karate Academy right here.
