Paying goodbye

Yesterday I went to taekwondo and paid my usual monthly fee of 60,000won (£34). This is, I think, the last month I'll be doing taekwondo here, or perhaps anywhere. I now won't be here for the June test. There is little point me training in May because Diana, my training partner is changing branches this month so she won't be there and as I'm not taking the test I won't feel good practicising for something that I won't be able to do. Perhaps this is short sighted of me.

I have mixed emotions. On the one hand, I've been doing some form of martial arts in Korea for three and a half years. I've done OK, got three black belts and learned a lot and had fun every single day. My body has taken a beating at times though. When I did hapkido I used to wake nearly every morning with aches and pains and it would always take a few minutes for my body to adjust. My feet will enjoy the rest too. So many times I've hurt them, split open my toes where they join my foot (which is painful) countless times. I won't miss the bruises either.

But I will miss the people I have met, trained with and had fun with. I will miss the routine, the discipline and the thrill of impovement. I've been lucky enough to see a different side to Koreans and enjoyed their hospitality and friendship. It's been a big part of my days for the past few years. Something to look forward to. Something to aim for. Time is often your enemy in Korea. As a teacher you have too much of it so need to try and fill it productively and I think I have. I'm hoping the next three weeks will be good. After that I will be busy planning my move.

Taekwondo with kids

It's finally dawning on me that if I want to get my 2nd dan taekwondo black belt I'll have to do it largely by myself. It is a similar story to when I got my hapkido 2nd dan as the motivation has to come from within to improve but there are some differences

Two weeks ago our class time changed from to 1:40pm. This is good and bad. Good because there is no excuse to not go to class unless I am very sick. In fact my body is fully awake by that time I am ready to go. Bad because we will be training with kids.

Before the time change we had the Winter vacation where we trained at 11am with the kids because school was closed for a month or so and we hardly did any training. We played a lot of fun games but there was no intensity and naturally the kids don't and probably cannot take the classes seriously. I admire my taekwondo Master for his patience! It was cold at the time so I didn't mind too much. Vacation is over but we're still practising with children.


For an hour the kids are running around, playing shouting and being kids. I once had a dog that in the evenings ran around the house tiring itself out. This is exactly what the kids at taekwondo are doing. I half think that their parents send them there so that they can burn off all their energy making them manageable in the evenings.

This is OK, but class is now very difficult. The warm up has changed from fifteen minutes of good stretching to five minutes. My body needs a lot of daily stretching otherwise I will pull a muscle or just not be able to move freely so to counter this I am stretching first at home. The kids also don't respect your space when you are practising.

The intensity has gone. As most of the children don't take the class as seriously as I do so we are not pushing or being pushed hard enough. It's a fine balance that our Master has to find. I need to improve technique now but it's not been happening lately. I am now hearing what I heard a lot in my second year of hapkido, "self training." This is fine but difficult when a bunch of kids are running all over the show and throwing balls and bumping into you. At least I have the motivation to improve and a goal to reach for. If I get the chance to take the test AND pass then I will feel like I've earned it.

Decisions, decisions

This week one of managers emailed me asking if I was 100% leaving my job at the end of May. She needs to look for people to fill my job and was just making sure that I was definitely not re-signing. I emailed her back telling her that yes I will not be staying here any longer teaching.

I'm excited about going because it will be time. There's just one small thing that is on my mind now. A seed was planted a few weeks ago and grew this week in my head. What about taekwondo? The earliest possible date for the 2nd Dan black belt test is the end of June, that will be one year since the 1st Dan test. You cannot take the 2nd test until a year has passed. I had earlier written this off as something that I am just not going to be able to do but now I am not so sure.

After my contract finishes we plan on having a two-three week vacation in Asia before going to England (her visa permitting). If I came back from the holiday in decent shape I would have one week to train for the test but would I be able to pass? Discussing this with my wife, she seems to be OK about this right now but because she is sick we haven't had a proper discussion yet.

I am hoping to talk to my Master next week to ask a few more questions and gauge his opinion about how he thinks my training is going and if it will be worth my while doing the test. I have a decision to make because this is my final chance, realistically to get another black belt. They take years to do in England and realistically it's unlikely. This would be a chance to get a fourth black belt in Korea and I would really like the chance to at least try.

Handy Christmas bonus

New Years Eve and it's going to be a busy day at work. Next Monday it's the start of a new month's session, new students and new classes for me with significant changes to Middle school curriculum. Also we're moving to a new building and we have a new manager. We have to move some of our stuff out of the old building into the new one tonight after work. My co-workers are very unhappy about this as none of us can figure out why we couldn't just do this before work today and not after.

Still, I'm in a very good mood - despite almost everyone at work being sick now, including me. Tomorrow is the start of a new year and I've enjoyed 2010 a lot. On reflection I didn't do too many things but I've had fun in my own way. I know that time is winding down for me in Korea but I don't feel in any great rush to do anything or see anywhere. I've had my chance to do and go to the things I've wanted and now my focus is on finalising our exit and saving as much money as we can.

And work gave me a great boost last weekend. At the Christmas Party the owner handed out a lot of cash prizes. Myself and a few others who have worked at the company for three years or more were given one million won. that works out at just over £550 at the moment. I'm very thankful because it has come at a great time. My wife is leaving her job at the end of January so that will be one less income for the remaining months left. She's had a lot of stress this year at work so it will be good for her to have a change of pace. The money comes in very handy right now. I feel lucky to have a stable job at this moment and will miss the relative ease of it and the money when I am back home.

So what have we done this year? We had our 'wedding' in May, managed to save a decent amount of money and I got to know my Korean mother in-law a lot more, I passed my taekwondo black belt test after taking it up only seven months before, went home to visit family and friends for a week. I kept my sanity and had a lot of fun in a job that is mentally tiring and felt a lucky man being married to my wonderful wife. I missed some of my targets for the year though but that means I have so many for next year, a huge year for my wife and I.

Taekwondo hockey

Back from taekwondo today and I had a great time. After warming up the Master said we could play a game for twenty minutes or so but this went on to last the whole class. We played hockey but with an inflatable ball with unpredictable bounces and used kicking mitts instead of hockey sticks. Sounds like it wouldn't work but we had a blast - wish I had pictures. It was an all body workout and I was shattered when it was over. Times like this are the little things I will miss when I leave here next year.

Taekwondo clown

For the past two months or so we've been joined at taekwondo by a Korean ajumma (아줌마), which means a middle aged Korean woman. Although she is there primarily there to improve her English - and she kind of admitted that to me - she does join in with the practice and is getting better. I kind of admire someone who goes out of their comfort zone like she has done to take this up.

She is a lot of fun. Of course her skills are much lower than us but that's not really the point. She seems to enjoy it and we laugh a lot more than we used to, and we've always had fun as a group. Her English is not bad and improving. She uses phrases that don't always work but we get what she means. Today she explained about when she was having a baby, describing it as an "Extreme activity." She is in her element when we play a game and seems to enjoy it more than us. She plays the clown really well and helps keep things light hearted when they need to be. She also is helping our Korean get a little better too.

Taekwondo is a decent way to kip fit but to improve you need to practice hard and try your best to get better. Recently we've been doing a lot of stretching and strengthening our leg muscles in order to improve our kicking. Today we spent a lot of time on that and at times it was bordering on painful, but in the best possible way. It really was difficult. At one point the taekwondo Master made me do some leg stretches while balancing his phone on my foot for the duration.

It was a bit tough on Lucy- her English name - as she had to do stuff she hadn't before but everyone else kind of had.stage which made us all laugh a lot. Importantly she didn't quit when it got difficult. Lucy is a white belt and is slowly getting ready for the next level, yellow belt. Her test is set for this Friday. Should be funny but in a good way like taekwondo is right now.

What you get when you pass a taekwondo black belt test

Last week I picked up my taekwondo black belt certificate. I've had my actual belt for a while but it was good to collect the rest. I had to wait about three months to get my hands on this up due to the insane amount of people who take the test and the backlog of processing them all. It made me feel that the whole things was a little more legitimate.


As with hapkido, included, in English and Korean in the folder is documentation from the Korean Taekwondo Association and my Dan certification card proving rank and date of test passed. The picture of me on the card is mortifying but I'll have to live with it. As I say to anyone who asks me, learning hapkido and taekwondo has taught me a lot, helped me and given me a lot of pleasure in Korea and I'd recommend either to anyone interested in taking up a martial art.


Training for the next test, which is in June has started in earnest. Of course I won't be here but that's the direction we're headed in. Training is a bit more intense and we all agree that's for the best. I already feel like I will have everything prepared by January. I have most of the movements already fixed in my head and it's just a matter of honing technique, which of course is not so easy, especially the kicks. My motivation for the remaining months is this - I want to leave with everyone in the dojang knowing that if I took the test I would pass.

Taekwondo: Learning the steps for the 2nd dan test

The black belt test was only ten weeks ago but right now it feels like ten months. The break over August has knocked the stuffing out of me and motivation is low. The gap has made me lazy and my muscles have been too inactive. I have found the return difficult. The sessions are too relaxed and I feel we need to be pushed harder than we are, but that's not to criticise my Master as he's a great guy who has trained me well so far. I just think I personally need to be forced sometimes into doing something to get me to improve.

Never mind, that's my problem and I have to deal with it and be more disciplined if I can. After passing the black belt test we started to learn the next formation (9th) I believe called Koryo. It is here where it starts to get a little difficult. The movements come much faster and of course are harder. I won't be in a position to take the next test (June 2011) but at least for I can try to reach a stage where I feel I would pass if I able to take it.

Before today we had been shown only the the first 50% and have been practicing. I think I will be OK in time on that but the Master then showed us the remainder of the poomse before we gingerly repeated his moves. Right now it feels as if it will take me months to get to a decent level. Thank god the weather is slowly cooling down and I can actually enjoy going to the dojang.

Taekwondo doesn't get any easier

Motivation, where art thou? Back in the dojang again for the first time in four weeks due to holidays. The Summer break was more than necessary for all of us and it's still almost too hot to practice, but practice we did. After the inactivity I found that although I remembered a lot of the things we did my muscles were asleep and I was I'm still very stiff as I write this.

Everyone was back at taekwondo and there was a new face too. A Korean housewife has joined the class. She is a friend of the Master's wife. She is starting at white belt as today was her first day. I hope she enjoys it and sticks with it even when she is busy or finds it difficult. The dynamics have now changed and the Master will have to give her a lot of attention. Like hapkido after my first dan, there will probably be a lot of self training. Strange again to be watching someone new and of lower ability.

Turning my attention to the future I don't know how long I will stick with taekwondo. I'm committed to going until the end of the year. After that who knows. After signing my contract I know I'll be staying in Korea till the end of April but as I've mentioned before I won't be eligible for the 2nd dan test which would be in June. I need to do more exercise so I may stick with this until I stop enjoying it.

Picking up my taekwondo black belt

Last week I found out that I had passed my taekwondo black belt test. I had to wait a week to receive the belt but finally got my hands on it a few days ago. It certainly puts a spring in your step on your way to and from the dojang. I'm still surprised at how quickly we got to the stage of taking the test. When I did hapkido it took ten months to get to black belt test status and just seven for taekwondo. My Master deserves a lot of credit. We doubted him and ourselves. I thought it was coming too soon but we were wrong. The timing was just right.


I'm very proud of how I've done. There is no disillusion over my ability. I know where I stand with my level. If only I could have started this a few years earlier ago I think I would have really enjoyed training a lot more. Where will I go now with taekwondo? Well the text for a 2nd degree black belt would be in June 2011 - a year from the 1st degree one. I won't be here then, no way. So I am stuck at the level I have reached (belt wise). I am now going to go to improve if I can and for fun. I enjoy going. It's a great start to the day.


A few days ago the Masters wife asked me what I liked the most, my hapkido black belts or my taekwondo one. To be diplomatic and respectful I said they were both great and I enjoy this one because it is the one I have passed recently. I stick by that but passing my 2nd degree hapkido test took a lot of sacrifices. I went at night on my own. I trained on my own and improved on my own. With taekwondo it's been more of a team effort. A different kind of achievement. Both have been great times and both different.

Jesus business card

I decided to take the risk and walk to the convenience store wearing my taekwondo uniform. It's only two minutes away and I would only be in there very briefly. Open mouthed Korean kids who've never seen a white person before - check. Disbelief that a foreigner would study taekwondo - check. Child saying hello to me in Korean - check. Adults looking at me as I disfigured/not welcome - check. Feeling of alienation - check.

Scorn and besument both at high levels, but no English. How strange. I open the door to the store and a middle aged man greets me in semi perfect English, "Hello. Jesus Club". He hands me a card and we leave it at that as I head to the gimbap. I leave the store and check out the card.

Jesus doesn't strike me as a yellow business card typed figure. Perhaps he could sort out these stares that I still get even after four and a half years of being here. That would be a miracle.

Taekwondo black belt success

We did it! Just seven months after first starting taekwondo classes we have all passed our black belt test. Today our Master casually told us that Diana and then his wife had passed. He then told me I had not but he was teasing me.

I couldn't be happier with how things have gone. To be honest it's not sunk in or doesn't seem real yet as I won't get hold of my new belt for a few days. Till then I'm going to have to be content with just being really happy.

Not bad eh, from white to black in seven months.

Taekwondo black belt test: Review

That was a long, long day. Not getting much sleep the night before was inevitable but I woke feeling OK and ready to go. I mistimed my morning and didn't prepare too well before heading to the dojang at 10am. It didn't mean I was behind though as we spent two hours preparing for the days events before heading off to the basketball stadium.

We sat close to the action, as we first witnessed most of the kids warming up and following instructions from the judge who was conducting some kind of ceremony. We just sat and watched. And then they drew the numbers for the poomsaes we would be performing. Of course we would have to start with number eight but the first drawn number was seven, which I was ready for. And then we waited for the final number to be drawn. But it never came, instead (I could not get a satisfactory answer from anyone) they decided not to choose another one, but to tell you what poomsae you do lastly just two seconds before you start to do it.


All I could think was "What?! Are you kidding me?". As I write this I still do not understand why they did that. I couldn't see the benefit whatsoever. But those were the rules and we had to participate the way we were told to. This meant we had to practice every single poomsae just in case it was chosen. Well this wasn't the end of the world. We had already practiced them all week and one the day, it was just a bit disappointing. I watched a few of the kids take their test before going outside to practice again. It was raining outside and their was precious little shelter but again we just had to deal with it.


About two, two and a half hours after arriving we were called to line up. Minutes later we were about to take our test and it dawned on us that I'd be fighting Diana. That was another blow! The two of us practiced the fighting in the morning and it just didn't feel right. I didn't feel comfortable aiming kicks at a woman. Also I don't think it was fair for her to be 'fighting' a man when she must have thought she'd be taking on someone smaller than her.


So our test started and it went well. Poomsae number eight, or Taegeuk Pal-jang, went smoothly for me. Of course I must have made mistakes but I couldn't complain about it. Next, poomsae number seven, or Taegeuk Chil-jang, went well too. I was feeling pretty confident by now. Onto the third, undecided one and the instructor said Taegeuk Sa-jang and my mind went blank.


For a minute I forgot what number Sa is in Korean (four). I didn't see his hand indicate what it was either as we started. So I screwed up a little here, I made a mistake and was a little slow starting but three seconds in I was doing OK, not good but OK. I just hope I am given a little slack with that one. We moved onto the fighting part and even though I was apprehensive that too went well, for both of us.

Before I knew it we had finished. The whole thing took about four minutes in total. As we finished I think we all thought the same, that we had done well and we had really tried our best but we could not say for sure if we'd passed. We now have to wait three weeks before finding out. If I fail it won't have been for lack of effort. I gave it my all and if it's not good enough then I will just have to pass next time round. The whole day was exhausting and seemed to go on forever though it was enjoyable and I am glad that I did it. If successful I will have gone from white belt to black belt in seven months. That's some leap. We'll just have to wait and see. It was nice to have some beers yesterday and say I really deserved them.

TKD test day tomorrow

Test day is upon us and tomorrow it's put up or shut up, kind of. I'm trying to be philisophical about the whole thing. I've prepared and practiced and even lost weight in the lead up to this. There's not much more I could have done really. If I pass I pass, if I fail so be it. My wife will be watching me at taekwondo for the first time. I don't want to embarrass her so I really want to do well.

To be honest I've not been so nervous in the build up, mainly due to hapkido test experience but I know this will change. Nerves are good, they show you care about something. As long as nerves don't turn into panic I'll be happy. There's nothing wrong with a little bit of adrenalin anyway.

Tomorrow is going to seem like a very long day though. Up before 8am to eat breakfast and watch videos of the poomsaes. Then stretching at home before leaving for my dojang at 10am. There should be an hour or so's practice before eating some kind of lunch and then heading off around about 12-ish to the stadium, yes stadium. The test will be where Daegu Orions basketball team plays, capacity of over 5,000 people. Of course there won't be that many there. The crowd dissipates after the kids have finished and they won't be watching me but I won't deny it's a little intimidating thinking about it.

The first set of tests are for the kids, these may take two hours or so and then onto the adults. I think my actual start time will be around 3pm. Luckily I won't be taking the test alone, I will be taking it with my friend and co-worker, Diana, and the taekwondo masters wife. It will be good to be around the people who I've trained and shared experiences with.

So what happens in the tests? Before any student takes the test, there are the usual rituals, bowing, showing respect to judges and officials etc, etc, and maybe even some kind of display. Then the interesting thing happens, a judge draws two numbers. You see, up till black belt there are eight poomsaes (or patterns) to learn. When you are testing for the black belt you must do the last pattern you learned and then two others are drawn at random. Naturally the lower the number the easier the poomsae going up to eight, judged to be the most difficult up to that level.

Two months ago I watched people take the tests and on that day the numbers drawn were eight, seven and six. In theory the hardest three possible. I am comfortable with number eight as I am with number six but seven and five represent challenges and show up my weakness'. As long as my memory serves me well I will be OK. Technique, well it's not so great but there's nothing I can do about it now. Luck of the draw, or not, we shall see.

How will everything be judged? Will officials show leniency as long as there is effort? How many mistakes are allowed? Are you expected to be perfect doing the easiest poomsaes but given more slack for the difficult ones? Do the foreigners have to work extra hard to impress? Well there's not too much point in worrying about things I don't know the answer to or can't change.

So after the three poomsaes are over you move onto the final part, the fighting. Or sparring, or whatever it's called. I will be up against someone who I have never met before who will be trying to outdo me. No physical contact is allowed but you must be aggressive and show as many kicks as you can. It's not dangerous but is exhausting for me. Will I be up against someone bigger and fitter than me? Regardless, it's not boxing, both people can pass so you can't be eliminated.

And that's it. Sounds simple, and it could be but I bet my heart will be pumping when I start.

5 day self-challenge

Lately I've not been looking after myself as much as I should though I've actually lost weight recently so can't be doing myself too much harm. I haven't been treating my body badly at all but considering I have a black belt test on Saturday I need to be in peak condition so need to make a few last minute changes.

Firstly, stop drinking beer. I've been having a beer or two - no big amounts - as I watch the World Cup games. This has to stop for this week. I need to drink water or juice and only those two. I can't believe I've lost weight so cutting down on the booze would really help keep the weight down, for now. If I can couple this with eating some healthy food then that would be great too.

Secondly I need to try and sleep a but more than I have been. That's easier said than done because it's s humid at night that sleeping is just plain difficult. There have been a few late nights watching England so I need to limit these for now too.

Thirdly and most importantly, exercise as hard as I can when at my taekwondo dojang. Really push myself to my limits and give everything. I still don't know if it will be enough but I've got to give it a go. My memory seems to serving me well right now, it's certainly better on the poomsaes but my technique, well it need a lot of work.

What I put into this week will be what I get out of it eventually. Hopefully it will be a nice new black belt and not something to be disappointed about.

Ready or not?

This week, my co-worker and taekwondo partner, Diana and I were talking about the upcoming black belt test. We discussed the pluses and minuses and reached a decision, to postpone our June test to August or October. Then we told out taekwondo master and he basically persuaded us to take the test in June.

He didn't bully us or make us sign up but he insisted we could pass providing we practice and memorise the poomsaes. I still have my reservations. I doubt my technique and make stupid errors on easy patterns and am uncomfortable where I am 'at' in taekwondo. I have to trust his opinion and if I fail then I fail. I need to focus on the positives - I already have 2 hapkido black belts so why would I fail now?

Well now we have only eight more sessions before our black belt test. Are we ready, or rather am I? No, I don't think so but having said that, the test is in two weeks not today. I've been a bit sick with a cold all week so there has been little intensity in my training. Hopefully this won't cost me come test day. With the World Cup starting today I fear my attention and focus will be diverted and training will be extra difficult.

Taekwondo belt mission

After missing three consecutive taekwondo classes I felt pretty tired and weak at the end of todays practice. I've been busy with some stuff and haven't been able to go and it showed today as both my technique and energy levels were pretty low but it was good to be back. Boy do I need to practice harder and harder though because I am lacking in some areas.

We're currently studying poomsae seven (태극 칠 장 - Taegeuk Chil Jang) and I'm struggling with some of the feet and arm movements and feel stupid when I screw up. I think this is so much harder than all the other poomsaes and believe I may need another week or two minimum to be test ready but we'll see. After practice was over our master demonstrated poomsae number eight (태극 팔 장 - Taegeuk Pal Jang). I maintain my belief that this is easier than poomsae seven but we shall see.

So presuming we pass the current poomsae then we will begin number eight. And when we are ready we will go downtown to the taekwondo arena (?) and try out for our black belts - pretty nerve wracking considering it will be in front of a lot of people. And when will we be tacking 0ut black belt test? Well today, and I think I'm paraphrasing my taekwondo master but he said "Challenge is beautiful!" What he is trying to get us to do is to be test ready for 26th June. That's just four weeks away.

Mission impossible perhaps but I'll give it a go. I still think I will be struggling to be anywhere near test ready but at least we'll be practicing an extra day a week from Tuesday. In two weeks time we'll have to make a decision about whether or not we will take the test so I've got two weeks to improve my fitness and technique. Personally I'd rather take the test in August and do well rather than be in/adequate in June but I have to respect the opinion of my master. Let's be positive and give it a try. Tick tock, tick tock.

Seeing red - 2 steps away from black belt

Up the ladder once again. White, yellow, orange, green, purple, blue, brown and now red. Today was taekwondo test day at my dojang and I passed and got a new belt. However it didn't all go according to plan. My condition was pretty good, preparation was fine, practice went OK and I felt extremely confident and then the test started.


First we did the 6th and latest poomsae. This went very well and I didn't make any mistakes. Then came numbers four and five and my technique collapsed. I made so many mistakes it just wasn't funny. Three hours later and I'm still furious with myself. The mistakes were stupid mistakes too, things that I don't get wrong when I practice. Usually it's the easy poomsaes that I screw up.


Luckily our master gave us both another chance to take the poomsaes and they went much better. He said we need to be at 60% to pass but he wants us to be at an 80% level soon. I'm supposedly at 70% which is OK for now but not good enough for the black belt test in maybe two months time. I repeat to myself that I must improve, must work harder and must try my best even when I don't feel up to it. It's not going to get any easier from here on in.


When we get to the black belt test there are no second chances on the day, it's pass or fail. Today would have been a fail and a two month wait till the next time. On the up side I feel I'm getting better and I've got rid of that ugly brown belt. Now I have a HUGE red one which is so long that I have to wrap it around my body twice. You win some you lose some but you can see in the picture how pleased I am to get rid of the previous one. I anticipate the next test in about three or four weeks and then we will be practicing for black. This is going too fast but it's something to look forward and something to aim at.

Tuesday taekwondo struggle

More mistakes at taekwondo today resulting in the postponement of Wednesdays test to Friday. And it's a good thing too. It would appear that after a weekend of no exercise or practice the first day back in the dojang I am hopeless. Stupid mistakes and unforgivable gaps in my memory made the poomsaes (1-3) much harder even though they are the easiest. The later more difficult ones including number six I feel confident doing. The only answer is practice, practice practice. In an ideal world I would go there every day but that's not to be for now. My body has limitations but I must work harder.

After todays practice I got to spend about thirty minutes with my Master talking about things. Even though his English is limited we can communicate quite well and he is getting better by the week. We talked about future tests, exercise and even the weather. I'm very lucky to be studying under someone so kind and relaxed. I asked about getting another uniform next month, a more expensive one and we checked some out on the internet. I look forward to buying one in the near future. Sweating in the dojang proves I need another as the humidity is on the rise as Summer creeps ever closer.

Watching taekwondo black belt tests

Yesterday was a really busy day. With only four hours sleep I just about managed to get up and head to my dojang to meet my taekwondo Master. Some of his students were taking first and second black belt tests and Diana (co-worker and taekwondo comrade) and myself were invited to go and watch those taking part (people from the Bukgu area of Daegu). We drove downtown and none of the kids in showed any sign of nerves. Perhaps too young to think about it or perhaps it's not really a big deal for any of them.




The tests were around the Samsung Lions baseball stadium and the first thing that hit me was how many people were actually having their test at once. I think my master said around four/five hundred people although it is sometimes double that. When I took hapkido tests at my dojang there were sometimes around fifty people watching and I always was very conscious of being very conspicuous but this was on a much larger scale though to be honest nobody will be watching me when I get to take my test.




Watching all the action I was very impressed with most of the participants. First we saw a demostration which was a lot of fun to watch up close. I made a video and hope to post that soon. Then it was the turn of the kids who start off with those taking their 1st 'poom' test all the way up to those taking third or fourth ones. This being a small world and all, I naturally I bumped into one current and one ex-student of mine taking part. I watched them and they did well. When the kids finish it's the turn of the adults who take their 'dan' tests and here is when the arena emptied significantly.




About the tests themselves first the participants do the Taegeuk Pal Jang (eighth and final poomsae before being award a black belt) then two other poomsae's afterwards - these are drawn at random and could be the first two you learn or numbers six and seven which was what yesterdays students had to do, so in all three poomsae's. Finally there is a fighting element where you attack and defend yourself against an opponent supposedly not making contact but you do wear a helmet. This is similar to something I did in hapkido and is the easiest section. When doing these four sections you start off at one end of the arena and end up at the other and you take your test with five or six other people. The whole thing took about three hours though if there are more people then of course it takes longer.




As it took three hours there was plenty of time for consideration and reflection. I still feel inferior to many of those who I saw taking part yesterday. I am not fit enough yet, I need to lose weight, I am not flexible enough, my technique is inadequate right now. Will I really be ready to take part in two months time or will I have to wait an additional two more months? Right now that looks very close and although I would be confident of passing I am not so confident about actually being any good. I don't want to embarrass myself, my Master of his dojang. I cannot help thinking ahead of myself but need to stop and concentrate on what I am doing now. So overall it was good to see what's in store for me but there's a hell of a lot of work to be done between now and then whenever test time is.