Karate Kid

For the last few months Ava has been taking karate classes with a small group of kids in a nearby park. Yesterday was the day for her official white belt test. The rest of Ava's class actually had their test back when we were in New York so yesterday's test was just all for Ava.

It was a pretty cold day, probably no more than 6 degrees celcius, but the sun was out so it was quite pleasant in the park. Of course, when the wind blew it was pretty chilly but luckily the wind stayed at bay for most of Ava's test.

Ava takes herself pretty seriously when she does her activities, especially when she sees it as a competition so she was very focused during her test and put in a lot of effort. She even did a good job of ignoring Lola who was making a lot of noise trying to copy Ava off to the side. It all paid off in the end when she was awarded her white belt and a certificate. She's all about the certificates, our girl. Certificates and trophies. If there's a certificate or trophy on offer Ava is in!

Here's a look at Ava in action during her test with her teacher Sensei Julia...

At the end of the test Ava had to patiently wait while her teacher decided if she had passed or not. Sensei Julia held the belt above her head and told Ava that if she'd passed she would bring it down to hit Ava's hand. If she had failed it would be tossed aside. I could see that Ava was nervous as to what would happen next and she looked very relieved when the belt came down on her hand.

The belt was then tied around Ava's waist and she became a real karate kid!

And then of course she received her certificate - the most important part in Ava's eyes.

Well done to our little karate kid.