Mein Kleiner Sieger

This is my little champion - and his chosen blip photo. He was very particular about what I was to post today. He wants all the details shared...

We spent the day at his very first Judo tournament. This is a sport I know nothing about and never had the remotest interest in. It would never cross my mind to enroll my child in lessons. But somehow my youngest got into his head that he wanted to learn Judo. He was very insistent and took the initiative (at age 10!) to find a local club, get us the brochure and phone number and remind us daily to call and sign him up. He saved his own money to buy the uniform he wears so proudly.

He's only been to about 5 weeks of training and an opportunity arose to attend a tournament. My husband thought it was too soon for him. The little guy hasn't got enough lessons under his belt. But our son really wanted to go and I figured he could learn some techniques by watching experienced athletes and become familiar with how the tournaments are run.

So we prepared him to not expect too much, be ready to accept some hard losses as part of learning. But we really should have known our son better.

The first match was against a younger, shorter boy who at least matched my son in weight, had a yellow belt, and reportedly left his last tournament undefeated. This time the poor boy left the mats sobbing. Literally. He was devastated that my son beat him.

Match two was against a much taller girl, who had more experience, but could not match my son's strength or will to win.

The third match was against another female contender, about the same height, but at least 6 kilos heavier, and again, more experienced. She was a very challenging opponent who fought hard and nearly had my son on the ground several times in the first 3 rounds. But neither scored any points and the judge declared an extended overtime where the first to score a point would win. At that, the exhausted girl was in tears, crying "I can't fight him anymore!" - but she did, and she lost.

In the fourth fight, my son met his match. A much taller, older boy wrestled several rounds with my son and I feared real pain would be inflicted on my baby. (I'm not allowed to write that word, but that's how I felt!!) Ultimately, the older boy won the contest and took first place, but my little judo master managed a second place medal and the praise of tournament organizers. Apparently my son knows what he wants and is ready to work hard to reach his goals.

I'm very proud of my little victor :)