Martial Artiste

Sophia's still at it. She doesn't love it as much as she did at first. No big shock there. The class is an hour and a half, and they spend at least thirty minutes sparring. When it's Judo sparring, she doesn't enjoy it as much. She always spars with this one orange belt who gets her down, and Sophia does not enjoy that at all. I can understand. I wouldn't be a fan myself. I love Judo for her, though, because it's all about using your body. Learning how to use what you've got.

She enjoys the Tae Kwon Do side a bit more because she likes kicking. And she's good at it, too, although when it's time for sparring, she's always too afraid of hurting the other kid to really let it go.

Another reason she's still keeping at it is this guy. Her friend Henry is a favorite, and she does not mind having an excuse to hang out with him after school.

I do hope she sticks with it, but she's only committed through the school year. We'll see if I can convince her that it's worth being held down occasionally to learn that she can get up.

Judo Warrior Princess

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Sophia has decided to give martial arts a try. Each semester, I try to give her the option of having one activity for the brain and one for the body. She chose martial arts for the body. It may turn out to be for her brain, too.

She is one smart cookie, but like her mama (yes, I'll completely own this one) she has some difficulty translating verbal instruction to physical response. I would give anything to be able to have better body control and understanding. So, I'm hopeful that she can learn some useful tools from martial arts.

She had her trial class yesterday, which went so well that she committed to going again today and even got the outfit. Convincing, isn't she?

First class or not, she and her friend Ryan (the one in jeans) learned to throw their opponents. She said she felt bad at first about throwing this guy, but then she got thrown and felt much better. This is SO good for Sophia.

I'm thrilled that she's so interested in martial arts. Discipline, respect, strength. What kid couldn't benefit from learning these qualities in a fun and safe environment? The sensei has kids of his own, who are also in the class. I assume that it's for that reason that he only asks us to pay a month at a time, with the expectation that their interest will ebb and flow. I'm glad he sees that coming because this is Sophia we're talking about. For now, she wants to go every time they have class, but we'll see...