GOOD LUCK BBM!!

Good luck tonight, BBM!!
I know you'll do well! You won't settle for less than 100% effort!

Go get 'em!!

I am proud of this

Preparing to break a board. The person in front of the board is me. I think that was my ahp chagi.




Yup chagi. I broke that on the second or third try, I think, but I broke it!! I think I even have the boards somewhere in the apartment too! LOL!

Fun

This picture was taken at my belt test last year. I've been reminiscing about my test and thinking about how hard I thought it was when I participated in it. I was in a lot better shape than I am now, but...I'll get it there (again). I'm going to class next Tuesday after the Cub Scout Leader meeting I have to attend at 6:30. I've already decided that I'm attending THAT meeting in my dobahk. If they don't like it, well, I'm sorry, but...I owe it to myself to attend class on Tuesday. I've already missed both days this week AND last Thursday. I'll be darned if I'm going to miss it again!!

Post class

Why the heck was I nervous about this class? Was it because I have a low sense of self esteem? Possibly. Possibly because I didn't know what to expect and therefore expected the worst? I don't know, but once I started showing Mrs. S. my forms, everything settled down. I felt like I had a captive audience, one who expected to see perfection and yet was understanding that I felt odd. I haven't worked on forms in a really long time, so this was a good thing for me. I felt that I was showing them that I am capable of going into their school and performing at a high level. You know what? I wasn't showing them. I was showing myself!

I pretty much glued myself to Ms. S for the duration of class. I like her. She has a great sense of humor, and I found out that she teaches her kids to do a middle knife hand block as "a cup of tea and slicing bread" (you are basically holding one hand in front of your sternum, palm up, flat and the opposite hand is out in front of you as if you're slicing something.). That was a good thing to learn. I told her that we learned Pyhung an Sam Dan and Pyhung an Sa Dan as "Superman" and "splat!" for certain parts of the form. I did Pyhung an Cho Dan and goofed up part of it. I wasn't remembering my forms properly because of nerves or something, but I caught it and stepped back to the point where I lost it.

It was funny to see these guys realize that I was Aidan's mom. They've only seen me twice in the kids' class, out of uniform, and again twice on Saturdays. I had a bit of fun when Ms. M recognized me as Aidan's mom, but also as a black belt.

I won't be participating in the Dan pre-test on Tuesday. It's an assessment of people's abilities. Mrs. S said it was a "benchmark" of fitness and ability. Should be fun when I finally get to jump in on one. Of course, I have to learn the names of the blocks/kicks/punches/etc. That's something I need to put out there. I need lots of work on the Korean. In my last school, we didn't use the Korean terminology all that often. We switched from calling the first form "Basic Form #1" to "Keechyo Hyung Il Bu" about the time we started having Master St. James attend our belt tests. Having gone through two belt tests at USMA, I'm sure I'll be able to attend a belt test at BTK with little difficulty. I'm going to start working on my terminology and studying. This has to be treated like a university program in order for me to excel. I prefer to think that I'm learning at a higher degree of education, so I'll get myself into that mindset now.

Belt test

Today's the day! The black belt test starts in 4 1/2 hours. Am I ready? YOU BET!!
Am I nervous? Yeah! Am I going to work through it? Oh yes!!! When all is said and done, I'll feel like I accomplished something very major.
I'm ready for it!!

Less than a week to go

There is less than a week left before the black belt test. It's one week from tomorrow. A LOT of things are happening, some are good, some are so-so. I'm not going to get all stressed out with nowhere to go. I'm going to try to maintain a cheerful, happy mood. I decided that I wasn't going to let my office stress me out anymore. I'm only one person and I can only do so much, you know?

Last night's class was a bit more interesting than usual. I managed to do 75 jumping jacks in a minute by NOT racing through them! That was a huge surprise to me because I *usually* get either winded or I feel like my legs are going to fall off from the fatigue of doing the jumping jacks. We also had to do a BUNCH of push ups. 30/20/15. 30 regular. 20 wide arm, 15 diamond. UGH. Not my favorite thing to do. For the entire time I've been going to class, I've been doing my push ups incorrectly. I *sagged* at the hips instead of staying board straight. Last night I did them correctly for the first time and man! I can feel the difference! My shoulders are letting me know I did them. It's a great feeling!

Tonight I'm going to Mr. A's Den meeting with him. Hubby is going to a Dallas Stars game tonight (bum! Didn't even ask me if I wanted to go!). I was SUPPOSED to go teach with Susan but that's not happening. I called her at lunch and told her. All the fun thing happen when I'm not there anyway.

This weekend is the final run-through of the belt test. I'm actually looking forward to it. I want to work on my Bong Hyung Il Bu plus the other forms I have to know for next week!

Counting down again

Yep, it's that time...countdown commences!
We've got the black belt test on March 7th. I THINK I'm okay, despite the stupid mistakes I made during the pre-test yesterday. See this...you're in a room with all the Cho Dan Bo's and the re-certs. Sa Bu Nim calls "Pyung Ahn SA Dan" and you do "Pyung Ahn SAM Dan". On top of that, he called KeeCho Hyung Sam Bu and I started out doing Ee Bu. HELLO? Where the heck was my mind????
Once we got past THAT little snafu, I got into the correct swing of things. I don't know why I didn't have the forms in my head correctly. Nerves? The fact that there's a lot of change going on? I dunno. Maybe I just wasn't thinking. I'll work on that. Cho, Ee, Sam, Sa, Oh....1, 2, 3, 4, 5
I know the Pyung Ahn forms...I really do...Pyung Ahn Cho Dan, Ee Dan, Sam Dan, Sa Dan, Oh Dan...yep, I know them. I really do know them.

I hated the warm up yesterday. I don't like falls and rolls at all. We had to roll from a standing position and I'm NOT the best at that. I also don't get up on my feet, which you're supposed to do. I don't like it at all. I'm a poor example of rolls. Possibly the problem stems from the fact that 1. I'm 60 pounds overweight and 2. I am afraid of falling. I do it all the time when I step wrong or whatever. I know that, but still...there's a huge difference between falling with style (wasn't that a line from Toy Story?) and just falling.

Next Saturday we have our run through of the test. Once we've done that, we're on track for the final show. I don't have to worry about board breaking this time. I only have to do one break and that's the firecracker break. I've got to get someone to hold a board for me but...I'm going to do an elbow break because it's my best break. I'm looking forward to that.

Should be an interesting test. Now, to get everything cemented in my head...

Black Belt Test recap

It's over! I am officially a black belt! I am very pleased with myself! The positive self talk worked!!! I told myself that I didn't want to mess up on forms, so the technique part was what I mangled, but it's all good!

The test was like this...Master St. James and Mr. McGee got to the dojang at 5:58. At 6:00 (ish!) they entered the training room. We were all in line, standing at ease, being very quiet. Mr. Berger told us to come to attention, then we bowed to Master St. James and thanked him. We bowed in, said our student creed and then took a moment of silence. Mr. M told us that this was OUR test and that we were going to get started. The black belts lined up in the front row first, so they went to the back of the class. After that, we got busy and started into our techniques. About an hour into it, we did 100 jumping jacks. I didn't stop once this time, which makes me super proud of myself.

We did a lot of technique and then we went right into forms. After the Cho Dan Bo's did their forms, we got to sit down while the black belts did their higher forms. After that, he sent us out to get our sparring gear. We had a few minutes to get it and then we had to race back in. It was a madhouse but we managed. We raced back in and sat down while the black belts did their form. Then we got up and got into sparring formation. We had to do our one steps. He had all of us do our one steps at the same time. That went pretty well. We also had to do our Ho Sin Sul (self defense) and that was a bit of a difficult thing. My partner was in pain. She had hurt her back a few days ago and it was still hurting her. I had to fall for her (should have jumped but didn't). I didn't mind. I did all the Ho Sin Sul falling while she did the technique. I don't mind because I could demonstrate my GREAT falling ability.
We did leg techniques, then we sparred. After the sparring, we got to break boards.
The board breaking is a really COOL thing. We had to write our breaks on an index card and give it to Mr. M when we pre-tested. I did a front snap kick, elbow break, side kick, ridge hand (from above the board, straight down, hitting with the outside of my hand) and an axe kick. I broke almost all of my boards on the first try. The side kick tried to kick me back--I nearly fell when I broke the board but I did it!! I remembered to keop loudly when I broke too. That helped. I felt really good doing it. :)

The last thing was for us to line up again. We listened to Master St. James tell us about spirit. He said that we showed incredible spirit. That was really cool!
After he said his piece, we had a moment of silence, then bowed out--first to Master St. James, then Mr. McGee and the other visiting black belt. Then we bowed to our third and second dans and our first dans. After that, we all turned and bowed to our parents and friends, then left.

I stayed around and got Mr. M to sign my board, then his son (gotta have them both!), and of course my friend Susan! I'm going to keep that board where I can look at it as an inspiration.

Today I have the kama seminar with Master St. James and then afterwards he's teaching the instructors a bong form or two.

Sunday is the banquet to celebrate our belting and get them. Then it's back to work and back to some semblance of normalcy.

Black Belt Test

Just to let you know, I passed my black belt test tonight! I do believe I'd already passed it when I pre-tested and that this was just a showing of our progress. I managed to break 5 boards and didn't have to get a smaller board! I had problems with my side kick but...I DID break the board! I am pretty pleased with myself right now!!!

I have a kama/bong seminar with Master St. James tomorrow but it'll be pretty cool! Sunday's the banquet where I'll get my official black belt. I'll post more tomorrow afternoon when I get home.

Thank you for believing in me and standing behind me, supporting me!!

(((HUGS)))

Meg

This is just peachy...

The Black Belt test is in ***4*** days and I'm now suffering from an obnoxiously massive sinus/allergy thing! I had a sore throat last week for a couple of days and by Friday night, it had hit me in the sinuses. My one friend in South Carolina says I sound like I have my head in a bucket. LOL! I kind of feel that way!

We had a pretty good turn out for the Back to School Bash. Mr. Brooks was the high point of the day--everyone wanted to see him jump his car. He did a GREAT job of it too. I think he's going to be testing on Friday night too. I'm not sure. I know Mr. Todd can't test because he broke his toe. OUCH!!!

My co-workers are trying to convince me to take off half a day on Thursday. I'm now thinking about it. It may do me some good to take off, if for no other reason than I'm wired already and the test isn't until FRIDAY. I may talk to Mr. M tonight and see what HE thinks. Tony too.

Oh blank! I just got "attacked" by a cricket--it jumped over the wall at me and hit my arm. Naturally, I screamed! I'm sorry if it disrupted the class, but bugs are NOT my strong suit!! BRRR!! I can't stand bugs!!

12 days away

The Black Belt test is only 12 days away. Am I ready? That's debatable. I know my forms and as long as I do NOT look at the kids around me and just go with what I know (including getting lots of practice on Nahainchi Cho Dan this week so that my transitions are proper!!!), I should be okay. I've got to review my one steps, but that's not that much of a problem. I only need to know 1-12 on those. We have sparring AND we have the dreaded Ho Sin Sul (self defense!). I am NOT too comfortable with the Ho Sin Sul, but I'll deal with it. I've got this week and most of next week to practice. I really don't want to spar. I have this horrible habit of laughing and giggling like a fool whenever I start sparring with someone. That has GOT to stop! I'll feel like an idiot in my sparring gear (first time I've worn it!)
We haven't been practicing the bong forms, so I won't be doing that at the test. Mr. M is going to have us do technique (for an hour!!!), 100 jumping jacks (yuuuuuuck!!!) and a minute's worth of push ups. I can do one minute of pushups! I did 38 of them in a minute today. I know, it's a pitiful number but...Mr. M says that for my age, it's acceptable. If I push it, I can build up on that number before the test.
When we did the jumping jacks in class, we all counted up to 50, then he had us stop and start again. We counted 1-9 and everyone yelled 10, then up, with everyone joining in on the even numbers (10, 20, 30, 40, 50). It looks good, sounds good and it's going to be that way. He said that when the counting stops, you stop. Period. Don't keep jumping. Hey, I'm all for that!!

We went over some basic technique. I'm standing in between two kids and there will be another taller young man right behind me. I have to make absolutely sure I do NOT kick that kid in front of me in the back! It won't be a good thing to do. LOL!!

I pre-test on Wednesday. Have to know all of my forms, my one steps and my Ho Sin Sul. This is to make sure that I really WILL be ready. Mr. M tells me he's not worried about me, but *I* am worried about me! I shouldn't be, but I am. I've had dreams where Kwan Jang Nim St. James has been grading me, looking at my forms and technique and then stops the test to ask WHY I'm in the test! I realize that he won't do that, but it was a dream.

I'm pre-testing on Wednesday. My partner is a young lady named Holly. She'll come in and pre-test with me on my Ho Sin Sul and one steps. Once we've done those, he'll let us know if we're definitely testing on the 21st. If we can get past the pre-test, it'll be a downhill slide. I have to remember to take myself off to the black belt class on Thursday because it was a good thing to go to. I may start adding that into my regime. I have to be up at the school on Thursday for the Young Warriors class so I may as well just stay to work on the black belt class as well.

Three Wednesdays to go.

Three Wednesdays to go (if you include today!) until the black belt test. I'm starting to think it'll be an enjoyable experience. I'm pretty good with most of my forms. I need to practice at home and I still need to whip out ANOTHER class this week to make up for the holiday we just had. You're supposed to attend a minimum of two classes a week. CIT doesn't count toward the actual class, so IF I get finished with Miss A's orthodontist early enough today, we'll go to the 6:00 class. Jason's in that class too, so it'll be fun. I'm still on the fence about it.
I'm definitely going to the Black Belt class tomorrow night at 7:00. I can since I'm CIT.
I haven't been behaving with WW. I didn't go to the meeting on Saturday. Instead, I went and goofed off for a couple of hours with my friend DB. We practiced forms--ALL the forms! I think I'm really MUCH better on my stances now than I was leading up to Saturday. We shall see.

My weight was 202 at the lowest on Saturday. It went up to 203.5, then to 203 and has stayed pretty steadily during the week at 203. I'm not complaining. Yes, I know that weighing daily isn't a good thing but it helps me see where I need improvement. I don't think I'm going to worry about my weight unless it goes up more than this one pound gain. I have every confidence it'll keep going down. I have literally 3 weeks to go before I test and I'm sure that I will be able to get to 200 and keep it there leading up to the test.

Transformation

September 21st is a red, or should I say, a black letter day. That's the day I test for my first Dan in Tang Soo Do.
With the test rapidly approaching. I've stopped telling myself "I can't"...I did that about 3 years when I first stepped foot into Unlimited Success Martial Arts. Since then, I feel that I've transformed myself into something a lot different. Instead of "I can't...", now it's "I Can..."

I'm a totally different person than I was. Back then, I followed unhesitantly and did what I was told without questioning things. I tend to not be as much of a follower anymore. I wouldn't say I'm egotistical, but I feel that my confidence level has improved greatly since I started these clases. Back in 2004, I would never have thought it possible that I could break a board with my hand or foot, much less perform rolls and such. Now I can. I enjoy it.
There's a certain thrill there when I break a board because I know that *I* did it. Just ME.

I have made some really wonderful friends who I consider absolutely my BEST friends and feel honored that they think enough of me to attend my test. One of my best friends from USMA is someone I can confide in about any number of things. He listens and offers advice. You'd think we were related in the way we natter on and on at each other. We pick at each other, but are genuinely happy for each other's successes. He'll be attending the test in September alongside those of us who are testing for our first Dan. It'll be fun. I'm a little intimidated by the fact that the head of our Federation will be there, but at the same time, I'm not going to worry about HIM. I'm going to worry about ME. I have to make sure that I'm ready for this test.

"How much or how little you are prepared to give of yourself will determine how far up the success ladder you travel."

Mark your calendars now, if you're attending. September 21st. It's a new start. I'm going to be there and I'll be proud to be announced as one of the newest black belts from USMA.

Countdown to the Black Belt is on...

I attended the CDB/BB class last night and am VERY glad I went. I think it'll be something I will be attending more often. The class is Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesday's at 6:00 and Thursday is at 7:00. I already have to be there at 6:15 for the Little Ninjas class, so it makes plenty of sense to just stay. I can do this. I'm really looking forward to it.
I was the oldest person in my class tonight. I can laugh about it because I'm 42 and I'm testing with a bunch of pre teen to teenagers. The next oldest people are my good friend S and our instructor. LOL!
We did a LOT of work on our forms tonight. We started with Basic Forms #1, 2 and 3, then moved on to Pyung An Cho Dan (which looks really incredible once you do it SLOWLY!). After that, he had us work on Sip Soo. I feel like I can practice and show off to the people at work---if I do that enough, I'll do it very well. We found out tonight that we're not going to do the entire form at the test--we're only going to do the first part of it. We'll hit the rest of it in the next testing cycle.

Now we're starting in on the hardest part of things. We're going to start in with MANDATORY 2 hour testing preparation classes. This will be on Saturdays starting August 4th. I'm looking forward to it. I also have to start researching my black belt essay. He's going to send out the topics to us and we'll have to turn in the rough draft on the 18th of August. The completed essay is due in September.
Black belt test has been bumped up to October 13th, one day after a dear friend's birthday. I wish I could fly her out here to see me test--that would be so awesome! I know she'll be thinking of me anyway, so I can be happy with that.

What's next? I'm already looking forward to the next part of my journey--I'm going for my second Dan. (pronounced DON). I'm not going to stop with just being a first Dan black belt. I'll be able to test again a year after the next test for me (my recert is April, 2008). I'm already planning ahead and I'm not there yet.