Martial Arts Testing

Oliver received his last stripe to graduate from a white belt to an intermediate white (a white belt with a yellow stripe) a couple of weeks ago. Being new to karate (Chloe did Kung Fu which moves at a much slower pace through belts), I was completely clueless that he was eligible to graduate until another mom at class asked if Oliver would be participating in the end-of-the-month graduation. "Ugh, didn't he need another stripe?" Apparently not. Lesson learned.

So, I filled out the necessary paperwork for Oliver to graduate and it was approved! Yea Oliver!

I made it just in the knick of time, as the graduation ceremony/testing was two days later.

The graduation/belt testing was on Friday. Students eligible to move up in belt rankings all tested together with the instructors in front of family & friends.

Oliver was bit overwhelmed at first when he realized he would be out there with much older and more experienced kids and no other white or yellow belts were there. Thankfully, his instructor realized he was a little overwhelmed too and came and took him out to the testing arena and started reviewing with him. During this time, other white and yellow belts showed up and Oliver got his confidence back.

Depending on belt rank, the kids were called out by belt color and performed their drills. Oliver was so attentive and was praised by the head instructor for only being four and sitting still the entire time others were testing. It was a lot of fun to see the abilities and levels of each belt.


Oliver was presented with his white belt with yellow stripe and we took him out to eat afterwards to celebrate. The restaurant manager brought him a free ice cream as congratulations. Oliver was quite the star.

Martial arts has really held Ollie's attention and he enjoys it. I also love that I can remind Oliver of some of the lessons he has learned in class, like 'self-control' and 'respect' and 'perserverance'. Next step will be for Oliver to graduate to the yellow belt with a white stripe before he officially becomes a full-fledged yellow belt. He is very eager to get that yellow and move up to the bigger kid class.