Saturday, May 26, 2012

Last Sunday I took part in a 4-hour systema seminar.  It was pretty interesting, and I learned all kinds of new (and occasionally strange) ways to move/use my body.  It also meant all sorts of rolling around on the floor, dodging attacks, and being thrown.  All in all, it added up to one SERIOUSLY sore body just a few hours later... and the next few days.  Then on Tuesday in class, I got to do even more of the same with my already achy body.

Friday's class was good.  My body finally felt back to normal.  I have a really solid grasp on Taeguk Il Jong now, and am just working on making sure the moves are crisp and powerful.  Even my self defenses went much better this week than they have been.  I've got three of the five pretty well covered.  The other two defenses involve the live hand technique, which I can't seem to get quite right.  Mrs Saxton gave me some pointers last week that I think finally sunk in and helped me understand, so it took me considerably less tries yesterday to get it right!  I'm glad my self defenses are starting to come along, because I'll be testing in June (date still unknown)... and I still feel like I need a lot more practice.

I'm trying to get myself back into the running habit I had before I moved.  I can tell during sparring that my endurance has slipped quite a lot.  So, that means lacing up and hitting the pavement/sand at least 2-3 times a week.  Hopefully I'll find myself enjoying it again the way I'd started to in Charlotte.  Once I got over the clumsiness and learned to pace myself, I discovered that running was actually kind of fun and even cathartic.  I have no doubt it could be that way here too.  Plus, the views (not to mention the air quality) are infinitely better here!!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Family Affair

It's been quite a while since my last update.  I'll blame it on a lack of much new to say. 

Mostly I've just been working hard on my new form, the first Taeguk form: Il Jong.  I have learned my new self defenses only briefly and not yet had much practice of them.  I also have been sparring.  I actually managed to win against my two junior black belts here in town.  One I beat only because he wasn't "selling" his points well enough, either via his kiaps or chambering.  Certainly he DID earn far more points than I did, but I was doing a better job of selling it.  The other boy I actually beat fair and square, which felt really good.

After my yellow stripe testing, my mom decided she might like to try TKD.  It turns out that April was the official 'bring your friends' month and after some back trouble earlier in the month, she was finally able to join me Monday night.  She seems a little hesitant/worried about some ongoing back issues, but she's determined to give it a try.  I'm excited for her, because she needed to find something active and it's also just a fun way for me to spend more time with her.  She seemed as confused and frazzled as I felt at my own first class, but I was pretty proud of how well she actually did!