The Smedley Family: A Sensei-making day

I realize it's been since July that I blogged. So fire me. I've had a lot going on. Not the least of which is the preparation for a huge Smedley day of karate. You see, on Sept. 18th, three (count them, 3) of my children joined me in the ranks of blackbelt. Breanna, Stu and Kelle all tested together, and it was a treat for me to watch. I was impressed and inspired by them, all 3.

Stu has unbelievable strength-- so much so that his warm body (the helper assigned to him for the day, the one who counts his situps and pushups and gets beat up by Stu) had bruises and shaking muscles from holding bags for him. Sensei Jeff came over during the kicks and punches and said: "I don't care who you are or how tough you think you are, Stu would KNOCK YOU OUT!" For sure. He is one tough cookie. And he looked awful darn impressive running and horse stancing without his shirt... (:

Breanna has a dedication and follow-through that amazes me. She has always been able to draw from the very depths of her soul to find the strength to do whatever she has to. My friend (and belt testing buddy) Synda said it's a Smedley trait... we get a look of stone-cold determination on our face, and no matter how we feel about what is happening, we focus and work until it is done. That's B.

Kelle is...amazing. She has focus and power and strength that is unbelievable. She finished 36 katas, and Jeff came over to give her a hug for completing that part of the test. She said something to him, and he just nodded and walked away. And she proceeds to do, in true tournament fashion, with deep stances and incredible power, a 2nd degree black kata called Rohi. She also DROPPED her warm body multiple times...I actually felt kinda sorry that he had volunteered for the assignment. I think she surprised him just a bit.

So the day's schedule looks somewhat like this: 200 situps, jumping jacks and pushups in 15 minutes; 2 mile run in 17- minutes; 15 minute horse stance. And that is just the first hour. Before lunch, they did all their kicks and punches 10 times on each side, hard as they could, which totals something like 1000 kicks and punches, and 36 katas (or 37, if you're Kelle). Lunch was 45 short minutes, during which we shoved peanut butter and honey, bananas, and oranges down them for muscle recovery. After lunch, they did 45 self-defense techniques 3-8 times on their warm body (sorry, warm bodies...); all the grappling techniques (probably about 20 or 30); 6 different weapons; katana (samurai sword) kata and cuts (salad, anyone?); board and brick breaking; cardio burn; written test. It is an unbelievably long day, full of exertion from start to finish. Everything we have ever learned shows up on test day. They did SO incredibly fantastic. I could not be prouder.

The belt ceremony was Monday night, and is very traditional. I will post a description and pics of that night soon, too, but tonight it's just the test day. What amazing kids. By the way, Stu did something no one has done at a black belt test before: he broke 2 bricks with his hand, and had enough power for more. Go Stu! Enjoy the pics from the day, and watch for more to follow.