Belted Up and Ready to Rock

Today was Princess' second tournament. It was more like a practice tourney with three local dojos. But being as she was a fresh yellow belt, she was nervous. She had to perform her Form 2, which she learned the last move on, last week.

With Nanny in town, plus my mom and us all in the front row.....it was no wonder that she kept her eyes closed for most of her Form. We are an unruly bunch.
But my baby was once again, one of the lowest belts there. We are now exactly five months into karate. Woohoo. She really enjoys it and has dropped ballet to commit to it. This surprised the ever loving pooh out of me. Cause ballet was all the big deal for years over here.

But today was also a very BIG day. Since getting her sparring gear a month ago, and practicing once a week with other students, Princess was getting into the ring and sparring other kids. For points. She was really nervous. I love this pic of The Man gearing her up. But we aim to keep them safe, while teaching them to beat the utter crap out of others. Irony!

Turns out, headgear wasn't needed so she moved on. Her first opponent, a trash talking blonde. Wait, that could actually describe alot of people I've known, lol. Sorry, focus! Anywho, once the fights were called out, the kids sat in front of us on the floor watching the others until their turn. Blondie came over and sat next to Princess. And started talking about kicking her butt....this went on for some time. Until I started looking around for her parents. As Princess was getting more and more upset. Her little head drooped, her eyes focused on the floor. Turns out, they were sitting right beside me. I know this because Blondie came running over to brag to her mom, who we'll call big blondie. Big Blondie smiled and nodded and sent her on her way. So I did what any other self respecting parent would do......

I called Princess over to me.

And loudly told her, while looking her square in the eye.

"It's not about winning. I swear, it nots. It's about being a good sport. Showing good sportsmanship. Because you know what, you can learn to win but you can't learn to be a decent person. It's heredity."

Then I told her to kick butt and do it the right way.

Big Blondie and husband, never said a word. Just sat there NOT looking at me.

So then it was on. They got into the ring.

And Princess, the same child who is so tenative and meek in sparring class with her fellow students, let her get a few good ones in, but Blondie made a mistake. She pushed her.

The referee reminded Blondie of the whole "play fair, technique not bullying" thing.

But it truly opened Princess' eyes. I was totally prepared for my kid to get her butt kicked. Was ready for it, because honestly as much as she loves karate, she isn't precise. She isn't aggressive. She isn't competitive.

Until today.

This wound up being a forward stomp kick that pushed Blondie back a good foot. It also wound up being the start of Princess' self-esteem. I have never cheered louder.

Blondie beat her by ONE point.

And when it was over, I stood up and let loose yelling for her. And then it happened......

Big Blondie and husband stood up and congratulated BOTH girls on a great match. And when Princess came over to cool down, they kept making comments about her being a tough competitor and what a close match.

Princess just soaked it up and said thank you......

And then kicked this boy's butt.

Although head contact was out, she opps and missed his nose by a mere inch on this kick. I just knew she was gonna land this one and get kicked out.

And although this kid was a puncher, his only moves were with his hands. And he packed a punch, cause she'd go backwards each time......

She kept those roundhouse kicks and front kicks coming.

It was awesome. She got agressive and chased him all over the ring. Kicking away. He beat her by ONE point. This kid went on to place 2nd out of 12 kids in her division.

Where did this tiger come from?

And when it was all said and done....... She got a good pep talk from her coach.

And came running over to me and after letting me gush all over her.....

"Mom, we totally have to repaint my nails, they're all jacked up."

Nice.

Posted in: Princess In All Her Glory