It rained today. Shocker. We had a great day though, and Mommy shined brightly in a staff meeting at the church, showing off costumes already and having things ready for our upcoming Good Friday service. We've got a lot going on in a few weeks, that's for certain.
Madison went ahead with her math test, but the other test today was one she's been waiting to take for the last several months:
Tonight Madison earned her chocolate belt. This, of course, is the brown belt. And no disrespect to the brown belt - it's not quite the penultimate belt, but it's certainly up there. Madison only has a few belts to go. But I think there were two questions being asked of her at the same time, just after the funeral:
1. What belt are you getting?
2. What's your favorite ice cream?
Madison heard the second question only, and the obvious answer was chocolate. And ironically, that's of course the color of her belt tonight - we'll call it chocolate brown!
Nana and Ye-Ye were on hand for the big moment, and it was indeed a big moment. Given the events of this week, there was a slightly different atmosphere here tonight than the usual testing ceremony.
Mr. Tucker here was Jesse's group leader last Summer Xtreme, and you can see him here being an encouragement to Madison. Of course, he's gone on to become also the children's pastor down at our Midtown Campus.
Once we got in our seats, that's when it all started. And we've been to a few of these before, so we knew the drill. And as you can see in these pictures, the kids knew the drills too. Look how high Madison's kicks are!
And look at that face! Such ferocity! It just says, "Don't mess with me!"
Mrs. Edge looked on as the kids did warm-ups and got ready for the other portions of the evening.
Madison and the others did their kicks and punches with such energy, ready to take on the night and claim that new ranking they all worked so hard for. With Madison, it's been a longer stretch, given that she took some time off to be in that Christmas production or ours. But she was back in classes and there frequently, ready to move up to the next ranking.
Here's another ferocious facial expression. Nana and Ye-Ye were watching on, impressed by the display in front of us. No doubt she can take care of herself. Of course, she's working hard to learn more and more, and get more disciplined. But she's got some surprising agility and power, and it's great to see that on display. Like a military parade of weaponry, tonight she was showing what she was capable of, and what she's been training to become. It was pretty awesome!
The younger kids did some exercises, and that gave us a little break, but soon enough Madison was back, and in her sparring gear. You can see her above, ready to go.
She was matched up with two different opponents tonight, and she did really well against them. I've seen her sparring against others in the past weeks, and I think this might have been the most aggressive I've seen her at the onset.
She was constantly moving forward, on the attack, ready to give her opponent a foot-fist fiesta! But the main course of tonight's meal was a huge serving of foot!
She had some outstanding high kicks, and in one case, her opponent didn't quite know how to come back from such a flurry of feet. It was like we were watching Chun Li do her lightning kick!
Yeah, that one. Anyway, we were pretty impressed. Nana and Ye-Ye were almost shocked! And Madison was sitting there the whole time with this great big grin on her face.
It's great when you see those through the mask. She was having a good time. And so were we, watching her do her sparring.
I like this shot above, because it looks like she's asking, "Are you ready for more?" Actually, this is a shot taken during the exercise where the students escape from a neck grab, using a specific set of motions. Madison breaks the hold, pushes the aggressor back while yelling, and stands ready to bring it.
There was a little break here, as other students were running through their form, the last part of the testing cycle. Madison was up next, ready to go.
This is a complicated part, much more difficult than it may seem, a series of choreographed movements, strikes, kicks and stances, many moves long. It was so long that Madison was actually doing a bit of her form long after others had stopped.
She was on her own as the whole room looked on at her - but she did fantastic. She did so well that Mr. Edge called her out right afterwards, complimenting her on the precision and positioning of her hands, how subtle things are and well executed.
In the end, there we were again, ready to pull on either side of that knot, the final part of the ceremony. The parents once again go to the belt, and this time it was Mommy and Daddy. The idea is that they've helped her get this far, and it is not her alone that pulls on the knot, just as it wasn't her alone that has earned that belt in the first place. But there she is with that brown belt, as you can see.
And here's the whole class again, at least this particular group of students. There were others before and others on Tuesday night - a lot of kids go to the studio. Madison has been with this group of kids for a few years now though, and she loves hanging out with them all.
Here's the traditional picture with Mrs. and Mr. Edge. She's getting closer to that black belt. Maybe some time next year, in fact. We still have red to go, and there's a bit in between. But Madison is ready, and enjoying the journey there. Congratulations to you on your new chocolate belt! I mean, brown belt.
Madison went ahead with her math test, but the other test today was one she's been waiting to take for the last several months:
Tonight Madison earned her chocolate belt. This, of course, is the brown belt. And no disrespect to the brown belt - it's not quite the penultimate belt, but it's certainly up there. Madison only has a few belts to go. But I think there were two questions being asked of her at the same time, just after the funeral:
1. What belt are you getting?
2. What's your favorite ice cream?
Madison heard the second question only, and the obvious answer was chocolate. And ironically, that's of course the color of her belt tonight - we'll call it chocolate brown!
Nana and Ye-Ye were on hand for the big moment, and it was indeed a big moment. Given the events of this week, there was a slightly different atmosphere here tonight than the usual testing ceremony.
Mr. Tucker here was Jesse's group leader last Summer Xtreme, and you can see him here being an encouragement to Madison. Of course, he's gone on to become also the children's pastor down at our Midtown Campus.
Once we got in our seats, that's when it all started. And we've been to a few of these before, so we knew the drill. And as you can see in these pictures, the kids knew the drills too. Look how high Madison's kicks are!
And look at that face! Such ferocity! It just says, "Don't mess with me!"
Mrs. Edge looked on as the kids did warm-ups and got ready for the other portions of the evening.
Madison and the others did their kicks and punches with such energy, ready to take on the night and claim that new ranking they all worked so hard for. With Madison, it's been a longer stretch, given that she took some time off to be in that Christmas production or ours. But she was back in classes and there frequently, ready to move up to the next ranking.
Here's another ferocious facial expression. Nana and Ye-Ye were watching on, impressed by the display in front of us. No doubt she can take care of herself. Of course, she's working hard to learn more and more, and get more disciplined. But she's got some surprising agility and power, and it's great to see that on display. Like a military parade of weaponry, tonight she was showing what she was capable of, and what she's been training to become. It was pretty awesome!
The younger kids did some exercises, and that gave us a little break, but soon enough Madison was back, and in her sparring gear. You can see her above, ready to go.
She was matched up with two different opponents tonight, and she did really well against them. I've seen her sparring against others in the past weeks, and I think this might have been the most aggressive I've seen her at the onset.
She was constantly moving forward, on the attack, ready to give her opponent a foot-fist fiesta! But the main course of tonight's meal was a huge serving of foot!
She had some outstanding high kicks, and in one case, her opponent didn't quite know how to come back from such a flurry of feet. It was like we were watching Chun Li do her lightning kick!
Yeah, that one. Anyway, we were pretty impressed. Nana and Ye-Ye were almost shocked! And Madison was sitting there the whole time with this great big grin on her face.
It's great when you see those through the mask. She was having a good time. And so were we, watching her do her sparring.
I like this shot above, because it looks like she's asking, "Are you ready for more?" Actually, this is a shot taken during the exercise where the students escape from a neck grab, using a specific set of motions. Madison breaks the hold, pushes the aggressor back while yelling, and stands ready to bring it.
There was a little break here, as other students were running through their form, the last part of the testing cycle. Madison was up next, ready to go.
This is a complicated part, much more difficult than it may seem, a series of choreographed movements, strikes, kicks and stances, many moves long. It was so long that Madison was actually doing a bit of her form long after others had stopped.
She was on her own as the whole room looked on at her - but she did fantastic. She did so well that Mr. Edge called her out right afterwards, complimenting her on the precision and positioning of her hands, how subtle things are and well executed.
In the end, there we were again, ready to pull on either side of that knot, the final part of the ceremony. The parents once again go to the belt, and this time it was Mommy and Daddy. The idea is that they've helped her get this far, and it is not her alone that pulls on the knot, just as it wasn't her alone that has earned that belt in the first place. But there she is with that brown belt, as you can see.
And here's the whole class again, at least this particular group of students. There were others before and others on Tuesday night - a lot of kids go to the studio. Madison has been with this group of kids for a few years now though, and she loves hanging out with them all.
Here's the traditional picture with Mrs. and Mr. Edge. She's getting closer to that black belt. Maybe some time next year, in fact. We still have red to go, and there's a bit in between. But Madison is ready, and enjoying the journey there. Congratulations to you on your new chocolate belt! I mean, brown belt.
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