Thursday, March 30, 2006
New Portrait!
Oh, yeah -- be sure to check out my new self-portrait over there in the right-hand corner of the page.. In keeping with the overall, all-encompassing martial arts theme of the blog these days, I felt a South Park Dobahk Portrait was appropos. Plus, I totally dig the facial expression. The drops of sweat were a given, especially if you've seen me training or testing....
Events, Moods, Glimmers of Light
I've been trying to kickstart a journal entry for a couple of days, here, but so far no luck. Just don't seem to have the wehrewithal to pull together something coherent right now. The last few days I've been in a sort of unfocused state of mind: Kind of listless, kind of relaxed, kind of over-sensitive and self-reflective. Not a bad thing, overall, but not a state that is terribly conducive to getting a whole lot of stuff done, you know? I think it's just a sort of extended comedown from the tension I felt over the couple of weeks leading up to my gup test.
So anyhow, my first copuple of classes as an 8th gup have been highlighted by learnign a new hyung (Pyong Ahn Cho Dan) and by FINALLY getting the opportunity to break a real honest-to-goodness wooden board in class. The board break was actually a bit of an anti-climax. All bragging aside, it was just too damn easy. And apparently it was a pretty tough piece of wood, too: I had asked if I could try breaking it with a straight punching technique, but was told it was too dense and "sappy" a piece of pine and that would be too risky for a gup like me. So I had to make do with a hammer fist technique. One shot and the board split like nothing. Easy break. And I didn't even prep my hand properly -- it's bit sore from the hit, which just means my fist was loose and I wasn't flexing the muscles in the side of my hand properly at the moment of impact.
Should have tried for a foot technique. Maybe next time.
-=-
Otherwise, not much happeneing. Work rolls along at a mellow lope: I'm being underutilized right now due to the way our schedules have worked out. But later this year I'll be swamped, once the "big" projects have progressed enough for me to begin work on documenting them. Probably will be taking a work trip to St. Louis in a few weeks to meet with some members of my extended team and to get more familiar with some of the processes that are used by our New Overlords. Never been there, so that should be interesting at least.
Is it weird that the only thing I've thought of regarding this potential trip is "I hope it doesn't make me miss too many Tang Soo Do classes?" Ahh, the face of obsession, staring fixedly out from the looking glass.
-=-
On a happy note, it was really nice to see this news item this morning. A spark of light in an abyss, but light all the same.
Mood: Pensive, bemused
Now Playing: Kate Bush, "Aerial"
So anyhow, my first copuple of classes as an 8th gup have been highlighted by learnign a new hyung (Pyong Ahn Cho Dan) and by FINALLY getting the opportunity to break a real honest-to-goodness wooden board in class. The board break was actually a bit of an anti-climax. All bragging aside, it was just too damn easy. And apparently it was a pretty tough piece of wood, too: I had asked if I could try breaking it with a straight punching technique, but was told it was too dense and "sappy" a piece of pine and that would be too risky for a gup like me. So I had to make do with a hammer fist technique. One shot and the board split like nothing. Easy break. And I didn't even prep my hand properly -- it's bit sore from the hit, which just means my fist was loose and I wasn't flexing the muscles in the side of my hand properly at the moment of impact.
Should have tried for a foot technique. Maybe next time.
-=-
Otherwise, not much happeneing. Work rolls along at a mellow lope: I'm being underutilized right now due to the way our schedules have worked out. But later this year I'll be swamped, once the "big" projects have progressed enough for me to begin work on documenting them. Probably will be taking a work trip to St. Louis in a few weeks to meet with some members of my extended team and to get more familiar with some of the processes that are used by our New Overlords. Never been there, so that should be interesting at least.
Is it weird that the only thing I've thought of regarding this potential trip is "I hope it doesn't make me miss too many Tang Soo Do classes?" Ahh, the face of obsession, staring fixedly out from the looking glass.
-=-
On a happy note, it was really nice to see this news item this morning. A spark of light in an abyss, but light all the same.
Mood: Pensive, bemused
Now Playing: Kate Bush, "Aerial"
Monday, March 27, 2006
Scenes from My Gup Test
A few choice moments from Saturday's Gup test. My kids took a bunch of the pictures, so the framing on some of the pics isn't so good, and unfortunately when Christine tried to get some of the trickier pictures our digital camera took so long to focus that she wasn't able to actually capture any of the faster actions, like my one-step or wrist grab techniques. She'd get ready to take the picture just as the technique started, and by the time the camera had focused and decided to grab the picture I'd have finished the technique and returned to choon bee stance. So, instead of action shots she got a bunch of shots of me standing at attention and Mr. Hill preparing to punch. Like 9 versions of exactly the same picture. Sigh. Might be time for a better digital camera....
Anyway: Here I am standing at choon bee, preparing to begin, not yet drenched in sweat. This unmoistened state will not last long:
Line drills: Here I'm doing an inside-to-outside block in a back stance. The sweating has begun.
Line drills: Round kicks. Here, I'm kicking with my injured left leg, which didn't feel so great. I think the discomfort is evident in my expression. Still, my technique was solid. Behind me is Kayleigh, who trains with my daughter. Great kid. Note: Completely drenched.
One-step Sparring: Here's where the slow camera really messed us up. Basically, Mr. Hill would throw a punch at my face and I would simultaneously do 1 of a series of 10 defensive/offensive techniques in response, each of which involves moving to the side, blocking the fist in some way, and then throwing punches or elbows in response. They were really cool, and went by way too fast, due both to my nervousness and Mr. Hill's intensity. Anyhow, we went through the one-step techniques so quickly that Mrs. Nicholson, who was the dan member grading me, asked me to re-do one-step #4. I asked her if I'd done it wrong, and she said she had no idea because I'd gone so fast she'd missed it. This is me trying to figure out if this is a good thing or a bad thing:
It was actually a good thing. It's kind of hard to tell during the test, though.
Here are the judges. Left to right we have Mrs. Nicholson, Mr. Vasquez, Sa Bom Nim Nunan, Mr. Kannan, and Ms. Hill (Mr. Hill's daughter, an extraordinarily talented and focused child who has, at age 8 or 9 -- not sure -- already attained dan membership and won a national TSDMGK award for her focus and discipline). To the far left is Mr. Nicholson, Mrs. Nicholson's son, who is, if I recall, the youngest person to attain dan membership in the history of the Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan:
A little while later, after testing on terminology and some kind and encouraging and very complimentary words from Sa Bom Nim Nunan and the rest of the judges, I received my orange belt:
And here I am with my fellow 8th gups. I call this image "Small, Medium, Large."
Adam, at the right, is a soft spoken kid who nevertheless had great intensity and focus that was definitely notable in a kid his age. Kayleigh is a terrific kid as well, and both of them will prove to be terrific martial artists I am sure. I was proud to stand beside them and lead them in our hyungs, even if I felt a bit, well, older. I even did the "kid's version" of the Student Creed with them, which includes a whole series of hand movements coordinated with saying "This! Is! A! Black! Belt! School! We're dedicated! We're motivated! We're on a quest to be the best!" finished off with a low block and center punch and really loud "kiyaps!" It got a big laugh from the judges and the audience, but that wasn't really why I did it. Honestly, I figured why the hell not -- they're up there with me, why not do everything together? Why should I get to skip out on it? Besides, it was fun.
Anyway, a great day, and a great first step in what I hope will be a long and satisfying endeavor.
Mood: Good
Now Playing: Nina Simone, "Feeling Good: The Very Best of Nina Simone"
Anyway: Here I am standing at choon bee, preparing to begin, not yet drenched in sweat. This unmoistened state will not last long:
Line drills: Here I'm doing an inside-to-outside block in a back stance. The sweating has begun.
Line drills: Round kicks. Here, I'm kicking with my injured left leg, which didn't feel so great. I think the discomfort is evident in my expression. Still, my technique was solid. Behind me is Kayleigh, who trains with my daughter. Great kid. Note: Completely drenched.
One-step Sparring: Here's where the slow camera really messed us up. Basically, Mr. Hill would throw a punch at my face and I would simultaneously do 1 of a series of 10 defensive/offensive techniques in response, each of which involves moving to the side, blocking the fist in some way, and then throwing punches or elbows in response. They were really cool, and went by way too fast, due both to my nervousness and Mr. Hill's intensity. Anyhow, we went through the one-step techniques so quickly that Mrs. Nicholson, who was the dan member grading me, asked me to re-do one-step #4. I asked her if I'd done it wrong, and she said she had no idea because I'd gone so fast she'd missed it. This is me trying to figure out if this is a good thing or a bad thing:
It was actually a good thing. It's kind of hard to tell during the test, though.Here are the judges. Left to right we have Mrs. Nicholson, Mr. Vasquez, Sa Bom Nim Nunan, Mr. Kannan, and Ms. Hill (Mr. Hill's daughter, an extraordinarily talented and focused child who has, at age 8 or 9 -- not sure -- already attained dan membership and won a national TSDMGK award for her focus and discipline). To the far left is Mr. Nicholson, Mrs. Nicholson's son, who is, if I recall, the youngest person to attain dan membership in the history of the Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan:
A little while later, after testing on terminology and some kind and encouraging and very complimentary words from Sa Bom Nim Nunan and the rest of the judges, I received my orange belt:
And here I am with my fellow 8th gups. I call this image "Small, Medium, Large."
Adam, at the right, is a soft spoken kid who nevertheless had great intensity and focus that was definitely notable in a kid his age. Kayleigh is a terrific kid as well, and both of them will prove to be terrific martial artists I am sure. I was proud to stand beside them and lead them in our hyungs, even if I felt a bit, well, older. I even did the "kid's version" of the Student Creed with them, which includes a whole series of hand movements coordinated with saying "This! Is! A! Black! Belt! School! We're dedicated! We're motivated! We're on a quest to be the best!" finished off with a low block and center punch and really loud "kiyaps!" It got a big laugh from the judges and the audience, but that wasn't really why I did it. Honestly, I figured why the hell not -- they're up there with me, why not do everything together? Why should I get to skip out on it? Besides, it was fun.Anyway, a great day, and a great first step in what I hope will be a long and satisfying endeavor.
Mood: Good
Now Playing: Nina Simone, "Feeling Good: The Very Best of Nina Simone"
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