Judo Flips

We had a new favorite activity introduced to us this past February by Alisha and Brandon. They decided to teach the kids some judo moves. They hauled in all the camping foamies and mattresses and made a big soft pile on the living room floor and then proceeded. This activity went well past the normal bedtime - the kids LOVED it!!! The pictures tell the story best!

Melodee flipping Myles

Brandon flipping Alisha

Alisha flipping Brandon

Brandon flipping Melodee

Brandon flipping Myles

Alisha flipping Charity

Melodee flipping Charity

Myles flipping Breanna

Brandon flipping Charity

Melodee flipping Alisha

Alisha flipping Brandon

Melodee flipping Myles

Breanna after flipping Charity

Melodee flipping Breanna

Here we diverged from judo... and went into dogpile moves!!! Breanna started it as you see her just going into a fall onto the mat. The best dogpile found Melodee on the bottom!

As I watched the kids flip one another, I was impressed with how careful Brandon was with Alisha when he flipped her. I could also see that she completely and totally trusted him. I saw similar things in the other kids. It was a super fun evening, oh, Naomi was the photographer for most of the shots. She and Beth applauded and oohed and ahhed at the appropriate moments. ☺We had so much fun, that when the opportunity presented itself this fall, I asked Brandon if he would like to teach judo to the cubs for me. He accepted and we had a super fun activity with the boys.

Something I noticed after doing judo with the cubs was that they were not as certain they wouldn't get hurt as my kids had been. They LOVED having Brandon demonstrate on them so they could learn how it feels to be flipped, but when they began flipping one another, they didn't have the same level of trust between peers. In fact, it became more apparent throughout the activity that the more the one being flipped resisted the move, the more difficult it was to do the move AND the more likely it was that they could get hurt being flipped. Interesting isn't it... the more resistance they put into being flipped the greater likelihood of getting hurt!

It is ironic how similar to life that principle is. If we lack trust in someone, especially if it is a family member, the more stubbornly we stick to not trusting them or in other words, the more stubbornly we resist their efforts to regain our trust, the greater the likelihood that we will get hurt!

I LOVED how, the cubs, even after falling wrong and finding a momentary discomfort as a result, never left the game for more than a few minutes AND they were always eager and excited to rejoin in the fun. They loved practicing on each other and wanted an opportunity to be able to flip each of the boys. Even though they were learning, and didn't have the skills yet to warrant full trust in each others abilities, they would put any discomfort they had felt behind them so they could continue in the game. To me they displayed qualities of forgiveness. Not just forgiveness of those who had flipped them, but also forgiveness of themselves for having taken a fall wrong. This quality, made the activity so much more enjoyable.

What a blessing it is to be able to extend forgiveness to others, and to feel it reciprocated. I am so grateful for these experiences that help me ponder and visualize gospel truths in ways that I might never have considered otherwise. I am also so thankful for a son-in-law who is so willing to share his talents and strengths with my family and more recently, with my cubs. I am so blessed to have so many good people in my life. It fills my heart with joy!