Rockstar and I had a deal – we get the Official Kung Fu Uniform he wants, if he pays attention in his second class. It was a slow start to the first lesson, but Rockstar left with enthusiasm that carried on to the following week.
So…. it’s after the second lesson and I didn’t get the official Kung Fu uniform.
Rockstar told me not to.
Back to splashing in a fountain (allowed, at this fountain) in the uniform he does like wearing..
Like in the first lesson, Rockstar spent at least half the class not joining in, though he did try a wee bit more in the second class than in the first.
There’s a new “senior” in the little kids’ class this time – long, wavy blonde curls. He also seems markedly older than everyone else in this class (he really doesn’t look or sound 5, and I thought Rockstar was in the under 5 class). The senior boy hates school. Loudly declares there’s absolutely nothing to like about it. (Anxiously I glance at Rockstar who looks mildly surprised.) Talks quite a bit. Crawls about on all fours and horses around without much regard for the instructor.
To be clear, he did absolutely nothing to Rockstar. In fact, no matter how rowdy the class gets, no one so much as accidentally bumps my tiny son prone to taking everything too seriously. Some of the other boys try to get him to join in, and it’s a heartwarming scene I hope I’ll remember for some time, until the instructor calls them to rejoin the class. It is possible my son might be too young for the class, we’ll be reviewing that when we finish up the lessons. 2 more to go, we paid HKD 1100 for 4.
But the senior boy gives me a bad impression of the class itself. This may be me being biased and judgmental because of my impression of martial arts and its discipline. It’s one of the reasons we were hoping Rockstar would do some martial arts, we believe it to be character building (Kings then figured to kill two birds with one stone on a very local Hongkie class, which we erroneously thought we had enrolled Rockstar in – but then this class turns out to be in English). We keep looking for something Rockstar can pick up a little Cantonese in because his Canton is not up to speed and I have non-English-speaking inlaws.
Even if he really can’t follow (which we don’t really care about at his age), we wanted him to see juniors respecting seniors and their teachers/ instructors. Class discipline. That’s uh, not happening here.
Right now the more well-behaved little kids (one of whom is brought to class by a grandmother who snaps at him in Putonghua the moment he squirms, while otherwise speaking perfect English) are bowing to the most unruly child in the class by virtue of his belt. I’m uncomfortable with the imagery.
<thinking> He looks and sounds much older. He looks like he should have been in the older class where he would have been one of the more junior belted ones, with properly behaved seniors as role models in the older class.
Why has he been placed in the position of role model in the little kids’ class?
Why was he awarded that belt?
(Very easy for me to judge, maybe he’s a very tall, very advanced 5 year old, maybe he’s already been held back for several belt exams, I don’t know how tough it might be for his mum, etc – his parents weren’t around when we arrived, I have no clue. The only thing I know is the most unruly boy is the senior and lots of more well-behaved younger boys are bowing to him.)
Guiltily, I’m back to my initial first impression, wondering if this class is a bit commercialized. N-ot that my own son looks particularly attentive or disciplined, quietly examining his fingernails at the back of the class (which I recognize as defensive posture when he feels shy and intimidated). But Rockstar’s 3 and this is his second lesson. He may not be joining in (he did eventually and there’s a 4 year old who’s a slow starter too), but neither Rockstar nor the 4 year old are disrupting the class. The senior boy by virtue of his belt color should have sat for at least 2 belt gradings. How did he get that far being that unruly?
I’m not the only mum thinking it. There’s a French mum (who later tells me she’s been in Hong Kong just 4 months) who turns and comments they’re being “too patient” with the older boy.
Still, I’d be lying if I claimed that was the reason Rockstar turns and whispers, “I don’t want the uniform.” There are more kids in the class this time, and he’s obviously the newbie by a long shot, everyone else has been in the class long enough to know all the names of the moves as the instructor calls them out. If we’d had a chance to do it again, we would’ve joined with another newbie.
But because of the senior boy, I’m not unhappy when Rockstar says it’s not a good idea to get his uniform because he “hasn’t decided” he likes Kung Fu lessons. French mum remarks “that’s wise.”
I really should be checking out the ESF sports program. It’s supposed to be the largest and most comprehensive one around and all I got round to after just coming back from vaccie was asking some other mums what they were going for – then when they said they hadn’t looked at it then either I became total Slacker Mum.
So no cute pictures of Rockstar in uniform. Just some cheese. I learnt that from French mum. That’s Babybel, it’s absolutely great as a snack in cooler weather (so it doesn’t spoil) – individually wrapped (clean!) and the hard waxy casing keeps it from getting squished in handbags.
