Monday, December 18, 2006

Almost there....

Wow, this week has been pretty stressful. Exams started on Thursday with APUSH (AP U.S. History) which was pretty easy. Friday was Algebra III and AP English. I got a break over the weekend and today I had Biology. My last exam is tomorrow (French) and then I'm free! Its been a bad week in terms of training (I can't remember the last time I went to class) but I have been trying to catch up on my pushups/situps (I did 200 of each on Saturday and 300 of each yesterday). I've also started going to a climbing gym near my school. I always fancied myself a "good" climber because I had a lot of experience on the climbing wall at the camp that I work at, but I found out on Friday that I have a long way to go! I completed a 5.8 climb ("hard" is considered 5.10 and up) and I got pretty far on two other 5.8s, but couldn't get them. The gym also has a bouldering cave (no ropes) and I only completed one out of the four problems that I tried. Pretty bad, but I have a feeling it will all get better with practice (I'm planning to climb afterschool on most Fridays). I figure it will build up my strength and endurance for tkd. Speaking of, I'm (hopefully) going to the 1 1/2 hour class tonight (it will be good to get back into training!). But I have to study for French first, so I'd better go. Au revoir, les enfants! (Haha).

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Demos...

Today was pretty awesome. I'm almost better, which is a far shot from completely better, but I'll take what I can get. We had two demonstrations at the mall today, which were fun to do. I love demos because it combines Taekwondo and theatrics (my two main passions).

I was really apprehensive about breaking with my 360 hook kick as I had sort of gotten into a rut of - well - not being able to break with it. Whether it was my mindset or the adrenaline, it worked and I broke the board both times.

This was also the "debut" for my XMA-style nunchaku kata that I learned from a DVD that I bought online. It took me an afternoon to learn it and a few months to perfect it, so I was excited about performing it. It went off fairly well, I think. Now I need to start working on the advanced form on the DVD. I've looked at it once or twice and it looks to be very challenging.

Other than that, I'm just trying to get over this stupid virus and study for midterms at the same time - not a pleasant mix. I probably won't post again until the 19th when exams are over, so wish me good thoughts and good luck! Merry Christmas!!

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Arg.

I hate being sick, but it seems that's all I am lately. I had to cut back on tkd alot in November because of a play that I was in, but there were a few highlights. Kyoshi Vic Coffin (Mr. Coleman's weapons master) came and did a defense seminar which was amazing. He knows so much about how the human body functions and how to make it malfunction with the slightest pressure to a certain point. I got to be uke a couple of times, which was... painful, to say the least. :P
I have really been slacking off with my pushups and situps, and just about everything else. Here's my running total: Pushups: 2,975
Situps: 3,495
Miles: 71
Form reps: 20
Acts of kindness: 91
Sparring rounds: 5

As you can see, I'm behind. As soon as I get over this virus, I am getting back on track. When I first started doing the pushups, I could barely get 15 or 20 reps out at a time. Now I'm doing 50 per set, no problem. I like that feeling, and I hate that I'm losing ground because of this illness.
Mr. Coleman told me that I would be up for my 4th dan test this time next year, which I'm really excited about. I plan on completing this mock "UBBT" and re-learning all of the Pyung An forms (the traditional set of forms that we used before we switched to Taegeuk).
I also want to go to the Battle of Atlanta next summer and maybe compete (or at least attend some seminars).
Oh, our dojang made a schedule change, which I'm excited about: Demo practice is on Mondays, weapons class has been changed to Tuesdays so Mr. Coleman can teach it, and an Adults-Only class has been added to Thursday!
Exams start next week, but after that I should have a lot of time to train and post some more.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Busy Week

Ahhhh!!! This week has been so busy its not even funny. I got to workout once this week, and that was at my private lesson on Friday. So the whole not-working-out thing through me out of whack with everything else. No classes on Tuesday because of Halloween (I ended up staying up till midnight doing a group project which, strangely, didn't seem like a group project. Oh, yeah... That's because I was doing all the work!) So that was frustrating. I came home on Wednesday and crashed for the night. I taught class on Thursday night, and Friday I got a private lesson which was really good. We did a lot of talking - about my interest in other styles, what's appropriate in terms of training in those styles, and I think I'm going to be up for my next stripe soon. I test for my 4th dan in about a year!! We went through the bo kata (Choun-No-Kun) and nitpicked a few things. Mr. Coleman says he's going to start teaching me the next bo kata, so I'm pretty excited about that. Other than that, I just need to get back in a training mindset and start doing my pushups and crunches again.

Monday, October 23, 2006

My Own Black Belt Challenge

Mr. Coleman and I both agreed that it would be better not to participate in the Ultimate Black Belt Test, so I came up with a "challenge" of my own. It incorporates aspects of the UBBT, but I've added my personal touches as well. So this is it:
Over the course of one year, I will…
Ten Goals:
Submit a set of written and specific goals that I plan to accomplish.

Weekly Journaling:
Make a weekly post on my TKD Blog (http://tkdrocker.blogspot.com/).

Push Ups and Crunches:
Complete 52,000 (minimum) push ups and crunches.

Sparring:
Complete 500 rounds of sparring (stand up and/or ground fighting).

Aikido Training:
Complete 75 hours of Aikido training – Become proficient.

Grappling:
Complete 50 hours training in a grappling art.

Form Requirements:
Complete 1000 (minimum) repetitions of Taebaek.

Self-Defense Training:
Train in a reality-based self-defense program.

Kendo/Kobudo:
Become proficient in Kendo or train under Kyoshi Vic Coffin in Kobudo.

Boxing Requirements:
Complete 20 hours of boxing or Muay Thai.

Reading Requirements:
Read 5 or more books pertaining to management or philosophy, motivation or enlightenment.

Food:
Eat healthy and nutritious foods – avoid sweets.

Empathy Training:
Go one full day of living in a wheelchair, one full day blind, and one full day mute.

Walk or Run 1000 Miles:
Walk/run a minimum of 1000 miles.

Acts of Kindness and Compassion:
Perform and log 350 acts of kindness and compassion.

As you can see, I'll be making a weekly post here to let you know my progress.
As of today (October 23), here is a report:
Pushups: 1,817
Situps: 2,190
Miles: 44
Form Reps: 10
Sparring Matches: 4
Acts of Kindness: 35

I really need to get back on track with the daily pushups/situps, and make it a point to walk more than usual. And I need to do my form more often. I'll go through a spell of about a week or so when I wake up early every morning to do my pushups/situps, then I'll just start to slack off during the weekend, and I'll be too tired to do them, and it all goes downhill from there. So I'm going to try to get to sleep by at least 10:30 every night so I'm not quite so tired in the mornings. Peace to you all!

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Ah, Emotions...

Well, tonight was a whirlwind of emotions! Ms. Swing taught class (self-defense/sparring), and we had some old familiar faces show up. Brian came for the 2nd time in about 6 months (he's been working extra shifts and hasn't had time to come and train), so it was great to have him back! Rodney was there, along with Chris and Deven, Melissa, the Vang's, and some others. I was so physched about training and sweating tonight; I was really pumped up and excited to have another black belt to go full-force on, but I was paired with Logan and Cyan, the former being slightly smaller, the latter significantly smaller. So I sucked it up and said, "yes, ma'am" and all the things that I'm supposed to say, but I was very irritated//disappointed//fed up//frustrated, because I've been having this issue for so long, and I finally just came to a breaking point. I kept my cool during class, and after it was over I went and waled on the heavy bag in the back to let my frustrations out. Rodney and Brian seemed to sense that something was up, but didn't mention anything. So I drove home angry, and my mom definitely sensed something was wrong, so I told her, and she said, "Well, you've got 2 choices: Complain or quit the school." Psh. I quickly ruled out choice number 2. Almost 2/3 of my life has been invested in this dojang, and I'm not about to quit. So after reading my fortune cookie from dinner, (it said, "Interpersonal emotions are likely to be pretty intense." Isn't it freaky how those things are so accurate?) I called Ms. Swing up and just told her what I was feeling. She was very understanding and said she had been in my position many times. She also said she'd talk with Mr. Coleman about it, and not to worry. So after nearly 2 years of having this issue, its just solved by one little phone call. Why do we always have to make things more complicated than they are?! :P

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Psh.... Posers....

I have never seen anything so fake: http://www.infectiousvideos.com/index.php?p=showvid&sid=0355&o=0&idx=7&sb=id&a=playvid

Its this "master" who thinks he can knock someone out without even touching them. Trouble is, the only people it actually works on are his students. I know that pressure points are effective, but they are only a distraction. The minute you lift up on it the pain goes away. This guy is saying that you can win a fight with them.

Friday, September 01, 2006

AHHH!!!

I might be diving in headfirst to this UBBT. I e-mailed the man in charge (Tom Callos), and he said there were still spots open for team 4, which starts this fall I think. He seems like a very accessible guy. He gave me his cell number and his home number and said he would be happy to talk with my instructor or parents. I think my parents are actually alright with me doing this. I'm going to talk with Mr. Coleman about it tonight, and I'm very nervous about it. I don't know if I'll be able to express to him how important this is to me. Alright, well, we'll see how it goes. For now, please pray for me!
OH!!! Big thing! Tapestry Films is making a documentary of Team 4's journey, so if I do this, I'll be making video logs and such and they would be in a film!!!!! :D

Thursday, August 31, 2006

The Ultimate Black Belt Test

Well, I was browsing the Internet yesterday when I came across this website: http://www.ultimateblackbelttest.com/index.asp
The Ultimate Black Belt Test (UBBT) is a personal growth challenge for brown and black belts of any discipline. The challenge lasts for 13 months, and has physical, mental, and spiritual requirements to complete within the year or so.
Physical: Complete 52,000 pushups and crunches
Run/walk 1000 miles
Complete 1000 rounds of sparring (at least 2 minute rounds)
150 hours of Jiu-Jitsu mat time.
Self-defense training
1000 repetitions of a single form
Become proficient in a Filipino "stick fighting" art
20 hours of boxing or Muay Thai.
Follow a diet program

Mental and Spiritual:
Read 12 books pertaining to management or philosophy
Go through a motivational course
One day of being in a wheelchair
One day being blind
One day being mute
Log 1000 acts of compassion
Be the catalyst for 50,000 acts of compassion
Right 3 wrongs or mend 3 broken relationships
Meditate 15 minutes a day
Participate in a community service project

There are also three training events that you have to attend with the other members of the team, plus the testing and graduation at the end.

When I read all of this, I was on the verge of crying, because I had been looking for a goal, some sort of challenge to achieve, and here it was! I'm going to talk with Mr. Coleman about it and ask him for his support. I figure I'll get Junior year out of the way, and start the program this coming summer before my Senior year. I'm so excited about this!!! There is a 15 year old boy living near my city who is working on completing his, so if he can do it, I can do it! Right now, I've decided to start training, so I'm getting up at 6 every morning and doing 150 pushups and crunches, I'm trying to eat healthier, and I'm going to talk to Mr. Coleman about other things I can do to prepare. Let me know what you think!

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Tournament

Well, the tournament was last Saturday, and it went pretty well! I rode up with Rodney (one of our adult brown belts), and had a wonderful time getting to know him on a more casual level. I love getting to know people, because there's always a story behind them, something that you can't find out just by looking at them. Anyway, we had a lot of laughs, despite the fact that we were both sleepy (we left at 6:30 am).
We got to the tournament and got registered and changed, then waited for the opening ceremonies. It started at the usual 1 1/2 hours behind schedule, but once it started, it rolled right along! I watched the children's competition, then went out to lunch.
Got back just in time for breaking competition. We found out when we got to the tournament that the boards we broke had to be at least 3/4 inch. We had planned on using 1/2 inch boards, so we had to scavenge for full size boards and switch kicks around. I ended up breaking with 360 back kick, hammer fist, and 360 hook kick. I broke the first two no problem, but the hook kick gave me problems. I tried to break it two times (you're given 3 chances), but it hurt too much to try it a third time. Despite only breaking 2/3 of my boards, I took 2nd place and one of the masters came up to me and said he didn't know why it wouldn't break; it was a solid kick.
Directly after breaking was the demo competition. There were only two teams, so we were allowed to take our time setting up. The other team went first; they were good when they were actually doing TKD, but when they started doing this weird dance and then got on the floor and did the "worm", I lost a lot of respect for them. If you're going to do TKD, actually do TKD. Don't dress it up with dancing and gymnastics and whatnot. It looks cool, but it isn't martial arts. After they finished, we did our demo (and we did a knockout job, if I may say so). We broke all our boards, we kiyaped loudly, we used self-defense, showed a bo staff kata, and had some entertaining fight scenes. They won. Not sure how, but they won. But its alright, because we did our best and that's all that matters in the end.
My last division was forms, and there were only three 3rd dan girls aged 14-17, so I was guarenteed at least 3rd. All those months of training comes down to a 2 minute form, then its over. I thought I did very well on my form, as did the first girl who went. The third girl didn't have a lot of power, her movements were sloppy, and her kiyap was weak. I took 2nd. I was a little disappointed, but like I said earlier, I did my best.
Ms. Swing gave me a hug and said she thought my form was beautiful. Rodney sat me down and said, "You got first place. The color of you medal doesn't matter. You got first place." That made me smile. Mr. Coleman told me that the other girl was good, but he didn't like her rhythym. (she went a lot slower than I did, overexaggerating her moves). All in all, it was a great tournament!

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Going away

I leave for job training tomorrow at the summer camp that I'm going to work at. Which means majorly cutting back on the TKD. The only class I'll actually be able to make is the 3 hour competitor's class every Saturday, and the tournament is in 3 weeks!! AHHH!!! I'm competing in forms and breaking. I'm confident about doing my form, but not so much the breaking. I'm planning on doing 360 hook kick, step behing side kick power break (3 or 4 boards), and step 360 roundhouse kick. Mr. Coleman wants me to do a speed break with the 360 round, but I'm not very comfortable with it at all. I tend to lean back when I'm in the air which throws my distance off. Ah, well. I'll practice at camp. So I probably won't be updating much this summer. I'll definitely write about the tournament, but that might be the only entry this summer. Well... BYE! :D

Thursday, May 11, 2006

TKD Rocker? In ballet?

At my voice lesson yesterday, I was informed that I should look into taking a ballet class. I plan to go to college for musical theatre, and to do that, I have to be able to dance. I took a jazz class when I was in 6th grade, but that's the extent of my dance experience. TKD has given me balance, muscle control, and flexibility, but according to my voice teacher, I walk like an athlete when I'm onstage, not like a dancer. I want to improve my chances of getting into a musical theatre program, but that would mean cutting back on TKD. Its a decision that I'm struggling with, but I think that I will look into taking a basic ballet class, just to give me a good base in dancing. TKDmom, any advice on this? How does your ballet affect your TKD, and vice versa?

Friday, May 05, 2006

Did Curiosity Really Kill the Cat?

In light of Taekwondomom's post about looking at different dojangs, I thought I would post about one of my recent experiences.
About a month ago, a new martial arts school opened up in my town. Its called, "Macon's Martial Arts", and the first thing that caught my attention was the fact that they didn't advertise the style that they teach. Paulette told me that the style was American Karate, an art that was recently begun. She noted that that didn't make it bad, but to some traditionalists it has a negative connotation.
So one day before tkd I had some time to kill, so I decided to check out "Macon's". I didn't go in (he had a student with him and I didn't want to interrupt), but I observed from the front window. The first thing I noticed was his black belt. It simply had the name Macon on it in gold; no school name or anything. It seemed a bit fake to me, like you could just order it on the internet (of course, my opinion is biased, but oh well)! In fact, everything about the dojang looked a bit fake. Like they were trying so hard to make it look real, that it just looked phony.
I talked to Paulette about it that night (we tend to share ideas and comments with eachother first, before we take anything to Mr. Coleman), and she told me that it was alright to be curious about other styles, but to make sure its ok with Mr. Coleman before I open that door and go inside. I know Mr. Coleman's policy is that no student should train at another school while they are still students at our dojang, but I wouldn't be training, would I? The last thing I want is for Mr. Coleman to be upset/disappointed/angry with me (he's like a second dad, and I would feel horrible if there were any negative feelings between us). So, I've decided to simply drop the matter for now. My curiosity can wait. I just wanted to see what everyone else thought about it.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Drunken Kung Fu

Does anyone know anything about this style? I'm sure its a fine art, but I have to laugh every time I watch it. Click here and you'll see why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fT2qtoB1sg&search=Drunken%20Kung%20Fu
Be sure to watch the entire video to get the "full effect".

Friday, April 28, 2006

Exams are OVER

Wow, I finally have time to breathe, now that exams are over! The past couple of months have gone really well regarding Taekwondo. I'm teaching tonight for Mr. Coleman. I've also been going to the black belt classes that we have once a month. The latest one was especially fun. It was just me and Max (an older black belt), so we did some take-down sparring drills (its like sparring, except more realistic. Less kicks and more grappling). Max outweighed me by a lot, so it was easy for him to swing me around, but Mr. Coleman told me I got in a few good shots as well.
Yesterday, I had a private lesson with Mr. Coleman (I'm doing a set of five this spring, and probably another set in the fall). I love the private lessons because its just one-on-one, and we can work on more advanced techniques that I don't learn in class. We worked on my form (Taebek) for about 45 minutes, and we nitpicked the heck out of it! He gave me something to work on for every single move in the form, and I loved every minute of it! I wrote all the notes down and I've been practicing nonstop. Mr. Coleman wants me to compete with it at the State Championships this summer, so yay! After working on Taebek, we did some wrist locks and arm bars on the mats, which I really enjoyed! I found out how difficult it is to take down a grown man, and how much I still have to learn. It really deepened my conviction about training with larger guys, because I could barely take Mr. Coleman down, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't going full force. So that's what I'm going to focus on for the rest of my private lessons: Improving my self-defense and learning how much force I need to exert in order to take down the average male.
As promised, here's some more about weapons: Out of all the weapons, the bo is by far my favorite weapon. I just take to it, and love the gracefullness of it sliding through your hands. As to Taekwondomom's question, "Is it hard to learn?", I'm not sure. I began training with it when I was 9 or 10, and can't remember much. I suppose it would be a bit easier for an adult to learn, because you've developed enough muscle to handle it, and your mind can grasp the concepts easier than a child. I'll write more later - my OC is over.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

New Schtuff

Wow, I finally have time to update! Last week, I was pushed headfirst into my new teaching role. My master called me Monday morning (sounding sick as a dog), and asked me if I could teach class in Troy that night. Teaching in Asheboro is one thing, because I know most of the students. But I hardly know anyone from the Troy gym, so I anticipated some awkwardness. Overall, it went pretty well. I established my authority, we did some kicking drills, bag drills, and self-defense.
Turns out Mr. Coleman was very sick that week, so I ended up teaching on Friday and Saturday as well. It was a little tedious (I didn't get to workout at all this week), but it gave me a chance to hone my teaching strategies.
Letsee, I've also been taking private lessons with Mr. Coleman. We mostly work on punching (jabs, hooks, reverses, uppercuts), and I'm learning a more realistic fighting style (less kicks, more grappling/punching). Its really fun!
As per Taekwondomom's request, I will now talk about weapons. Our gym offers Traditional Okinawan Kempo Kubodo Karate (we just call it Kubodo). We learn bo staff, sai, tonfa, ecubo, and nunchucku. My personal favorite is bo. I don't really have time to write much about it (i have to get to class), but I'll post again with more details on weapons.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

First Teaching Experience

I taught my first class today!!! Ahhh!! Mr. Coleman is in Virginia for the weekend for a teacher's workshop or something, so he asked me to cover both saturday classes. So I got to the dojang this morning around 9:15, and there was a sign on the door that said "Classes closed due to bad weather". (It was supposed to snow, but it only turned out to be rain). So I unlocked and checked the phone messages just to make sure that it wasn't some mistake. My mom called my cell phone and said that Mr. Coleman had just called her and said to take down the sign and have class. So I did! Gerald was there as an adult, because there has to be someone over 18 present during all classes, but other than that, I was on my own! Only 10 people showed up for all belts, which I was very relieved about. I took my time with warmups (Brian's advice was to stretch warmups out as long as possible the first couple of times you teach, so you would limit your time and not run out of things to do). Then we did some kicking drills to get them sweating. After that, I had them do forms, get a drink of water, then we kicked the bags. I tried to spice it up a little, so after kicking the bags, I had them all get in a line to do flying sidekicks, and we had a contest to see how far everyone could jump. Then I ended with a game of Instructor Says. Whew! It wasn't as nervewracking as I thought it was going to be! I also taught weapons, but I've done that before so it was no big deal. So.... Yay! :D

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Testing

I tested for my first progress stripe yesterday! It wasn't a large ordeal, because there was only one other person testing (neither of us could make it to the all-school testing in a few weeks). I sustained a total of two injuries from testing this time around. The first one happened when we were doing self-defense. My partner used a hip throw on me, and I landed on the hardwood floor directly on my right knee. OWWW!!! Mr. Coleman and Paulette helped me hobble to the back room, where we concluded that the most it would amount to was a painful bruise (and boy, it is!) So I walked it off, and joined back in. Doing my forms helped my knee to feel a little better, and it didn't hinder me either, so that's good. Then it was time for breaking. The pain in my knee was just a dull throb by this time, so I decided to try my 360 hook kick (my favorite kick at the moment). I was a little worried because we didn't have any 1/2 inch boards (the standard board used for hook kicks) so I had to use a full inch one. I broke it on the first try, but the pain was almost more than I could stand. My entire left foot felt like it was going to fall off! I went and leaned against one of the poles while the other student broke, trying to ignore the pain. We both passed, and I got my white stripe on my belt; the first step in a long wait for my 4th dan. Just a little less than 3 years to go! :D

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Good News or Bad News?

Well, I can't decide whether I'm relieved or disappointed, but I didn't have to teach this morning. I got to the dojang around 9:30 so I could open up, and saw that Mr. Coleman was already there. We had 30 minutes until class was supposed to start, so he gave me a pair of boxing gloves and we practiced jabs, reverse punches, uppercuts, and hook punches. Then he put on a pair of hand pads, and we.... Well, I guess you could say we boxed. That's what it reminded me of, anyway. He's never done anything like that with me before, so I didn't really know what to think.... but I liked it! Its the first time in a while that I've been so focused. In class, I find myself going through the motions sometimes, and not focusing my entire attention on what I'm doing. But this was a new, exciting thing, so my focus was intense, which was awesome!
For all-belts, I led warmups and stretching, and then Mr. Coleman took over while I assisted with the lower belts. I kind of like this new leadership position... Its neat. Then for Kubodo class, I taught the first 15-20 minutes. And now.... I'm exhausted. My hands are literally shaking as I type this! I think I'll go take a nap....

Friday, January 20, 2006

Long Time

Long time, no post! My life is currently being simultaneously consumed by school and Taekwondo. I've been going to class everyday most weeks, and really getting involved. Last night was self-defense, which was unusually small, but still fun. After class, Mr. Coleman asked me if I would be able to teach both classes on Saturday. The response in my head was, "Come again? Both classes? By myself?!" Apparently, he thinks I'm ready to handle that. Personally, I don't feel the same way, but I'll trust his judgement. I've already got the whole class planned out, so I don't blank out in the middle of it: 10-15 minutes of warmups/stretching. 15-20 minutes of kicking drills. 15-20 minutes of forms, along with a water break. Then about 5 minutes of "Instructor Says" at the very end. I'll post to let everyone know how it goes!