Kempokan!!

Well, as some of you remember, Matthew was enrolled in a 3 day introduction to karate through his school. Well, we are through with two of those days and HE. LOVES. IT. So, we have looked into two local studios to see who had the best program to fit Matthew's needs. The programs had two totally different philosophies--one believes 5 year olds have the mental/physical capacity to test for different belts. The other doesn't. One costs a minimum of $125 per month. The other $65 flat per month. One only teaches karate. The other teaches several different martial arts.
Sooooo...we went with "the OTHER" which is The KEMPOKAN. For $65 a month Matthew will meet once a week for 45 minutes with other 5 and 6 year olds to learn about multiple philosphies of the mixed martial arts. His group is called the Little Dragons and their classes are designed to help children explore their physical and mental capacities, work together with other children, and lay the foundations for a life full of learning. Classes are activity based, meaning that the entire group works on the same set of skills at the same time, with different focus areas every few weeks. At the completion of a focus area, our Little Dragon is awarded a patch to recognize his accomplishment. How cool is that? No belts, but patches...this I can live with. Some past focus areas for the group have included discipline, kicking, respect, stranger awareness, blocking and health. Additionally, they are constantly reminded of the basic fundamental principles of learning like concentration, listening and taking turns.

I have several co-workers who take their children to this studio and adore it and say the Chief Instructor Jonathan Metcalf is amazing!! He has a way with children. So, we are looking forward to next week when he starts at the Kempokan.

I had planned on posting this yesterday morning, then tried last night, but blogger was being a bitch and ate it. So I hope this one goes through.

That is all for today though because instead of being in school, my little guy is here with me. Sick? So it appeared when he puked on the cafeteria floor on his way to his classroom this morning. Now that we are home....not so much. Running around, generally being a nuisance and preventing me from getting a lot of work done. Must go check out yet ANOTHER loud bang from his room.....oy.