New Black Belts!

This is my favorite Power Weekend so far.

 I got to observe my son's long candidacy for black belt as he easily cleared the final hurdle of performing well through the Power Weekend. He passed. His kata were strong, his sparing was skilled and confident, his endurance level very high, and his attitude was great.

What a great kid he is.  He is one proud addition to the black belt community. I'm over the moon.

Here's the whole group in their team-building exercise at the end of the test.

And to get to that point, he went through a whole of bugo kumite! Watch out!

Power Weekend - My son on deck

There are always complications and difficulties. This weekend should have been a glory cakewalk for my son. He is performing wonderfully. His sparing is solid, his kicks are great, he knows his kata cold, he is brimming with confidence, and his run times increasingly take him to the very front of the pack.

But Friday, he wakes up feeling awful and feverish. His mom (we're divorced) takes him to the Doctor. Much anxiety and decision-making. Finally, he makes it.

Here he is, breaking his board on Friday night!

Power Weekend this weekend for my son!

I'm thrilled, this weekend is Power Weekend.... the culmination of a testing cycle at the dojo  tha  has been going on  for my son since January.

There are long sessions on Friday night and Saturday. They'll run through all the katas, self defense, break boards, spar, do a lot of push ups, and some running.

I've watched him turn on a whole level of intensity and competence and confidence this year. I'm so proud and pleased.

How did I get so lucky?

Another thought about Power Weekend is how the dojo organizes it so that people are both really pumped and a little nervous.  It's amazing how differently people react to different types of pressure. One candidate, Eric, was telling me that he's really nervous about the kata. "I can talk in front of crowd of a thousand for half an hour, with no script, without batting an eye. I talk on the radio daily on my show with an audience of 60,000 people.  But, ask me to perform a kata in front of four people, and despite knowing the material cold,  I freeze and falter and shake. Go figure!"

I don't know about figuring but it's always fun to show up to support them and watch the show.  Ouse!