Saturday, March 12, 2011

Black Belt!

Guess what...he did it! He did it! He did it! He did it!

Jonathon got his black belt today!  Can you tell how excited and proud of him I am?  Beyond proud of him for all of his hard work and bouncing back after he didn't break his boards last month!  The smile on his face will forever be etched in my heart!  It is absolutely wonderful to see your child succeed at something that means so much to them! 

Here are a few pictures from the day!  I don't have many of the actual testing and none of the board breaking because honestly I was too nervous for him!  I'll share more when we can see the photos from the school.

First up...sparring...check out the height on his kick!
Mr. Patten lifting him up to get his black belt off the black belt wall.
Posing as a black belt!
Jonathon's cheering section...PopPop, me, Marcel, Ryan, Pat, Collin, Nana M and Nana W! 
All very, very proud and loud cheerleaders!
Collin took video during the testing.  First up (which is actually the last thing they do in testing) is board breaking.  For black belt, the student has to break three boards using three different techniques.  They are allowed to have two misses total.  Jonathon had broken two boards: one with his elbow and one with a kick.  The taping starts as Jonathon is trying for his third board break.  Jonathon missed two...but then came through to break it on his third try. I absolutely adore Mr. Patten.  You'll see why when you listen to this!  He got him through!  And...you'll hear me screaming like a maniac...and Collin knowing that Jonathon had one more try too..again so proud!
Very happy day at our house!

8 comments:

Maureen said...

woot, woot!!Congrats to Jonathon!! What perseverance!! I'm sure there was a BIG celebration at home :) Many congrats :) So now I have a question...I've noticed for sometime now that young people can get their black belts...when did this change? Or was it always that way? I remember when they only use to talk about adults having them...or was I just out of the loop? Or is it that more young people are doing it now? Just curious :)

Barb said...

Yay!! Yippee!! Woo, hoo!! I am so happy for Jonathon! Gosh, that must have been so exciting to watch! I found myself rooting for him while watching, even though I already knew he had done it. So glad you shared the video! Loved it, Lynn! :)

Jay Gee said...

How exciting for Jonathon and your family Lynn! Congrats.

Jen W. said...

Way to go, Jonathon!!! So cool to watch this video! Luis wandered in while I was watching it and made me play it again. He was very impressed that this "menino pequeno" was breaking boards. :) Have a wonderful weekend celebrating!

Karen B. said...

Congratulations Jonathon!

Amy Kolling said...

Way to go!!! What an accomplishment! Tim and Brett are halfway through their black belt classes (just did week 7 of 12). I can't be more proud already!

Stacey said...

I felt the intensity so much it brought tears to my eyes!

Matt said...

That was fantastic! I had no idea it was that intense. Congrats to Jonathon!