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.

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.

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.

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.

Hard work does pay off (Hapkido 1st Dan black belt)

...and 50 weeks later I receive my black belt.

Saturday came and went, along with many emotions. Anticipation, expectation, apprehension, relief, pride and satisfaction just some of them. I had my latest Hapkido test this time for Black Belt (1st Dan lower) and was also given my Black Belt for my test in September (Dans 1 and 2 come in three grades, lower, middle and higher). I am now a 합기도 일단

When I started my training some fifty weeks ago the goal was never to become a black belt. I didn't know if it would be possible and I didn't know what level of skill I would need to achieve. I was just training for fun and for something positive to do after work. It was also too far into the future to think about. But after a few months of progression through the belts I knew it was possible and the motivation it gave me enabled me to train harder. Throughout, my Master and his assistant have been amazing and given me support and guidance throughout and every session has had many laughs even though I don't speak much Korean. I owe them a great deal and I feel that I have to improve a lot more to show I deserve my new level.

After September's test I knew I had passed and would be given my new belt in the pre-test ceremony in November. White, yellow, blue, red and brown belts are ones that previous students have been using and are given to you by your Master, not to keep but to use until such time as you have your own black belt. However, my Master refused to tell me that I had passed thus planting a small seed of doubt in my mind. The prospect of not being given my belt before the latest test was one I was fearing but not one I dwelled on until the eve of the test. The brown belt is ugly and four months of wearing it was more than enough.

I can tell you that my shiny new belt is fantastic and I was so pleased to wear it for my latest test. It's more than met all my expectations and is already precious to me. It has my Dojang in Hangul as well as my name in English, both in gold-ish sewn into either side of the belt. I was also given an embossed folder containing a document confirming my ranking and also a card which is a licence to practice Hapkido.

During practice the assistant trainer had indicated that there would be many Middle school students in my test, but there was only two Elementary school kids with me including one girl who has been in each of my tests so far (I was so pleased when she too picked up her black belt, knowing that she had worked as hard as me). Due to some time constraints my test was changed to my shortest so far, around three minutes. Half of the things I'd been practicing were left out, which included many of my strong points. I got a little confused at something we hadn't practiced in the week leading up to the test and made a mistake, but nothing really significant. After each tests, the judges ask some of the students questions and sometimes ask them to repeat movements. I've been asked before and had to show techniques and talk, but thankfully this time that wasn't necessary. I literally would not have been able to answer any questions because my mouth was bone dry. I wouldn't have been able to make any noise at all.

This was my sixth test day and probably the easiest so far but by far the most enjoyable due to being so happy. Before and after, many many kids were asking me the same questions they always ask me - in Korean - but it was still all a bit weird for me. I'm old enough to be almost everyones father there and am twice the size of some of them. After all the tests were over I was given the task of handing out hamburgers to all the kids who had taken part that day.


So what now for me? Can I continue and progress through the ranks or does it end here?

I will keep going to practice even though it's a cold walk at night on my own right now and 'everyone' is out enjoying themselves at that time. I anticipate the next test to be in January and expect to pass that one followed by one in March and then a further one should I continue in May potentially making me 1st Dan Higher. Beyond that I don't know. I've been told that it takes one year to go from 1st Dan to taking the 2nd Dan test. My contract finishes early October so I don't know if time-wise it will be possible (if not I may pack it in some time next year). Its certainly something to aim for. The 2nd Dan belt is the same as the 1st Dan BUT with a yellow stripe through the middle. Quite simply it looks very cool.


I have met and worked with many people who have been working as English teaches in Korea. Many learn some of the language, many don't and even more just go boozing as often as they can. Some take up many of the local traditions here and see many sides of this country while some just live their life as they would back home. I'm happy to have something to show from my time here other than more money in my bank and plenty of hangovers.