Laura's Red Belt

Laura received her red belt in Karate last weekend. This is her first belt test since she has been in a higher ranked class. She did very well and we are very proud of her. In order to receive her red belt she had to meet several requirements including performing a "form" which is a long series of kicks punches and movements. Essentially it is one side of a choreographed fight scene. She also had to know two "one-steps" which where in this case defensive moves to escape if someone grabs your wrist. She also had to know a kicking/punching combination, and had to perform in a sparring match against one of her classmates. Finally she had to perform a boardbreak using a flying side-kick.

Here are the pictures:
Note: The blue uniform is a symbol of academic achievement. You are only allowed to wear the blue top if you are in first grade or above and have all A's or all A's and 1 B (or the equivalent) on your report card. Laura shows her instructor her report card every time she gets it in order to continue to wear the blue top.




Caught her in mid-air..she's doing a kick as part of her combination.


Laura doing her form...don't be fooled by the adorable little kid to her right that outranks her. He's been doing this since he was 2 and knows this stuff better than a lot of the older kids.

Laura performing her combination for the instructor.


Flying side-kick board break...she's blurry because she's in motion, but you can get the idea.


She just received her red belt!