Stripier Than A Ninja Tiger

For the record the word in the title is Stripier, not strippier.

The last month or so, the kids and I have been going to martial arts, specifically, Hapkido.  It's a Korean cousin to aikido.  It's all about defense and truth and family.  I really like their philosophies.

After their first day, my kids each had a stripe on their white belts.  It was a white stripe for energy.  After only a month, they each have five stripes signifying things like breathing, holding, and protection.  You wanna guess how many stripes their mom had?

Zilch.

I wake up twice a week at 5:30 in the morning so I can jog to my dojong and take an hour class.  Then I jog home again.  I think that takes more than enough energy to earn me a little white piece of tape on my belt, don't you?  I am the only woman in my class of five to six men and I have to expend lots of energy just to compete with them.

I realize that for kids, they need the visual pat on the back for their achievements that a stripe gives.  It helps motivate them.  But I could use a little motivation too sometimes.

It's one thing to be older, bigger bummed, and sleepier than all my kids, but to have my five year old tell me that I didn't have any stripes on my belt because I wasn't trying hard enough was the outside of enough.  I had to remind them who was still toughest.

Then, Master Christopherson redeemed himself.  After repeatedly throwing my opponent to the ground using some complicated wrist lock, I was summoned to his office after class.  I went in his office stripeless.  Wanna guess how many I came out with?  Five.

Oh yeah.

I came home and woke my kids up by rubbing it in their faces.