First lesson
Early the next morning, I was a ball of excitement as I went through my morning routine.
"Slow down there buddy, your food won't run away from you." my dad said with a chuckle.
Following what he said, I slow down and chew my food instead of inhaling it.
"Someone must be excited about today." my mother says from the other side of the table.
Instead of responding, I nod my head emphatically, while chewing my food.
"If you join the military when you are older, those skills that you will learn can be very important and could help you out a lot."
"Really," I say, looking over at him.
"Really," he says in response to me.
Ever since I understood what the military was I wanted to join.
My dad was a marine, and he would tell me stories of battles that the Marines were a part of.
Of course that would always anger my mother to no end, so he would only tell them to me when she was gone.
I could see the look my mother was giving my father now, and I knew he would get an ear-chewing for his words.
"or just for self-defense," she said in a stern voice and a raised eyebrow.
Lowering his head my dad said.
"or for self-defense"
But I could see the smile on his face.
After breakfast, Dad left, and it was just me and Momma.
I was going crazy with boredom, and Mom could tell.
How often does a 4-year-old pace back and forth in front of a door?
"If you want to make the time go by quicker, clean up your toys and your room." my mother suggested.
Making my way to my room, I start picking up my toys.
Trucks, cars, action figures, and some coloring books.
Grabbing them from the floor, I put them in a large bucket in my closet.
I only got halfway through, before I found an old coloring book I had forgotten.
Taking it to my small table, I grab some crayons and start scribbling.
Lost in my own little world the time starts to tick faster and faster.
"Are you ready to go, sweetie," my mom says from my door.
Looking up I say.
"YES"
Running on my short legs to my race car bed, I grab my shoes.
After strapping the Velcro down, I stand and run out of my room.
In the car, I look out the window as I mindlessly kick my legs up and down while singing along to a song that was playing on the radio.
Parking in front of what my mom called a dojo.
I strain on my belt to try and look over the dashboard and into the dojo.
But unfortunately, I'm still too short.
After some assistance from my mother, I'm free from my car seat.
Running to the door, I had to wait for my mother to open the door for me.
Once open I take a step inside.
Unlike yesterday, the inside is completely empty.
As we stood there we heard a "clunk" sound coming from our right.
Turning our heads we saw Mister Haru coming from a side door carrying a plastic box.
"Oh, you're here just in time." Mister Haru said.
Setting down the plastic container at the edge of the mats, he walked towards the wall where he grabbed a small pile of folded clothes.
Walking towards us he said to my mother.
"These are for Andrew, they should fit him."
With a hint of juvenility, he said.
"One size fits all for the kid, teen, and adult sizes."
Taking the clothes, me and Mom go to the small bathroom, where I get dressed in the strange clothes that Mister Haru gave Mom.
Stepping out I was confused.
The pants were fine, and fit well.
But the top was wide open, and it didn't have any buttons, or a zipper to close it.
stepping out of the bathroom, I saw that mister Haru was waiting on us, and in his hand was a long white piece of some sort of cloth.
Mister Hura could clearly see the confusion on my face.
Lifting the white piece of material he says.
"Missing something"
"What's that," I ask.
"This is your belt." He said, walking towards me.
"This represents your martial ranking in judo."
"Oh, so what does white mean?" I ask.
"This means you are a new beginner, once you get to a certain point of experience in judo you will get a new belt color showing experience and ability," he said, taking a knee in front of me.
"Now here is your first lesson, how to properly tie your belt."
It's a lot harder than you would think.
Unlike regular belts with a buckle, I had to learn the proper way to tie the pelt, or as I quickly found out the belt was called an obi, and the clothes were called a gi.
It was a lot for my brain to take in.
I was ready to start throwing some kicks and super moves around not tying an "obi"
I was so fidgety that mister Haru said.
"Calm down, today we won't be doing anything on the mats, I will just be showing you the basics."
I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bummed after he said that.
After that, he went on to tell me about judo.
Judo is a martial art that emphasizes the use of quick movement and leverage to throw an opponent, and redirect energy.
Oh, and I can't call him Mister Haru any more.
I can only call him teacher or teacher Haru.
By the end of the lesson, I was so mentally tired that I didn't have the time to complain about not getting to fight.
On the drive home, I fell asleep in my car seat.
When I woke up I had to clean the drool off of my face.
Later that day at dinner my dad asked me what I thought of judo class.
"It was okay I guess," I said as I used my fork to move my peas to my mashed potato mountain.
"Just okay," he asked.
"Yeah," I said, not looking up at him.
"It wasn't what he was expecting," my mom said for me.
"he was thinking he would go in and start learning to fight right off the bat."
"But instead today was more of an introduction."
My dad smiles and then turns to me.
"I know it's not what you were thinking, but it's just a matter of time before you will get to do all that stuff, you have a lesson tomorrow right, well you got all of the hard stuff out of the way so I'm sure tomorrow you will get the chance to learn to fight."
I look up to him.
"Really?" I asked.
My dad's smile grew wider.
"Have I ever lied to you buddy," he asked.
"no," I say in response.
"Then let's turn that frown upside-down."
He said picking up a pea on his fork and then flinging it at me.
I couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling up and out.
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