April 24 – “Spring Sparring”

I returned to my three-miler yesterday.  Did have one little parenthesis about the start of the third mile though.  I stopped to chat with one of our fire fighter neighbors and his two kids.  Very cute kids, by the way.  Hunter is the human male child.  Lucy is the corresponding canine female.  Both greeted me.  Lucy was way more enthusiastic than Hunter, but I at least got a smile out of the youngster.  I guess when he saw Lucy meet me in the middle of the street to garner back scratches, he must have figured I was OK. 

 

Last night we went to an event that I never thought I would witness.  Never entered my wheelhouse growing up, in fact.  We drove into Texas to watch (No, not the Astros) … the final competition of a martial arts (Karate) studio’s Spring Sparring Season.  SSS.  Three of our grandkids were competing, Noa, Josiah, and Micah. 

 

Now, I certainly don’t understand the rules and regulations of such a competition, much less the scoring details.  But Noa must have done something right, because she garnered three points in one blow … three different times.  Josiah scored for his team as well.  In fact his team made it to the finals against the defending champions.  The were defeated in a close match.  Again, not sure how either team scored, but the other guys had more points at the end of the time limit.  Micah was really impressive.  He was paired up every time with someone who had already earned a black belt.  He did really well every time, too.  By the time he earns his black belt no one but the instructors will be willing to spar with him. 

 

So, an evening of watching kids beat on each other.  Interesting pastime.  I especially felt for the little bitty guy who walked out for his first match.  Maybe five or six years old.  In the first few seconds his opponent moved toward him and smacked him in the eye.  He started crying, so they pulled him aside and continued with other competitors.  Finally the little man was ready to try again.  He moved to the center mat.  His opponent did likewise.  And before he knew what hit him, the opponent nailed him in the stomach with a kick.  And he was down again.  That was it for this little superstar.  He was done for the night.  Kudos to him for his attempted comeback, though. 

 

They all did a really good job.  The event organizers encouraged all the competitors to leave any anger toward each other on the mat.  They talked about immediate forgiveness and other biblical values.  They pray with the kids, too.  Pretty impressive organizational structure. 

 

1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.”

 

Father, thank you for invading the lives of those event organizers.  May they be blessed for their efforts at instilling core biblical values in the kids they teach.  Amen.