The real Karate Kid!
The Real Karate Kid!
My son Alfie flung his arms around me. ‘I did it!’ he shouted. After three years of training, he’d officially got his black belt in Wado-ryu karate. And he was only 7!
It started out as a hobby – one of those things you sign your kids up for.
When I took him, aged 4, to his first lesson at a local karate school in Morley, Alfie was a little nervous. But, after a few classes, he loved it. He spent most of his time practising, chopping and kicking his way around the house.
He was always a very active child, so he loved the physical side of it. And he picked it up really quickly.
But we never thought he would turn into such a genius at karate.
‘Don’t be too disappointed if you don’t make it,’ my husband Andrew,
40, said to him as he went for his first grading – but he passed with flying colours. Gradings mean going up to the next level, learning harder moves and, most importantly, getting the next colour belt.
Every three months, Alfie went for another grading, and just kept passing every time. And, as he went up the different belts from white to brown, his confidence grew.
Alfie now trains for five hours a week and, at just 7, he’s already a qualified instructor, teaching the Wado-ryu discipline to the juniors at his local karate club.
At 4ft 4in, some of the kids can’t believe Alfie is their teacher!
On holiday this summer,
I also saw him teaching two kids at the poolside – he’s a natural.
After he got his second belt, his teacher entered him for competitions.
He competes in two tournaments a year and, so far, he’s won 13 trophies! If he wins any more, we’ll have to buy him a new cabinet.
I love watching Alfie compete, but I spend a lot of my time crying with pride! Andrew and his sister Lucy, 5, are really proud of him, too. To earn his black belt, he had to show how skilled he was. But he also had to learn the Japanese words for different body parts, some karate moves, and numbers up to 20.
He did it with such ease, we’re thinking of letting him learn Japanese. Alfie’s working towards his second black belt. He’ll have to stay at the same level for at least three years to get it, but that’s not a problem, as he lives and breathes the sport. His instructors think he could have his fourth black belt by age 18. The British Karate Association want him to compete at national level. Next stop, the Olympics! My dream is to see him get an Olympic medal. It may be a dream, but we may as well dream big!
He’s already a qualified instructor, teaching others!