Honor and Respect

Nebyat expressed a desire to learn martial arts - don't ask me where she came up with this, perhaps some of those moves in the Disney Films? I certainly want to be careful about over-scheduling the girls, but I really thought this might be a great physical outlet (especially for a grieving child), a self-esteem booster (sometimes she expresses negativeness about herself), and self-discipline building (never hurt any child). We tried free evaluation sessions with a couple different programs and stumbled on Salvation Martial Arts. Their program is Christian-principle based and a little less ego-driven than other programs. I loved the personal attention the owners and instructors showed to Nebyat. They pray before each class, do a short bible study at the end, respectfully respond to elders (ma'am, sir) learn fire saftey, stranger safety, etc. along the way of learning some mixed martial arts.

She loved the first two individual sessions and was awarded her gi and white belt afterward; she also broke her first board with a "wicked" front kick. The instructors signed her board for her to save, pretty cool. Language provided only a minimum barrier and occasionally the instructor had to show her what she meant physically rather than rely on words - I was impressed with how quickly she caught on to everything and consistently did things that had previously been introduced. They say she's a natural. I could have told them that....

As an aside - I video'd the board breaking and some of the "award" ceremony, but I'm having an issue with the media software on my new computer, so I'll try to find another way to get that on. The computer's not quite ready for prime time and my camera lens will not extend right now with a message that says "reset the camera lens" or something like that, so I'm technologically challenged right now - bear with me!

Jetu's great and over her infection from Thanksgiving week. She's a bit envious that her sister's doing this martial arts program and she is not; she has to wait until age 4. I think sometimes it is good for the two of them to have separate activities. At Church this week, both girls went to their own kid's classes - I was very proud of them. They're preparing for a Jingle Jam next week. I hope to have my media issues resolved by then!