opr1945
Purple Belt
Today I attended my 11 year old grandson's purple belt testing. There were approximately 30 students. youngest appeared to 5 or so, there were two about this age, one green belt and one purple belt. (white,yellow,orange, green, purple, blue, brown, red, black) rest were less than 14 years old by my guess except for one adult male about 40 years old (take some guts as an adult to be in a class of young children, in my opinion).There were The two very young girls were very cute. They seem to know the moves, but lacked any power, snap or sharpness in their movements. Almost like live slow motion. There were 5 green belts. Four were called up to do forms. as a group they did four forms. my gandson was not in this group. then he was called to join the group for the last form, which he did successfully. others were then tested. The adult was last. He was a blue belt. He was asked to start with form 5. He did 3 moves and stopped. started over. stopped started over. he was then tken aside by a black belt and instructed for a few minutes. He returned and successfuly did form 5. But messed up form 6 twice. he was again taken aside, instructed, and then messed up again. Head instructer moved group on to board brakeing testing. Then everyone took turns of breaking 1/4" poplar boards. Everyone was promoted.
I took Tang Soo Do lessons about 40 years ago. for a year. All of the forms were very similar to what I learned. Interesting.
My grandson only performed one form for his test. Interesting.
The adult received a brown belt after completing one form. Interesting.
Some of the students execution eas lacking. They were watching the perdon next to them to know what to do next. Interesting.
What level of competence is expected of a year olds. ???
We call this a Martial Art. to me that implies a level of violence, military,war, fighting. harming ones opponent, if necessary. This group appeared to be more exercise, calisthenics, firness, dance movements than self defense when faced with violence. Is this really a Martial Art?But, what does one expect from children?
I have started Karate recently. I will be 79 years old shortly. I am old, short, fat, stiff, slow and hard of hearing. I have no expectation of MMA, boxing, street fighting, or defending my self from a 6" 225# 22 year old who is in good shape. Why am I doing this-for my health. I can now bend over and touch to ground, couldn't before. I can put my pants on without having to hang on to something to keep from falling over. I have lost a few pounds. So am I like the 5 years olds in my grandson's class?
Just a few thoughts.
I took Tang Soo Do lessons about 40 years ago. for a year. All of the forms were very similar to what I learned. Interesting.
My grandson only performed one form for his test. Interesting.
The adult received a brown belt after completing one form. Interesting.
Some of the students execution eas lacking. They were watching the perdon next to them to know what to do next. Interesting.
What level of competence is expected of a year olds. ???
We call this a Martial Art. to me that implies a level of violence, military,war, fighting. harming ones opponent, if necessary. This group appeared to be more exercise, calisthenics, firness, dance movements than self defense when faced with violence. Is this really a Martial Art?But, what does one expect from children?
I have started Karate recently. I will be 79 years old shortly. I am old, short, fat, stiff, slow and hard of hearing. I have no expectation of MMA, boxing, street fighting, or defending my self from a 6" 225# 22 year old who is in good shape. Why am I doing this-for my health. I can now bend over and touch to ground, couldn't before. I can put my pants on without having to hang on to something to keep from falling over. I have lost a few pounds. So am I like the 5 years olds in my grandson's class?
Just a few thoughts.
