Hey pals,
Oh my gosh, I know, I am starting to consistently post again, I can feel your shock.
Last time I apologized for being away for so long, so now I'm back to tell you all the little details of my thoughts and feelings throughout my training in Rhee Tae Kwon Do.
For anyone who is new to my blog, my name is Kirstine Powhiro, I'm 20 and have been training in RTKD for just over a year now.
Okay! Moving on!
-
So, we didn't have training on Easter Monday of course, but I spent that day training in some Iaido and also going over my pattern Yul-Gok, for TKD.
On Wednesday night, we focused HARD on basics, mainly stances. We went over this so much that my ankles LITERALLY felt like they would cave in upon themselves.
But it was good and I felt like I could get a proper rhythm in alternating my stances.
We also went over patterns and as a personal goal for myself, I tied really hard to get some hip movement in ALL of my techniques. This might sound easy, but when you're trying this for half an hour on every single move, it gets confusing and really tiring.
But ultimately, in the end, I think I have a better hip rotation because of so much practice. Still a long way to go with that though.
-
ACTION DAY - 1.04.2016
ALRIIIIGHT!
So, Action Day was by far the most nervous I have ever been, ever. I am not sure why, but this particular day made me really sweaty and shaky.
I had to go outside and take a walk in the cooler air to keep from freaking out HA! I seriously have no idea why.
Before Master Rhee arrived, I went through patterns with Orrawee (the girl I teach patterns to sometimes before lessons) and another Green belt, we were all pretty nervous.
Then all of a sudden we were called to line up. It seemed earlier than usual but behold!, Master Rhee came walking in the door.
I didn't have time to freak out since I wasn't prepared for his sudden arrival, which was good as I felt less pressure.
After paying respect we went through a warm up and then did some pad work in groups of four, this was probably the most fun part of the night.
I really love working with pads because you can feel your own strength and can adjust accordingly.
I was trying my best to use my hips with each strike and with each kick, I was trying to lock out my technique.
We then moved on to some three step sparring, my partner was having a tough time breathing (it was very hot) so she sat out part way through and I continued with one of the black belts.
After three step Master Rhee had a long talk with the black belts and then we resumed with some free sparring.
By this point I was sweating so much and breathing so heavy I thought I would faint.
As if he read my mind, Master Rhee then asked us all to sit while we watched the black belts go through some basic drills.
After a little more free sparring, we jumped into the deep end.
PATTERNS!
I have no idea where my energy came from because, seriously, I was dying in my own sweat. But suddenly I just wanted to make every move strong and every kihap LOUD. I felt very passionate as we went through my pattern over and over. I was still sweating like crazy of course.
Half way through Master Rhee came up to me and my body froze. He simply asked me to show him my horse stance, corrected one foot and then said "Very good, have you done any Martial Art before?"
To which I said "Yes Sir, ITF Tae Kwon Do." He then nodded , pointed to my frozen stance and said "It shows." Then gathered the black belts to have another talk about stances and sparring.
By this time Action Day was over! Before we all went to take some group photos, one of the black belts came up to me and said, "Master Rhee is very impressed with you."
I was really shocked and said "What?....really?"
To which they said "Yeah, he said your technique is very good and you stand out, he's really happy with you."
Seriously, I did NOT expect that at all and I felt and STILL feel really privileged that Master Rhee made a good comment about my technique!
Anyway! We then took some photo's:
Oh my gosh, I know, I am starting to consistently post again, I can feel your shock.
Last time I apologized for being away for so long, so now I'm back to tell you all the little details of my thoughts and feelings throughout my training in Rhee Tae Kwon Do.
For anyone who is new to my blog, my name is Kirstine Powhiro, I'm 20 and have been training in RTKD for just over a year now.
Okay! Moving on!
-
So, we didn't have training on Easter Monday of course, but I spent that day training in some Iaido and also going over my pattern Yul-Gok, for TKD.
On Wednesday night, we focused HARD on basics, mainly stances. We went over this so much that my ankles LITERALLY felt like they would cave in upon themselves.
But it was good and I felt like I could get a proper rhythm in alternating my stances.
We also went over patterns and as a personal goal for myself, I tied really hard to get some hip movement in ALL of my techniques. This might sound easy, but when you're trying this for half an hour on every single move, it gets confusing and really tiring.
But ultimately, in the end, I think I have a better hip rotation because of so much practice. Still a long way to go with that though.
-
ACTION DAY - 1.04.2016
ALRIIIIGHT!
So, Action Day was by far the most nervous I have ever been, ever. I am not sure why, but this particular day made me really sweaty and shaky.
I had to go outside and take a walk in the cooler air to keep from freaking out HA! I seriously have no idea why.
Before Master Rhee arrived, I went through patterns with Orrawee (the girl I teach patterns to sometimes before lessons) and another Green belt, we were all pretty nervous.
Then all of a sudden we were called to line up. It seemed earlier than usual but behold!, Master Rhee came walking in the door.
I didn't have time to freak out since I wasn't prepared for his sudden arrival, which was good as I felt less pressure.
After paying respect we went through a warm up and then did some pad work in groups of four, this was probably the most fun part of the night.
I really love working with pads because you can feel your own strength and can adjust accordingly.
I was trying my best to use my hips with each strike and with each kick, I was trying to lock out my technique.
We then moved on to some three step sparring, my partner was having a tough time breathing (it was very hot) so she sat out part way through and I continued with one of the black belts.
After three step Master Rhee had a long talk with the black belts and then we resumed with some free sparring.
By this point I was sweating so much and breathing so heavy I thought I would faint.
As if he read my mind, Master Rhee then asked us all to sit while we watched the black belts go through some basic drills.
After a little more free sparring, we jumped into the deep end.
PATTERNS!
I have no idea where my energy came from because, seriously, I was dying in my own sweat. But suddenly I just wanted to make every move strong and every kihap LOUD. I felt very passionate as we went through my pattern over and over. I was still sweating like crazy of course.
Half way through Master Rhee came up to me and my body froze. He simply asked me to show him my horse stance, corrected one foot and then said "Very good, have you done any Martial Art before?"
To which I said "Yes Sir, ITF Tae Kwon Do." He then nodded , pointed to my frozen stance and said "It shows." Then gathered the black belts to have another talk about stances and sparring.
By this time Action Day was over! Before we all went to take some group photos, one of the black belts came up to me and said, "Master Rhee is very impressed with you."
I was really shocked and said "What?....really?"
To which they said "Yeah, he said your technique is very good and you stand out, he's really happy with you."
Seriously, I did NOT expect that at all and I felt and STILL feel really privileged that Master Rhee made a good comment about my technique!
Anyway! We then took some photo's:
(My instructor (Greg) LEFT of Master Rhee, Regional Master to the RIGHT)
After Orrawee and I were convinced to go and take a photo with Master Rhee:
(Myself LEFT - Orrawee RIGHT)
I look terrified in this photo (and I was).
After Master Rhee shook my hand and said "Do you want to have your black belt?"
I obviously said yes.
"Good, you must keep climbing the stairs and you will reach it."
-
Which is what I plan to continue to do!
It was by far the most stressful Action Day but also the most rewarding by far, I had a lot of fun and am excited to get back to regular training next week.
Until then! Thank you for reading.
Kirstine Powhiro
5th Grade (Green Belt/Blue Stripe)
Rhee Tae Kwon Do
Post a Comment