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Way to go boys!

Well, last Saturday was a two-fer: Joshua had his first regionals wrestling tournament in Belfast (half hour north of us…Paul went there), and Eli went to his second karate tournament, the Battle of Maine in Winslow, about 80 minutes north-northwest of here–and came home with something almost as big as he is…read on!

Joshua lost both his matches, but he went out there and tried his best, and we are very, very proud of him. He gets really nervous before a match (who wouldn’t?!), and he does it anyway! His dad told him that when he began wrestling in high school on junior varsity, his first season he 2 wins, 7 losses. He got ticked and decided he didn’t want to get pinned ever again…and didn’t! His next season was 10-1-1 and won 2 of the 3 school wrestling trophies….and his record improved after that when he moved to Varsity.

So, Joshua wants to go to wrestling camp this summer. One of his teammates, Angus, who looks like Ichabod Crane when he walks out onto the mat, went to the camp last summer, and was undefeated in the regular season. He lost one match in the regionals, and placed Third overall in the Maine Eastern Regionals, and will go to States tomorrow. Paul, who has been helping coach the team, Joshua and Eli will make the trek to Rumford (in western Maine on Route 2 on the way to NY state) tomorrow while I’m teaching Fine Finishes (a binding class). We’re both happy Joshua has found something he loves so much!

Eli found tae kwon do, a Korean form of karate, in Sept. 2004 after we moved to Maine. He now takes classes 2 or 3 times a week, and has progressed from rank white belt, to yellow belt, two TWO stripes on his belt! At the Battle of Maine tournament the age 7-8 year old yellow-belts (boys) group was so large…26 boys!…they divided it into two groups, and awarded trophies to each group. As luck would have it, some of the most able kids were in Eli’s group. Even with that, Eli placed fourth in forms (set routines) and second in fighting (the same boy who won first in both forms and fighting was really good!). Adam, also in 2nd grade with Eli, was in the other group and he took a second place trophy in forms.

At the beginning of one’s forms, the kids introduce themselves to the judge, tell them which school and method of martial arts they practice, and ask permission to begin their katas (the “forms”). That’s what Eli’s doing here, holding the correct beginning, respectful stance:

This photo is of Eli still in his fighting gear, right after receiving his 2nd place trophy:

Here are Eli and Adam:

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