No Hazing

Charlie competed in the Eastern Regional Karate Championships today. This event is a competition for martial artists of all different styles of karate for the entire eastern seaboard of the United States.

I tried to impress on him ahead of time that he had to really show power and a grim, mean face in order to be taken seriously. That mean face is hard for Charlie. You just don't get a sense of what you're up against in this one until you actually see it for yourself.

No trophies today. He did a good solid performance, no errors of any sort at all. It's just that he was up against the very best, and they were better. Now he knows what to expect if he participates in this one next year.

The exciting thing about his performance today, though, was in his fighting. The last time he did sparring in competition, he was eliminated in the first round. This time, he really came out fighting, and he won both his first and second fights, didn't get eliminated until the third round.

The REALLY COOL thing is that we found out afterwards that three gentlemen who had shown up at the tournament were former black belts who had joined the Navy and had to start all over in the rankings in the Navy's martial arts program, so even though they competed as green belts, they really were black belts. (Once a black belt, always a black belt!) One of Charlie's fights was against one of these men, and it was one of the fights that he won--CHARLIE BEAT A BLACK BELT!!!

Charlie's initial reason for wanting to take karate was that some kids at Frederick School for the Deaf told him that the new kids on the block always get beat up. Charlie starts at Frederick this coming Fall, and he was very worried about that.

He doesn't look worried any more. He looks confident now that he knows he held his own in a fight against a black belt. Not in a braggy sort of way, just confident.

I don't think there'll be any hazing going on here.