In Seach of the Eye

So I wrote not too long ago that I have my son back into martial arts. The first three classes have been forms practice and kicking/punching a cushioned target. Finally, now that the entire class had sparring gear, last week was the first time they all got to try out their moves...

*gulp*

...on each other!

Because I had been practicing with him, and even letting him practice on me (yes, you should see my bruises!) I went into class feeling sorry for the overweight kid my son was sure to be paired with because the two of them both tower over the other 7 year olds.

I thought I might have to cover my eyes and try not to look at OWK's parents with each crushing punch or kick my kid was going to deliver. I thought for sure OWK would find himself flat on his back from having been kicked by legs with muscles that are basically hard as rock when in motion. I thought for sure, that after all these years of teaching my kid not to show aggression and how to control his temper, he would totally let lose in this environment where he's encouraged to kick and punch with a mighty AAAAAAIIIIII-YYYYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

I was totally prepared to come face to face with the eye of the tiger and I didn't know how I was going to feel about that.

But that's not what I came face to face with. Far from it. In fact, in was more like eye of the organ grinder monkey more than anything.

I'm not sure if he was actually incapable of digging within to find his eye of the tiger, or if it was just because the slow, lumbering moves of OWK was making him laugh. Because…he was literally laughing. And literally backing up and then literally stopping to let OWK punch or kick him again and then laughing. It got so bad that Miss Cindy, the beautiful yet lethal instructor, went over to the pair and started yelling at my kid to kick him back and do it hard.

"DON'T STAND THERE LAUGHING AND LETTING HIM KICK YOU!!!! IF HE HITS YOU, YOU KICK HIM!!! KICK HIM NOW!!! KICK HIM HARD!!! PUNCH HIM!!! PUNCH NOW!!!! KICK PUNCH!!! KICK PUNCH!!!"

Watching my kid being chased around the room by the OWK, was painful! It was more painful than helplessly watching him moon his karate class. I slunk farther down into my chair as OTW kid's parents laughed and clapped with each awkward slow-mo kick or punch landed on my son. And as usual, with tension starting to mount in my body my brain went into logical assessment mode to try and find some sense to the current situation. But there was none. As my assessment confirmed, between the cost of instruction, uniform and sparring gear, I just paid $365.00 to watch my kid get schooled!

to be continued...