Adam Liaw Instagram – Proud dad today. And a bit of a story about why. Yesterday was the NSW junior karate championships. Three years ago this kid entered this same tournament – his first. He went in full of hope, but was beaten badly in every one of his fights. He was crushed, and barely spoke the whole way home. When we got home he just said, “I’m going to train harder.” A lot of kids quit after their first tournament when they realise fighting is scary, hard and painful. But instead of quitting, this kid started going to karate 5 nights a week (!) and has been doing that ever since. His little sister has been by his side the whole time. They train so hard. They come home bleeding and bruised nearly every night. They encourage each other. They cheer for each other. They were brilliant at the tournament. Fearless. Anna came second in kata and first in kumite. Christopher took home first place in ALL THREE of his events. They fought bigger opponents. Neither lost a single fight. They won every one by ippon (karate equivalent of a KO). Christopher won his final fight in just 6 seconds. They made it look easy. But it wasn’t easy. They ground it out over years of hard work, which is a weird thing to say for kids so young. And it wasn’t anything we taught them. We never pushed them to do this. They taught themselves, and pushed themselves. Of course I’m happy they won, but the thing that makes me far, far more proud than trophies is the respect for their opponents, the friendships they’ve made, and the character they showed to get themselves here. They’re gonna be alright.