bootcamp from the other side of the fence

saturday october 6th marked the 1st day of Jaidens very own Black Belt Bootcamp.

having recently gone through it myself, i had a huge combination of feelings as he ventured into Master McPains dungeon of enlightenment for his 3 month long test, but mostly, i felt excitement and nervousness for him.

i was excited because, honestly, Jaiden is a far better martial artist than myself, already.

he went from a shy, quiet, clumsy,misbehaving at times ( what kid isn't, right?)  5 year old when he started,

to a confident, strong, usually graceful LEADER who still misbehaves from time to time.... ( what kid doesnt, right?)

... in a very short/long 6 years.

Jaiden has never been afraid to put the work in to make himself better. 

on any level. 

Jaiden LIVES by the code of practice makes perfect, in everything he does.

not only in martial arts, but in drawing, in baseball, in everything.

i bring this up, because over the last 3 weeks i have seen something in Jaiden that i wish that i had in myself.

his ability to open his mind up to constructive critcism, and then make changes in his actions almost immediatley to show results in an amazingly short period of time, blows me away.

i am not saying that he has anything down perfect..... hes not even close to that, and i think he understands that he NEVER WILL BE..... but he consciously can remember small details and put them into motion much better and more freely than i ever could.

and he doesnt beat himself up over it.

i'm a little jealous of that and i'm not afraid to admit it.

in the 3 weeks of bootcamp that i have been lucky enough to attend with him so far, i have seen a huge willingness to learn, a sense of self pride that comes along with carrying the torch for all future black-belts in his Dojo ( Jaiden, if he passes, will be the first non-adult to reach the rank of BlackBelt in MR Hessers school, ABD COLCHESTER), as well as a little bit of bravery to top it off. 

with martial arts being about small change over time, i can't wait to see where he is when this awesome experience is over for him....

now ask me which is harder, being the one doing boot camp, or being the one watching his kid do bootcamp.....