Thursday, May 20, 2010

Karate

Finding a sport that Alex enjoys has been challenging. His balance is so poor that he is intimidated by other kids running at him and balls coming at him, and with his weak left hand, it is hard to hold a bat or tennis racquet. Soccer is tough for Alex, but we recently discovered that if he holds my hand and I run with him around the field, providing him with balance, he has no problem running, kicking and shooting the ball. He and the other kids are young enough that having mommy hold his hand is not embarrassing. I hope that by the time he reaches the age where he would be mortified to have his mom holding his hand during soccer practice, that he will have more balance.

We were very happy to recently discover that karate is not only a sport he can excel at, but which works all of his disabilities. At this age at least, no one touches you in karate. You use flat open hands and kicks and blocks and chops all against a soft pad, at your own pace. Again, I have had to hold Alex's hands through many of the lessons, especially the obstacle course they run through each day. He can not walk on the "ninja rocks" (mats) by himself and needs a hand to hop through the hoops, and needed much encouragement to enter the tunnels. But, the exercises, coupled with the time the instructor spends on discussing important topics like honesty, integrity, respect, patience, and listening are all very worthy of our time. As soon as Alex's sister, Izzy, is old enough, we will enroll her too. I hope they love the sport, and that we can learn karate together.

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