Martial Arts – Casa de Murphy

Back in the fall, October to be exact, Liam embarked on a new & exciting journey. Here we are at the end of May, and I can’t believe I am just now writing about it. It’s definitely not from the lack of excitement we all have about it. That’s for sure!

After getting a taste of it from a classmate’s birthday party we attended at the beginning of the school year, he began martial arts classes with Victory Martial Arts.

As a family, we really love that while the physical focus is on teaching taekwondo, Victory’s overall emphasis is on the whole well-being of the student. They teach self-confidence, self-respect, and self-discipline. There are excellent character building skills the kids learn that carry over to both home and school. They also teach bully prevention skills, and while we may not want to think about that happening to our kiddos, it’s also a great positive skill for them to build upon.

I tend to call his classes ‘karate’ but both of my boys are usually quick to correct me 😉

Since Liam is under 7 years old, he is in the children’s TIGER program with Victory. It’s a bit of a different belt promotion program and the uniforms are slightly different than the adults. However, this program was created so that students who started martial arts very young wouldn’t progress to black belt at too early of an age, and it also builds upon their listening skills, social skills, and team-work skills.

During his very 1st class, he was issued the white belt. Since then, he has had 3 belt promotions. With each one, there has been both a testing day to ensure he is at the skill level to promote to the next belt rank and then a belt promotion ceremony, where he is presented with his new belt.

We also love that with his rank he earns, Liam is certified with the American Taekwondo Association (ATA). These certified ranks follow him or LIFE, too! So, even if down the road, he decides to stop his lessons, if he starts them back up, his belt rank will remain the same. So cool!

He’s been working hard every week. He goes to class twice a week, and with also starting Kindergarten this year, I must admit that this was both an adjustment AND commitment for all of us.

Liam’s 1st belt in the TIGER program was the ARA belt. He’s currently the BAEOH belt. At the end of next month, June, he will test again, and we’ll soon see if moves up to the next level, which is CHEERI. It’s fun for the kids because each belt rank in this program has an animal that’s associated with it. Ara is a turtle. Baeoh is a tiger, and Cheeri is a cheetah 🙂

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Here’s a few of my favorite videos from his 1st testing….

Liam is such a strong & determined boy. When he broke his arm in February, he didn’t let that deter him. While we didn’t force him to continue class, he wanted to keep going, and his instructors worked carefully with him on modified movements so he didn’t fall behind with his class. In March, he participated in his 1st tournament and earned a few medals. Again, so proud!

We are very thankful to the great staff & leadership at Victory Waterfordlakes! Mr. Johnson & Mr. Valle are amazing, Liam looks up to them very much. We can’t wait to see the skills he will acquire in the months & years to come!

Until next time friends,

November is not quite done yet, and we’ve had a ton of fun! Here’s a peak at what we’ve been up to lately….

We just wrapped up Liam’s 2nd Healthy Kids Running Series race season. He aged into another group this year that put him into the 1/4 mile race as opposed to the 50-yard dash, so it was definitely more challenging for him, but he gave it 110% & was amazing! He had done the 1st series back in Spring 2015 and enjoyed the experience so much that he wanted to give it another go around. I will admit that I thought the 1/4 was a a lot for the kinders to do, but he did it every week. We continue to be SO VERY proud of this little dude! He is a special little guy ❤

Little man recently began taking weekly martial arts classes with Victory Martial Arts. We really love their facility & all the staff there. In addition to the fact that they are teaching him martial arts, they also teach the kids self-respect, self-discipline, good behavior, and good-manners. He’s already earned a stripe on his white belt and is up for a belt promotion next month. We’ll keep you posted! 🙂

Liam had his 1st elementary school field trip, which coincidentally was on Veteran’s Day. I didn’t have to work that day, so it was a perfect opportunity for me to be able to chaperone. We headed out to one of our favorite spots to visit in the fall — Green Meadows Petting Farm.

This trip was Liam’s very 1st time holding the baby chick by himself. He was super excited. I got to hang out with all boys in his class. They were a fun group & definitely kept me on my toes all day 😉

We couldn’t have asked for better weather & the farm was beautiful! Overall, it was a great field trip with his school ❤

Call me crazy, but afterwards, that same day of the field trip…..even though I was exhausted….I toted us over to the Millennia Mall for pictures with Santa. I LOVE the setup & the Santa there is the best & {even though it seems super early} going around Veteran’s Day is honestly the only way to avoid crazy long lines. Sooo, yes, some day, Liam will look back and say I was crazy. I’m okay with that 🙂

He loved his visit with Santa!! The picture is adorbs ❤ ….I will be posting that soon. Here he is just after he took it.

Being silly with mommy while waiting in line!

Our latest adventure was out to the Long & Scott’s Corn Maze in Mount Dora.

We’ve talked about doing this for a few years, but for one reason or another, it just never worked into our schedule. As much as I try to not overbook us on the weekends at this time of the year….I usually do. LOL! So, yes, this was our very 1st time literally going out & getting lost in a corn maze. It was a different experience for our family of 3, but we made it through. The conversation between us within the maze was pretty hilarious at times! It was also a tad bit warm that day, so it made for the getting lost part a bit more frustrating. I think we were all over it rather quickly.