Here's a letter from a proud Mama read aloud to the 24 families at tonight's belt graduation at the Martial Arts Academy.   Siblings, grandparents, and of course moms and dads were there to congratulate loved ones who had earned the distinction of a new color or stripe on their karate belt. The most important member of that audience, though, was Jordan, a twelve year old girl who sat silently as her mom's voice sent all of us on a journey of their past two and one half years together: Dear Mr. Brad, In recommending Jordan for advancement to Brown Belt I have spent time thinking about how my girl has changed in the 2 ½ years she has trained at your school. I thought of how she started as a student of your Kid's Systema class, in part, just to make her dad happy.  I thought about how angry Jordan was when Paul and I decided she needed more training than the one day per week afforded … [Read more...]