The third door

In an effort to find an athletic class for my son to attend on a weekly basis, I took him to several trial classes.  First he tried ballet, a style of dance he has been begging to do for a couple of years but I never got around to finding something for him.  Then he attended a judo class, a popular martial art practiced worldwide that originated in Japan.  His third and final option was karate, which he tried today.

I was not too keen of having my son try karate.  Although it teaches respect and discipline, I worried about teaching a young kid to hit and kick.  Would the sensei's (teacher's) instructions be upheld when a youngster felt out of control?  I wasn't so sure.

One of my neighbors was taking her son to a trial karate class just a couple blocks down the street from our house.  Since my son is always wanting to play with her son, I agreed to let my son attend the trial class. 

We met a few minutes before the scheduled time and walked to the class together.  I immediately noticed the class of nine students and two teachers were all male.  They lined up and bowed down in respect to start the practice.  After a warm up, they began doing drills of various jumps and foot patterns across the floor.  Once they had practiced the footwork, the sensei made it more complex by adding a punch or a kick.

Then the boys lined back up to do individual punching and kicking exercises.  It reminded me a bit of some exercise videos that were popular in the 1990's.  There were a couple water breaks interspersed in the exercises. 

To wrap up the class, they played a game with paddles where the kids were trying to hit the sensei and his assistant's butt while the two adults tried to get away.  It really riled the kids up and soon there was shrieking and mayhem.  I did not understand the purpose of this game other than to just have fun.

Finally, the class came back together and once again paid respect with bowing.  My son was quite sweaty and tired from the class.  He had a fun time even though the class was challenging.

Back at home, I inquired what class he would choose to take - ballet, judo, or karate.  He emphatically told me it was a difficult decision and he needed to think about it.  I had to wait several hours before he announced his final decision.  He wanted to take ballet classes.  His choice may not have roots in Japanese culture, but that is fine.  It is what he wants to do and I will honor that choice.