Before the picture was taken, a testing was held. This is for any student to try to move up to the next belt level. JC has gone to these before to judge, but I've never attended one with him. This time Monkey and I both went. It was a lot of fun to watch what JC has been a part of for so many years.
There was one little boy in particular that I was fascinated by. A chubby little guy, maybe 10 years old. He was testing for his green belt that day. He was doing well, messed up a couple of times, but doing well. When it came time to break his board, he wasn't able to do it in two tries. The next person was able to break theirs and you could see the little boy was upset and trying to hold back his tears. Mr. Brown yelled at him, saying that he has accomplished so much in his time there and that he should not shed any tears over an unbroken board. He proceeded to tell everyone about this boy...
He came to Mr. Brown last summer, EXTREMELY obese; morbidly obese in fact. Doctors were worried about him and he needed to lose weight. This little boy was so over weight that he couldn't see his feet, couldn't touch his toes, couldn't really do much of anything. Since his time with Mr. Brown he has lost nearly 60 lbs! He is still a chunky boy, but he is able to keep up with the rest of the class and do all his kicks and everything else.
After Mr. Brown told everyone about this boy, he asked him if he really wanted to break the board. The boy emphatically shouted, "YES SIR!" He said he would give him one last shot at it. The little boy dried his tears, went up to the front of the class and broke that board right in half!
I've never met that boy. I don't know his family. I don't know anything about him, except for what Mr. Brown said. Regardless of all of that, I was excited for him. I don't think I have ever been prouder of a complete stranger than on that day. I can't wait for when Monkey is old enough to join the ranks, I only hope that Mr. Brown is still teaching!
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