Black Belt

It's been a long day, but finally Delaney has completed the first part of his martial arts journey. He earned his black belt today.

It's hard to see, but he is wearing a black belt, his brown belt tucked back in his bag.

It was a long test, almost two hours, but with 17 people testing for black belt or first degree, he wasn't out there by himself. He did suck wind, and I could see him tiring around 90 minutes, but he got a second wind and finished strong.

I'm proud of him, and it was cool to see him finally receive his award and work to get it. At the end there was a small ceremony where the people first got a rose that they could go give to the person that helped them get to the finish line. He ran up and got his, giving it to me, which was cool. We've been through a lot in the past four years to get him to this point.

He was excited to get his belt, and wore it out to a late lunch as the whole family and his aunt/uncle came with it. Hopefully he'll keep training with me over the next six months as I aim for my black belt.

Here's a touch of video of him getting the award

and him giving me the rose (which I am very proud of).