White Stripes - Part 2

Troy has been practicing his bum off every day for the last five days. Some days ended in tears or frustration, but he always came back the next day to try again. He has worked very hard, and I’ve started to see it pay off. His form is looking very good. His steps are cleaner and his motions are smoother.

Today was his final day to get stripes before the belt testing on Thursday. I’m not sure who was more nervous about it, him or me. I’d been agonizing over it all day, and my stomach was churning by the time we walked into the class. Then, the bottom fell out of it. The owner, Mr. Richie walked up to me, and he told me that the instructor for Troy’s class, Miss Pixie, didn’t feel like Troy was ready yet, and that he could use more time as a white belt. My heart sank. All that time and effort that Troy had been putting into practicing, and they weren’t even going to give him a chance! Troy was going to be devastated.

So, I did what any good dad would do, and I went to bat for him. I told Mr. Richie about how hard Troy had been working and about how we’d been practicing every day at home. I told him that Troy’s form was looking really good. And I asked him to at least give Troy a chance to prove it to them today. I surmised that it would devastate him if he had to watch everyone else progressing while he had to stay behind, especially after all the effort he’d been putting into it. Impressed that Troy had been practicing so hard at home, Mr. Richie agreed to talk to Miss Pixie about giving him a chance.

And then disaster struck. For some stupid reason that nobody could understand, Mr. Tyson decided to change up the stance on all of their kicks…two days before their belt testing. It was so awkward and confusing that everyone in the class was struggling to do it. Troy was completely off balance the entire time. And all I could think was that he was supposed to be making a good impression and showing what he could do, and what he was showing instead was that he couldn’t do it. It didn’t matter about anyone else, because they had all gotten their red stripe, which was the go-ahead to be able to test for their next belt. Troy was the one who needed a good class today, and this stupid new stance was screwing it up.

But thankfully, God and Mr. Richie took pity on Troy. Mr. Richie asked Miss Pixie to stay after class and work with Troy one-on-one to test him on the three tenets. Letting him be more in his comfort zone, without the awkward stance, Troy was able to show off his technique, his one-step, and his form. He was really trying to pay attention to each step, each foot and hand position, and even yelling at all of the right places. I was so incredibly proud of him. Miss Pixie was too. She eventually awarded him all three of his stripes. That meant that he still needed his red stripe to be cleared to test. So, Mr. Ritchie took him aside and ran through the form all over again. He gave Troy a few things to clean up, but determined that he had done a really good job. Before we left, Troy earned his red stripe too.

You should have seen him. He couldn’t stop smiling. He was so proud of himself. He couldn’t wait to call his mother and tell her all about it. I was so proud of him. Not just that he’d done it, but that he didn’t give up or quit. He worked hard and put in the effort. He really wanted it, and I’m so happy to see his hard work be rewarded. He really deserved it, and I couldn’t be happier for him.