Kicking Off This Class With A Total Lack Of Class
I teach Kenpo Karate as a second-degree black belt. I also have an assistant, who is a first-degree black belt in her own right. I don’t own the gym. My instructor does, but since he’s gotten older, [Assistant] and I handle the younger classes while he handles the business side of things plus adult class.
We have three classes: kids’ class for ages five to ten, intermediate class for ages eleven to fifteen, and adult class for ages sixteen and up.
The kids’ class has just ended when a woman walks in with her son, who is thirteen.
Mother: “My son wants to take karate lessons.”
I shake hands with her and have her sit down with [Instructor] to fill out the waivers and get his measurements for his gi (traditional uniform).
Other students file in for the intermediate class, and [Assistant] and I get down to business. I take the bulk of the class, around fifteen kids, while [Assistant] goes with the new student one-on-one to teach him basic strikes and stances.
Not five minutes later, I hear [Assistant] upset, telling [New Boy] to do ten push-ups.
Why?
He called [Assistant], who’s essentially a VOLUNTEER, a “f****** b****”.
The boy’s mother stands up.
Mother: “[New Boy] can’t do push-ups! I don’t want him to be sore.”
[Assistant] lets him do the push-ups on his knees, but not five minutes later, she makes him do twenty more since he’s now called her a slut.
For reference, [Assistant] is in her early twenties, and the boy is thirteen. Not to mention there are other parents and kids here as well. It’s wholly inappropriate.
I walk over and ask [Assistant] to switch with me. As she does, she gives me big eyes and mouths, “What the f***?” I walk over to [New Boy].
Me: “Why did you insult my assistant, [Assistant]?”
New Boy: “I don’t like girls.”
Me: “What do you mean?”
New Boy: “I only listen to my dad or other boys.”
His mother confirms this to me, chuckling, as if raising a monster is something to laugh about.
Mother: “He won’t listen to me at all! He needs some discipline!”
New Boy: “When do I get a black belt like you have?”
Mind you, he’s been punching the air the entire time. This boy is aggressively hyper.
Me: “Well, it takes quite a while. I’ve been training since I was five and earned my black belt at twenty-one, so it took me a while!”
New Boy: “Nah, I don’t wanna wait that long! I want mine now!”
His chubby face is now red and sweaty from the shadow-boxing. The mother motions me over and whispers in my ear…
Mother: “Do you think you could give him one? Just to make him happy?”
Me: “No, sorry, he has to earn one. We aren’t a belt factory.”
Mother: “Well, he never gets told no.”
Me: “I’m sorry, but that’s not how we do things here.”
Mother: “I have money; I can pay you extra!”
Me: “No, sorry, we only give belts when they’re earned.”
After several minutes of arguing and conversation that leads nowhere, [Mother] snaps at me:
Mother: “I PAID YOU! GIVE MY SON A BLACK BELT!”
She stands up and points a finger in my face. It’s so sudden that I reflexively take a step back.
Some of the other parents chime in.
Other Parents: “Hey, chill out, lady!”
Before I can reply to [Mother], I hear a loud commotion behind me, and I hear more parents and students shouting. I turn and see [New Boy] smacking and hitting a girl in the class. [Assistant] is shouting, “Hey, stop!” However, the girl who [New Boy] is hitting is a purple belt and a little bada** of her own. She loads a front kick and hits the brat center mass, right in his stomach. He shouts and doubles over, crying tears of pain.
I am so freaking proud of her!
Mother: “HEY! THAT LITTLE B**** HURT MY SON!”
[Mother] runs past me onto the mat and gets in the face of the FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL her son just attacked. This girl is already scared and starts to cry, but [Mother] ups the ante and shoves this girl in the chest with her hand. [Assistant] gets between them, red-faced and enraged. I immediately rush over and try to defuse the situation, but neither of them is having it. Parents stand up and start shouting.
The girl’s father, who was with the other parents, yells at [Mother]:
Girl’s Father: “KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER!”
He starts approaching aggressively but backs off when he realizes [Assistant] and I, both black belts, are by her.
Now, you should know something about [Assistant]. She’s under five feet tall and less than 110 pounds soaking wet, but she can still kick my a** up and down the mat on any given day. She’s fast, accurate, and insanely flexible. She can control her body and perform techniques that I simply can’t.
[Assistant] and [Mother] get into a shouting match with each other. I address [Mother], raising my voice as I am genuinely pissed off.
Me: “Leave with your kid and don’t come back. Don’t you ever lay a hand on any of my students! Do you understand?!”
Mother: “F*** you! My son needs a black belt, and you won’t give him one!”
Assistant: “Your son is crazy! He attacked our students!”
This sets [Mother] off, as she reaches and tries to b****-slap [Assistant] in the face. Big mistake.
Having had enough, [Assistant] parries the smack and fires an absolutely vicious leg kick right into the meat of [Mother]’s inner thigh with nothing held back. The slap sound of [Assistant]’s shin bone decimating [Mother]’s thigh echoes off the ceiling like a slab of meat getting thrown on the floor.
It is glorious.
[Mother] gasps as she falls onto the mat in a heap.
Mother: “Oh… Oh, my God!”
She held her leg as [New Boy] got up and rushed at [Assistant]. I got in front of her and grabbed the boy’s wildly swinging arms. He hit me a few times, but I refuse to hit children whatsoever. I let him tire himself out.
One of the other parents called the police. After interviewing everyone involved, they determined that [Assistant] and I acted in self-defense. Neither of us wanted to pursue assault charges against [Mother], but the parents of the girl who [Mother] shoved rightly felt differently about it, so [Mother] was hauled away in handcuffs.
[Mother] said she’d sue [Assistant] and me in civil court, but since we have legal waivers, here’s hoping nothing comes of that.
As for the boy, I honestly feel bad. His childhood has been robbed by piss-poor parenting, and I wish we could’ve had more time to straighten him out. I have a particular dislike for his views of women, and I feel like I really could’ve helped turn him around. Maybe, maybe not.