Really, every new belt achievement is a big deal, but there's something about a yellow belt that is extra special. Usually it's the first new belt you ever actually earn (white belts are kinda free...you get them for signing up for class,) but for my Tiny Tots, the yellow belt is huge achievement because it means they get to graduate out into the "Big Kid" class.
We have a special rank system just for our 3-6 year old "Tiny Tots" that is basically all the white belt material broken up into four different belts, with some added coordination drills (like balance beam and suction-cup ninja stars.) Depending on the kid, it could take anywhere from a year to three years to go through the entire Tiny Tot system and make it to yellow belt. Some take even longer and end up graduating the class because of age, rather than rank. Needless to say, our yellow belts are just a little extra special.
Yesterday, I awarded a yellow belt to a kid named Ben. This kid wasn't especially athletic or coordinated, but he was one of the best students in my class. He was sweet, obedient, quiet and tough. He did what he was told, listened quietly, didn't play rough and never got upset when things weren't going his way. Just a really great kid. He was also my very first yellow belt. So, while I'm so excited for him to get his belt, move up to Shihan's class, make all new friends and experience "Yellow Land" (as my first instructor, Ik-Kyu Mike always called it,) I'm also sad because he won't be my student anymore. Bittersweet.
My sister (who also teaches alongside me) and I decided to start a new tradition. Everytime a Tiny Tot of ours graduates our class with a yellow belt (rather than graduating because of age) we throw them a little party. We bake a big batch of cinnamon karate cookies for all the kids and give the new yellow belt a homemade card and bag of the cookies to bring home. Nothing huge, just something a little extra special. The kids loved it...and it even inspired some of the other kids to work hard so they could earn their yellow belts too.
I am so lucky to have been chosen to teach this class. I see my other brown-belted friends interact with their mixed-aged students and it's a completely different relationship. They have to be stricter, they don't have to help them as much, and they have to stick to the curriculum. Not me. I get to give piggy-back rides, play dodgeball, build obstacle courses, give hugs, fix owies: the whole sha-bang. Yes, Shihan's absolutely right when he said that the Tiny Tots class is the hardest class to teach. What he failed to tell me, however, is that the hardest part is watching them go.
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