National Kumite Champion!

As you know from our previous blog, that Megan had the opportunity to go to New Mexico to compete in the National Championship Tournament. We took the family to New Mexico and stayed at the Marriott where the tournament was being hosted. A lot of kids from our Dojo went and participated in the tournament. Megan did very well and won all her rounds. She was named the National Champion for sparring in her division. We are so happy with the progress she has made in this sport. It blows my mind every time she fights! You really see it when they fight at the Dojo. The Sensei's have them fight each time they go to practice so they are very good at it, all of them. Megan can fight older boys and girls who are at higher levels and hold her own! Most people are shocked to hear that she fights! She loves to read and is so reserved that it comes as a surprise to them.

For instance, the other day I had a sitter and I was running errands. I drive down the street to get to our house and I see a lone child, walking slowly and no other children in sight. Now, keep in mind, there are about 20 kids that exit the bus at the same time and there were no other kids ANYHERE! I know it's Megan and I pull up beside the "pokey puppy" and roll down my window. She keeps on walking, nose in her book until I finally say her name. She is so surprised to see me driving along side her. Needless to say, we had a discussion about how she can not read from the bus stop home and she must be aware of her surroundings. She could get taken very easily or run over and never know what happened.

Since the tournament, Gracey has signed up for Karate and is loving it as well. She moves in slow motion, which surprises us because she usually has so much energy. hen we took her to her first tournament 2 weeks ago, she did very well and came in second in her fighting. It was only she and Cassie (her cousin) fighting in the division, but I was so happy to see her moving quickly and actually hitting and kicking. She came home with a trophy as well and was so excited with it all. Sadly, I did not have my camera, so you'll have to wait to see Gracey in her karate gear with a trophy on a later blog.

We also signed Jamers up for Karate and she lasted only one week. She just wanted her mommy the whole time so we decided for her to make the decision herself when she gets older.

Luke is so ready for Karate. He loves it. When we get there, he puts on the sparring gear and mouth piece of Megan's and punches walls, the bags, and practices with Megan. I can barely keep him off the mat during class and have now resorted to strapping him in his stroller during the time we can watch. He loves to watch and cheer everyone on. When he is 3 he can officially begin "Lil Kicks" and it's gonna be great. The only downside to him watching Karate and practicing is that he tends to want to punch and kick anyone around so we have to keep reinforcing that he can only do it at the Dojo.