Michael and Kaylyn's Adventures

10 January 2004

Andy Gets Belted

Andy is a red belt in karate. Today was his test to see if he was ready to graduate colors. This process was a riot. About twenty Young Persons in three vaguely-straight lines led through thirty minutes of karate forms by a sensei whose moves were so crisp his body made noises as it snapped into the various positions. Then the kids all sat down while the three senseis left the room to confer over who did and did not pass. After awhile, we could hear the head sensei get all loud and angry about "The roundhouse kicks were terrible!" and "You need to work them harder on their forms!" -- for like five minutes! (Yes, it was complete stage acting. But don't tell the kids, like I made the mistake of telling Andy's mom without remembering Andy's older sisters were in hearing range.) Eventually the senseis came back into the room and the awards ceremony started. Andy's hard work paid off, and he was promoted to Orange With A White Stripe. Yay Andy!