Karate for ALL

Today Lilah had her first Karate lesson.

After months of her older siblings being in class....

Lilah was ready for her lesson. This is her excitedly getting in the car!

When we arrived at the Karate school Lilah was very excited to be on the mat.
She flipped around on her little legs over and over....GIGGLING!
She felt up and down her belt and was so happy to be able to do this.
Carson has been wanting to work with Lilah since I signed my kids up for Karate several months ago. Slowly I have gotten Lilah accustom to the sounds, smells, and lights of the school. She has become more comfortable with Carson as well. When we first came to the school she was timid and reluctant to smile at him, give him a high-five, etc. Little by little she has watched him with her older siblings and began smiling at him, walking freely in the school, and giving him a high-five. She began saying her "kia"...or as Lilah says, "aYa" last month...repetitively. So, I knew she was ready.

Carson asked me if I would be willing to get on the mat and help. With my little knowledge from Krav Maga Classes and from watching my kids, I tried to help . I think Lilah really enjoyed being on the mat with Alex, Sammie, and Eli too.

Carson was INCREDIBLE with Lilah. I cannot even begin to tell you how patient he was with her. Seriously. He was repetitive, slow, consistent, and cheerful.

He told me that all he really wanted to do today was to teach her to bow, get into fighting stance and try to hit him.

Lilah did much more. He took her on the "cheese mat" ( a declining mat...think ramp like) and asked her to put her head to her toes. I helped Carson as we taught Lilah to roll down the mat. She LOVED it so much that she began to trust Carson and he did it with her alone.

Carson heard me call her toes her "piggies" and he asked her the next time to "touch her piggies" and she put her head to her toes and he rolled her.

All I had was my phone because I knew I would be on the mat, so the images and video aren't the best quality, but you get the idea.

Watch this little clip of Lilah learning to "hit" Mr. Carson.

Isn't this awesome?

Well, the entire "class" lasted about 20 minutes. Maybe.

Carson and I agreed she only needed a few minutes at first here and there to learn the basics.

Can you believe that she did all of that in only 20 minutes? Pretty cool!

It gets better....

Carson asked me what I thought about him starting a class for Special Needs kids.

God is SO cool because I have been praying about a way to ask Carson if he would start one, see if he would be interested, and how we could make it work...I just wasn't sure how to ask or approach Carson about it

But, God had already put the desire on Carson's heart. Carson told me that when he had his first degree black belt that there was a Special Needs young man who they worked with and he eventually got his black belt. Carson said that since then he has wanted to teach others with needs.

There are a few children in his school that are "differently abled" but Carson would like to make a class, "even daily", he said, for those with challenges.

I told Carson that I would tell my friends who have children with needs and that I would call Katrina from Something Special Magazine.

My hope is that Carson will have this class and that children of all abilities will learn to respect themselves and others, gain more confidence, find better balance, learn to protect themselves, have better awareness of self, and so much more.

If you are interested and live in the Pooler/Savannah/Effingham, Ga area, click on Carson's name throughout this post to contact him.

Lilah LOVED her first lesson. Her siblings were SO excited to see her on the mat, watch her work, help her with moves, and see her confidence grow.

Watch out world we have another "Future Black Belt" in our home!

Many thanks to Carson!

But, most importantly...

Thank you, GOD, for Lilah and her consistent daily improvements.

GOD IS SO GOOD!