We made a trip down to Boca Raton, Florida - about a 4-1/2 hour drive from our house - so JT could compete in a tournament there. He was pretty excited because he saw a couple of his old instructors there that he hadn't seen in awhile. He did really well! He brought home a 1st place for Forms, 1st place for Weapons and 3rd place for Sparring.
We pulled our camper down for the weekend to make a mini vacation out of the trip. We ended up staying at a KOA at Lion Country Safari just outside of West Palm Beach, FL. We had never heard of Lion Country Safari, but a few friends told me they had enjoyed it. It was a place to visit! The safari itself was great and lasted about 1 hour driving through at about an 8 mph pace. Of course we could stop whenever we wanted to. They had a CD you play while you're driving through that narrates the area and the animals and does a great job. They are rated the #3 zoo in the country. Other than the safari they also have a walk through zoo which was nice. Not as nice as the Jacksonville Zoo though. But, we don't have a safari. I would definitely recommend it to others to visit when they are down in Southeast Florida.
JT has worked very hard for the past 1-1/2 years to earn his Black Belt in TaeKwonDo. He has shown a great passion for it since the beginning so we have tried to support him as much as we can. He is in class 3-4 times a week and thoroughly enjoys it. Sometimes I think Tim and I know as much about karate as he does since we sit in every single class watching him... Perhaps they should consider awarding honorary black belts to parents.
Mom and KD came to watch him perform with the Demo team and he was also asked along with just a few others to perform his form, weapon form and board breaking for the crowd. As always, he made us all very proud. As soon as I get it edited, I'll add the video of the demo team as well as some other great performances from other students and teachers.
Tim and JT drove down to Miami on Friday for a karate tournament. I wasn't able to go because I had a baby shower I was helping put together for a friend. JT did great and ended up in a tie breaker for Forms and won! So, he came in 1st for Forms, 1st in Weapons and 2nd in Sparring! He received a trophy for each so he now has 3 trophies from this tournament and 3 medals from the last.
JT has been taking Karate classes for a little over a year now and is doing very well. It's very obvious his instructors are impressed with his progress and he gets called out quite a bit in classes to demonstrate moves and help out. Of course, he loves it! He goes to karate class at least 4 days a week. He would go every day if we let him. He is very passionate about the sport and works very hard to be the best he can be. We are very proud of him!
His instructors told us he was ready for competition and asked if we wanted to let him compete in the Nationals competition in Orlando. We decided that since he worked so hard, and he really wanted to do it that we would let him. So for a couple of months before the competition he worked really hard getting ready.
We went down on Friday and watched the black belts compete. Then on Saturday morning it was JT's turn to compete. He was very confident and didn't seem nervous at all. It was a good thing because I think Tim was nervous enough for all of us. He ended up competing in a ring with about 12 other boys his age/size. I had a few knots in my stomach as well! JT put on his game face and competed like a little champion! We honestly didn't really expect him to win anything, just walk away with experience and life lessons. He surprised us though!
He ended up with a Gold medal in Weapons... a Silver medal in Forms and a Bronze medal in Sparring! I think he even surprised himself! He had some really good competition and the wins weren't easy... he truly earned them.
Here are a few photos and a video:
After a spending a couple of days at the karate competitions, we decided to head to Universal Studios on Sunday and enjoy some fun family time before we headed home. We had figured it would be a great consolation if he didn't do well, or a great way to celebrate if he did.
JT and his dad have been working for the past couple of weeks on a belt rack for JT to keep his karate belts on as he earns his new belts. Tim came up with a design and he and JT went to Lowe's and bought all the materials they would need to get busy. Other than just a couple of cuts on some thin pegboard, Tim supervised and JT did all of the work himself. They had a great time working on it together and were excited to show it to me at each stage of progress.
My only contribution was printing out some ATA logos for JT to put on and then helping to search for the right letters to use for his name.
JT should be very proud of himself. He did the cutting, the sanding, the glueing, the nailing, the screwing, the painting, the staining... he did it all! I think this was also a great memory making time for JT since he'll have the belt rack hanging for years to come.
He has been so antsy to show his karate instructors and fellow students so he'll get to do that tomorrow when he goes to class. This morning, he couldn't wait to show Aunt KD, Uncle Bobby & Nana, so he carried it with us to church and then ended up taking it out and showing it to them while we were in the Famous Amos parking lot. (See photo below)
He saw one of the students from Karate America in the restaurant so he took it in to show it to him. He got lots of attention on his way in and his way out and stopped by a couple of people asking him about it. He was all smiles!
I'll have to take a couple of good photos of it once we get it hung on the wall and post them here. They made sure they put a shelf at the top so it can hold the trophy(s) he's sure to win one day!
With JT being on Summer break, I've been trying to keep him busy so he doesn't get too bored and doesn't spend too much time watching TV.
So, for the week of June 9 - 13th, he spent the mornings at Karate Camp learning about pressure points and self defense. Since he spent 15 hours training during the week, he earned an extra belt advancement, which brought him up to a Purple belt. Below is a video of him showing some of his new self defense moves on the 13th during testing.
The following week, June 16 - 20th, JT went to "Power Lab" Vacation Bible School at our church. (He also decided this week that he wanted to get a buzz cut. So, that's him with no hair in the bottom left corner of the following photo. He quickly decided he really didn't like it so I don't think he'll be asking for a buzz cut again anytime soon!)He had a great time at VBS as usual.
The following Friday, June 20th, was normal graduation time for Karate and he had earned moving up a belt. Since he received his Purple belt already, he tested for his Blue belt. Needless to say, he's pretty excited about being a Blue belt already. Below is a photo of him during testing just before he broke the board. You can tell from his face he is very serious!
The following week, June 23 - 27th, JT went to "Rainforest Adventure" Vacation Bible School at the Presbyterian church where his friends Joseph, James & Jacob go to church. This is his 3rd year going to VBS there and he loves it there too. Plus, I get 15 hours of childcare for $18!
Today, the Cub Scouts went to the IMAX theater at World Golf Village to watch the documentary on Antarctica. Then afterward, they went to a nearby park and cooked out and had some fun. I wasn't able to go because I had an Emmaus team meeting all day getting ready for the July walk.
Now that June is over, it's time to start looking at what's happening in July. So far he has Music Camp at church for one week and sleep away camp in Leesburg, Florida for one week. Stay tuned for more!
JT LOVES karate. He has been taking karate for 6 months now and he seems to live and breathe it. He is in the Leadership program and absolutely thinks the world of all his instructors. We're hoping the investment we're making in his lessons will pay off with his attitude, self-esteem, respect for others, etc. This photo is of him and his Senior Instructor Mr. Mafie. You can see more photos here.
Posts
