Judo Promotions

As you know, dear friend and devoted reader, my Michael and Mason started taking Judo together about a year ago. They did stop for baseball season and summertime, but they've been back in the swing of things for the past couple of months. Saturday was Mason's first promotional evaluation.


He was rather nervous, to say the least. He had trouble deciding if he wanted to do the test and participate in the tournament or just take the test. He went back and forth on this decision. After seeing the gymnasium full of hundreds of strangers he declared that he didn't want to do either.


We told him that it was up to him what he chose to do. In the end, he took the test and pulled his card out of the tournament. At first, he seemed very shy and unsure, but as the testing went on he became more confident. Before too long, he was throwing another boy onto the floor with gusto.


We are so proud of Mason, not for passing his first test (which he did, in spite of not having the advantage of showing his stuff to the judges during the tournament), but for choosing to take that test--in front of all those strangers--even though it scared him to tears.


In the spirit of gratitude, I would like to say that I am thankful for my Michael's idea that he and Mason take Judo together. I am grateful that they both just got promoted to the next level (the adult promotions are on a separate day, but Michael passed, too). And I'm happy that Maia has decided to join them on their Tuesday nights at the Judo club. I hope that she, too, will learn to do things outside her comfort zone.