Saturday, March 24, 2012

(Un)mellow Yellow


Today was my first belt test. I am now a yellow stripe!

Testing was a mixed bag for me. It was a large test class (18 people) and it took about two and a half hours to get through it. I had an insane case of nerves starting several hours before hand that grew into a huge knot in my stomach by the time we actually got started.

Fortunately because there were a total of six of us testing for yellow stripe, for time's sake we got to perform our form as a group and were spared doing it individually! Yesterday during class, I DID do my form solo at least three times. I think I would have done okay if I'd had to go it solo today. As it was, I think/hope that I was able to make the few adjustments that I was given yesterday to get it just right.

Self-defense went well over all. Maybe not my very best because my nerves were definitely getting to me. Aside from the tricky time lag, I finally managed to pull all the steps of my knife defense together!

I was really kinda worried about how the whole board breaking thing would turn out, but I got it on my second try. It was funny though, because absolutely all of the other white belts kicked with their left foot except for me. We were doing side kicks and since the point of contact is supposed to be the heel, I could have tried to do it with my left foot... but I didn't wanna chance it. It was a lot of fun to watch everyone else do their breaks, among all the different ranks!

My one big misstep was with the knowledge portion (for lack of a better way to put it). I was unaware that I needed to know how to count to ten in Korean. Needless to say, I couldn't do it. I was extremely embarrassed but all I could do was say, "I'm sorry, Sir. I don't know how." I'm almost certain he was disappointed in me. All I can do now is make sure that by the time I test again, I know the numbers perfectly. In hindsight I realize that I should have asked what would be expected of me....

I enjoyed watching all the different Taeguk forms. When they're done well, they're every bit as graceful and beautiful as dancing. The intricacy of some of the more advanced forms is just incredible. I'm so impressed at people's ability to memorize them! I was especially interested to see the Koryo form, because I hadn't seen it in person before.

Anyway, I am now very happy AND very tired. That's a combination I can deal with.


Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Faster Feet

This post has been a while in coming, but sometimes life gets in the way of blogging. At any rate, TKD things are going well.

I've been going to sparring about every other week, not to mention that we also spar during regular classes sometimes. I finally started to feel/see my own improvement within the last week or so. It seems after 27-ish years of walking on my heels (not to mention quite heavily), that I'm FINALLY learning how to be lighter on my feet. It's not going to be any kind of instant success story, but it's a hell of a start! I'm also starting to get the hang of 'focus[ing] but not focus[ing.]' That really just means that I'm starting to see attacks coming and actually respond appropriately and in time, recognize when an opponent is telegraphing their next move, and even (sometimes) tell when someone is trying to fake me out. Interestingly, when someone tries to intimidate me with loud and crazy kiaps, it doesn't faze me at all. I suppose growing up with two loud and crazy brothers may have something to do with this... ;-p.

My test for yellow stripe is Saturday morning. I'm not terribly nervous just yet, but I'm sure on the day I'll be CRAZY nervous. I got some clarification tonight about which board break I have to perform. That and my form are the things I'm most concerned about. I'm fairly confident of my self-defenses, punches, kicks, and blocks. There is an oral portion that involves general TKD knowledge and I have absolutely no idea what to expect the question[s] will entail. If it's the meaning of 'Taekwondo' or the tenets, I think I'll be fine.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Noodles with Knees

Things I now know:

1. Sparring is great fun!
2. Teenage boys have incredibly sharp, bony knees.
3. Sewing patches is dangerous.

Nothing terribly interesting to report for the last few classes. Between Friday evening and today, there has been quite a bit of sparring for me. I definitely like it far more than I would have thought. Of course, I now have a few 'war wounds' to show for my efforts. There's the skin on the bottom of my big toes rubbing off (whether from the floor or the safety booties I haven't determined), mystery bruises, and a VERY colorful and painful non-mysterious bruise on my right shin from colliding kicks with two different sparring partners.

I got my school patch and sewed it on my gi tonight. It looks all official now!