G reetings pals!
The last couple of weeks have been sort of up and down with the way I have been feeling about certain things which I will elaborate on later. But for now, let me take you through the major events.
WEEK 1:
MONDAY- Monday was a really cool lesson, at the start of class, Instructor Greg called those up who had passed grading ad presented them with their belts and stripes including Orrawee who was promoted to 5th Grade, Blue Stripe.
I happened to be one of the last people and before I received my promotion, I was told to face the class.
My Instructor then addressed everyone saying that Master Rhee was very impressed with me at Action Day and had asked him to give a special mention/ congratulate me in front of the class. I felt very humble in this moment as I felt I didn't really deserve the praise.
ANYWAY! After that little awkward but very nice thing, my Instructor then promoted me to 4th Grade, Blue Belt!!!
I have to say, I think the colour really suits me haaha!
Then for senior class, Instructor Greg went through my new pattern, Choong Gun, with me. Which, in my opinion, is REALLY difficult. I had a lot of trouble with learning this pattern because there are so many new techniques which I have never done before.
WEDNESDAY- On Wednesday night, I started feeling what a Black Belt friend told me was called, The "Blue Belt Blues".
Even though it was only the second lesson of being in this grade, throughout Wednesday's training I felt this absolutely overwhelming feeling of PRESSURE.
Then getting into training, with sparring, I was trying my best with the knowledge I had, but one of the black belts said "Come on, you're a senior now, no time for slacking off."
Or something like that. Then in senior class, we were breaking boards and everyone before me was given one board and when I stepped up, my instructor added another, something I wasn't prepared for. I know that with proper technique I should've been able to break them but my mindset was negative. So when I didn't break them, I could see this sort of shocked disappointment ( because I haven't NOT broken my boards before).
I went home feeling really down about it and for actually a couple days after that, just confused about this really serious treatment I was now receiving.
BUT! After some reflection I decided I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and realize, that this is now the standard I should be prepared for. After all, this is what I have wanted for a long time, to take my martial arts training seriously and treat it as something I study rather than a sport or something I just participate in twice a week.
And so, with this my entire mindset on going to training has completely changed.
WEEK 2:
MONDAY- With this fresh outlook on training I went to class with the expectation to have not only Orrawee asking for help, but also several other students. Which was true, and I tried to manage some time so that I could work individually with everyone equally.
With Instructor Greg away sick, Instructor Wayne took half of the class (my half), to do some intense kicking drills. I was focusing really hard on getting proper technique even with the fast speed we were going at.
It happened to be a really hot, muggy night, typical for Cairns and everyone was feeling feint and dizzy, including myself.
I sat out for most of senior class, but stayed to watch so that I didn't miss out. They went through a really tough warm up with Instructor Linden and then an even tougher lesson of pad work sparring. It was really intense.
WEDNESDAY- At the start of class, I was able to get some solid one on one time with Orrawee who is having some trouble just LEARNING her new pattern, the first movement of Yul Gok is a pressure punch in a horseman stance, it is a little confusing to start off with so I am trying my best to explain the process.
When other people notice I'm teaching her something they often come to offer their input but as I have said before, it is really hard to teach one person when there is more than one "teacher". So when that happens, I let whoever has interjected, take over, because I know how confusing it can be listening to two people.
Instructor Wayne took the class in some basic blocking and striking drills and I was assigned to help one of the white belts through the exercise. She is about 12 years old and was feeling really unsure and down about herself, so I told her not to worry about what speed everyone else was going at and that together, she and I would take it slow and get it right. She kept getting frustrated with herself saying "No I can't do this, it's too hard."
But I kept assuring her that of course
she could and I was there to help her. She did gain some confidence at the end but I hope I can work with her again to really work on the basics.
Senior class was taken by Instructor Linden again and I wasn't feeling dizzy at all so of course I joined in....... FOR THE MOST INTENSE WORK OUT EVER!
In pairs we did sets of sit ups, push ups, planks, planks on our sides, sprints and sparring. It was actually really good since we didn't have a proper warm up to begin with. Everyone was having a big laugh and it was a fun atmosphere!
IN OTHER NEWS:
I have been studying Iaido in much more depth, each and everyday. I have read through the book called, 'Iai' by Darrell Craig, which is a really detailed, informative book on the etiquette, sword care, kata (patterns) and includes the story of the 47 Ronin.
It's a really good book and I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand Iaido.
As well as this I have been practicing the same basic draws over and over and each day I become faster and precise in my movements. It's a really nice, fluid feeling. The Katana seems to flow in each move like water it's really lovely.
Until next time. Thanks for reading.
The last couple of weeks have been sort of up and down with the way I have been feeling about certain things which I will elaborate on later. But for now, let me take you through the major events.
WEEK 1:
MONDAY- Monday was a really cool lesson, at the start of class, Instructor Greg called those up who had passed grading ad presented them with their belts and stripes including Orrawee who was promoted to 5th Grade, Blue Stripe.
I happened to be one of the last people and before I received my promotion, I was told to face the class.
My Instructor then addressed everyone saying that Master Rhee was very impressed with me at Action Day and had asked him to give a special mention/ congratulate me in front of the class. I felt very humble in this moment as I felt I didn't really deserve the praise.
ANYWAY! After that little awkward but very nice thing, my Instructor then promoted me to 4th Grade, Blue Belt!!!
I have to say, I think the colour really suits me haaha!
After putting the belt on a few of my friends and even one of the Instructors came up to congratulate me with one saying "Good to see you in blue!" and another saying "You're a senior student now, time to get serious."
We then went through usual training with warm up and basic drills which were really fun.
Then for senior class, Instructor Greg went through my new pattern, Choong Gun, with me. Which, in my opinion, is REALLY difficult. I had a lot of trouble with learning this pattern because there are so many new techniques which I have never done before.
WEDNESDAY- On Wednesday night, I started feeling what a Black Belt friend told me was called, The "Blue Belt Blues".
Even though it was only the second lesson of being in this grade, throughout Wednesday's training I felt this absolutely overwhelming feeling of PRESSURE.
Even before the class started, I had 4 students come up to me asking me to teach them their new pattern, where as usually, Orrawee and I practice her pattern together.
Not to say this random attention was unwanted, it was just overwhelming. Then getting into training, with sparring, I was trying my best with the knowledge I had, but one of the black belts said "Come on, you're a senior now, no time for slacking off."
Or something like that. Then in senior class, we were breaking boards and everyone before me was given one board and when I stepped up, my instructor added another, something I wasn't prepared for. I know that with proper technique I should've been able to break them but my mindset was negative. So when I didn't break them, I could see this sort of shocked disappointment ( because I haven't NOT broken my boards before).
BUT! After some reflection I decided I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and realize, that this is now the standard I should be prepared for. After all, this is what I have wanted for a long time, to take my martial arts training seriously and treat it as something I study rather than a sport or something I just participate in twice a week.
And so, with this my entire mindset on going to training has completely changed.
WEEK 2:
MONDAY- With this fresh outlook on training I went to class with the expectation to have not only Orrawee asking for help, but also several other students. Which was true, and I tried to manage some time so that I could work individually with everyone equally.
With Instructor Greg away sick, Instructor Wayne took half of the class (my half), to do some intense kicking drills. I was focusing really hard on getting proper technique even with the fast speed we were going at.
It happened to be a really hot, muggy night, typical for Cairns and everyone was feeling feint and dizzy, including myself.
I sat out for most of senior class, but stayed to watch so that I didn't miss out. They went through a really tough warm up with Instructor Linden and then an even tougher lesson of pad work sparring. It was really intense.
WEDNESDAY- At the start of class, I was able to get some solid one on one time with Orrawee who is having some trouble just LEARNING her new pattern, the first movement of Yul Gok is a pressure punch in a horseman stance, it is a little confusing to start off with so I am trying my best to explain the process.
When other people notice I'm teaching her something they often come to offer their input but as I have said before, it is really hard to teach one person when there is more than one "teacher". So when that happens, I let whoever has interjected, take over, because I know how confusing it can be listening to two people.
Instructor Wayne took the class in some basic blocking and striking drills and I was assigned to help one of the white belts through the exercise. She is about 12 years old and was feeling really unsure and down about herself, so I told her not to worry about what speed everyone else was going at and that together, she and I would take it slow and get it right. She kept getting frustrated with herself saying "No I can't do this, it's too hard."
she could and I was there to help her. She did gain some confidence at the end but I hope I can work with her again to really work on the basics.
Senior class was taken by Instructor Linden again and I wasn't feeling dizzy at all so of course I joined in....... FOR THE MOST INTENSE WORK OUT EVER!
In pairs we did sets of sit ups, push ups, planks, planks on our sides, sprints and sparring. It was actually really good since we didn't have a proper warm up to begin with. Everyone was having a big laugh and it was a fun atmosphere!
IN OTHER NEWS:
I have been studying Iaido in much more depth, each and everyday. I have read through the book called, 'Iai' by Darrell Craig, which is a really detailed, informative book on the etiquette, sword care, kata (patterns) and includes the story of the 47 Ronin.
As well as this I have been practicing the same basic draws over and over and each day I become faster and precise in my movements. It's a really nice, fluid feeling. The Katana seems to flow in each move like water it's really lovely.
And so now, we're all caught up. This post was a little longer than usual but I had a lot of thoughts I wanted to express so hopefully that is all okay!
Until next time. Thanks for reading.
Kirstine Powhiro
4th Grade (Blue Belt)
Rhee Tae Kwon Do
Post a Comment