Beth was first introduced to Karate when she, her mother and brother all started together when she was around ten, but she was on her own in the kids' class while her brother and mother were together in the adult class. As a result she dropped it before gaining any belts.
She started again in College, and gained a yellow belt in six months, but stopped at that point when academic studies and other interests took precedence.
She's been wanting to get back into Karate ever since, but the discomforts of travel and timing in London prevented her while we lived there. Her two options were a school in Southall which would have required leaving work early, or in King's Cross which would have resulted in getting home very late. The curse of trying to do extra-curricular activities in London is the combination of hanging around for the class to start while everybody arrives, and the discomfort of getting home again afterwards by public transport which can take a couple of hours on a bad day.
Karate has many different branches, but they all start with a White Belt for novices. Beth's previous Yellow Belt was in a different style so she started again at White in September. Here she is sparring with a regular partner, before getting her new Yellow Belt in December.
A couple of weeks ago I was available to go along with her and take some photos and video of her training, and Beth was able to use these to help with technique. This evening she taked the exam for her Blue Belt, but unfortunately I'll be at work and consequently unable to watch.
Gabe achieved white, yellow and blue in Kung Fu when he was quite a bit younger, but did not continue due to a shifu/head instructor whom I found to be highly intolerant of any but the most focused kids. That guy made me mad a lot. A lot a lot. The kind of person on whom you wish a kid just like the sort he can't deal with. But not really, for the kid's sake.
ReplyDeletePerhaps he will pick it up again later.