I can remember thinking during his third karate class, that this was something that wasn’t going to last. He didn’t seem overly interested in it and was too scared to do a few of the tasks assigned. They offered 5 free classes and he insisted that he wanted to keep doing it, so we let him continue flexing his karate muscles.
Some back story on my son, he is pretty shy. Much unlike his father, he is not a huge fan of the spotlight and generally stays with the pack in most situations, with Santa being the exception. With karate being such an individual sport, we figured he would try it out a few times before realizing how often he would be singled out to show off his moves.
Much to our surprise, he started showing signs of independence as we went from class to class and I’m not talking about baby steps here either. He went from super shy guy, to wanting to compete in the solo competition at the karate tournament, all in a span of 3-4 months, and I was floored. This decision, however, didn’t come without a ton of worry from his mother and I. While it was amazing to see him starting to come out of his shell, we knew that he most likely wasn’t going to win the karate tournament and we were worried about not only how he would handle it, but also about how we would handle that situation as parents.
By the age of 5 years old, children understand the difference between winning and losing, so we tried to find a balance between allowing him to develop his competitive spirit and understanding that winning isn’t everything. I’m not sure I have ever been so proud as I was when he walked out to the middle of the packed dojo and performed his routine, flawlessly, I might add. On top of that, the pride on his face as he was presented with his 4th place trophy was enough to bring tears to my eyes then, and again as I write this.
The moral of this story is that sometimes it takes a child a little while to realize that they love something. Had we taken him out of karate, against his will, because we didn’t think he was actually interested, we all would have missed out on this opportunity for growth. He is now 5 belts in and has nowhere to go but up.
Chris Read is the founder of the blog Canadian Dad. Please feel free to stop by to say hi and/or follow on Twitter and Facebook