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).

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!!

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.