- It was a early Saturday morning. The lights were still to bright for my eyes to adjust. They didn’t want to open all the way. The crust still holding them shut. I’m clutching the arms of the plastic white chair I’m sitting in. I’m nervous. I’m anxious. All I wanted to do was go home. I was already here though there was no turning back. I stand up and fix my karate uniform. I kick my shoes off. Slip my socks into my shoes. I wrap my yellow karate belt around my waist. I look around and I see red belts. Black belts. Blue belts. I was the only a yellow belt, I felt like I shouldn’t be here. I’m not good enough for this. I’m trying to not cry. Its hard. The tears are coming down my face but I am doing my best to contain myself. I step onto the mats. The soft red and blue mats were no comfort for the uneasiness I felt. I sat down and waited for the instructor to line up class. Finally the time came and my stomach seemed to float into my throat. I stood up with everyone else and lined up for class. We lined up by rank so of course I was last. I felt unqualified to be here. I was only seven. These people were a lot older than me and have been training a lot longer. We started class with a warm up. Easy enough. I can do jumping jack, push ups, squats crunches. Stretching feels good. I could feel myself waking up. My eyes were more open now. This still did not take away the uneasy feeling that I had. Then it came time to work on some kicks. The instructor asked everyone one by one how many kicks they believe that they can do without putting there foot down. One by one everyone gave their answer. 20. 50. 100. 200. 1,000. Of course he asked me last. I didn’t know how many kicks I could do. I have been doing martial arts for maybe a month. The most kicks I have ever done without putting my leg down was 1. I didn’t know what to say to him. So I guessed. “4” I said. All the kids laughed. Even the instructor had to chuckle. This did not make me feel any better. Now it came time to see if we could reach our goal. I started kicking. 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 54!. I did 54 kicks before I had to put my led down. The instructor smiled. He said to me “Now Ryan. You must believe that you can always do better than you think you can."