noah's martial arts tournament

 noah had his second martial arts tournament today

(here's last year's)

he was super brave and competed in forms, sparring and chimbara

 it's possible he mixed up which form he was doing part way through

but we still thought he did great

sparring was good....

other than the fact that he got punched in the face first thing

which was against the rules and startled him (and me) pretty good

 cute mouth guard boy

 eleanor was a busy bottom

she kept stealing people's shoes

and ran out on the mat during some other kids forms...oops

 cute girls

 chimbara was good

 actually i had to leave during this part because i was so jarred from the punch in the face during sparring

 noah got two silver medals and one bronze

i know i'm a sensitive pregnant woman

but watching my baby boy get punched in the face was incredibly painful

it knocked him back and he looked so stunned and on the verge of tears for a while after

and in the car afterward he said his mouth bled from the mouth guard :(

i just couldn't think about it without wanting to cry..which is what eventually happened

not to mention that a year ago he was too scared to do sparring or chimbara because 

having things come at his face were too much for him

i was so proud of him for overcoming his fears and having so much confidence

and continuing to compete even after the punch

ps. both boys he competed against were at least a year older than him and a bit bigger...

pss. in case you want to watch a video of noah's forms 

and him getting punched in the face (about one minute fifteen seconds)...click here

psss. i am happy noah is doing martial arts for him, not to beat anyone

i think it's quite the feat that he has gained so much confidence and body awareness in one year