They say that it is always darkest before the dawn
But how do you determine when exactly it is darkest?
P really wants to get into Martial Arts. We tried soccer as an activity, but it seems that she has inherited my deep set distaste for team sports. She went to a hand-full of practices and participated in a single game, during which she kicked the ball exactly once, albeit in the wrong direction (she is upholding my fine athletic tradition). The one physical activity that I loved as a kid (other than riding my bike or walking hither, thither, and yon), was (amongst others), Tae Kwon Do.
My boss walked in on me surfing around YouTube looking at exhibition matches and demonstrations of various martial arts styles, but she didn't really say anything about it given that it is Saturday and I am really only here just in case the hot-line phones ring.
The result of my search thus-far confirms my initial thought that the best fit for her needs would be Aikido. She has no need to develop assertiveness or confidence, she needs to work on discipline, self-control, and reacting to a threat with a measured and correct level of force (i.e. using a wrist lock to temporarily subdue an assailant so that she could inform a teacher, as opposed to a spinning high-kick, Dim-Mok Death Touch, or Five-Point "Exploding-Heart" Palm-Strike, any of which she would probably use at any given time if she knew them and felt threatened). She is the youngest in her class, but also the most likely to trample your ass if you mess with her. I am proud of her for standing up for herself, but I am also acutely aware that she needs to learn when and where force is allowed and proper, school not being one of them. I think that a good Aikido Sensei could be a positive influence, just as my Tae Kwon Do sensei was positive for me. One thing that P does not really get from us is a lot of philosophy, because what we believe would get her in trouble at school if she repeated it.
P really wants to get into Martial Arts. We tried soccer as an activity, but it seems that she has inherited my deep set distaste for team sports. She went to a hand-full of practices and participated in a single game, during which she kicked the ball exactly once, albeit in the wrong direction (she is upholding my fine athletic tradition). The one physical activity that I loved as a kid (other than riding my bike or walking hither, thither, and yon), was (amongst others), Tae Kwon Do.
My boss walked in on me surfing around YouTube looking at exhibition matches and demonstrations of various martial arts styles, but she didn't really say anything about it given that it is Saturday and I am really only here just in case the hot-line phones ring.
The result of my search thus-far confirms my initial thought that the best fit for her needs would be Aikido. She has no need to develop assertiveness or confidence, she needs to work on discipline, self-control, and reacting to a threat with a measured and correct level of force (i.e. using a wrist lock to temporarily subdue an assailant so that she could inform a teacher, as opposed to a spinning high-kick, Dim-Mok Death Touch, or Five-Point "Exploding-Heart" Palm-Strike, any of which she would probably use at any given time if she knew them and felt threatened). She is the youngest in her class, but also the most likely to trample your ass if you mess with her. I am proud of her for standing up for herself, but I am also acutely aware that she needs to learn when and where force is allowed and proper, school not being one of them. I think that a good Aikido Sensei could be a positive influence, just as my Tae Kwon Do sensei was positive for me. One thing that P does not really get from us is a lot of philosophy, because what we believe would get her in trouble at school if she repeated it.