For anyone who ever doubted that martial arts study teaches kids hard work and discipline.

Today’s mail brought a very nice card from my son’s and my old Sensei and his wife asking how we’ve been since we moved, and whether we’d found a new place to study karate. I wrote a short letter in return, letting them know that our new city is treating us well, that we found a great new dojo (which I’ll post more about later), and mentioning my son’s new found diligence in practicing each day.

My son drew a picture for Sensei’s wife (a great lady who also helps with karate classes). I asked whether he’d drawn one for Sensei, too. He said “No, Senseis don’t want pictures. Sensei will like this,” handing me a second piece of paper. It read:

Dear Sensei,
I do my job at karate every day.

and was signed at the bottom.