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.

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.

New day, new test, new belt

Despite reservations from my group, today we took our latest taekwondo test. I think we all felt a little under prepared and perhaps this came a little too early. I felt confident this morning but during the test things just didn't go too well. Ultimately we all passed and received our brown belts but together we made a few too many mistakes according to our master. We were given a chance to try one of the movements again but would not be given such a chance if it was for the black belt. I'm quite disappointed in myself and feel like I didn't really deserve todays pass but won't be dwelling on it.

Perhaps we are going too fast. It would seem that our next test is in another three weeks, for the red belt. I can't wait for this for one simple reason, so far all my belts have been too small and I look a little stupid. I've been promised a longer belt when I pass the next test. At the end of the month we get a chance to watch some black belt tests. I this will prove invaluable for me getting used to the 'occasion' and surroundings. I'm pretty excited for this month in general and really looking forward to watching the people taking their test. It would appear that we are on course to take our black belt tests at the end of June. Fast progress indeed but will we be ready?

Blue Friday

Another day, another test and another level. I now have reached blue belt status at taekwondo. I'm still unhappy with my performance when taking the test although practice is going OK. I don't feel like I truly deserved a pass today but I'm not going to argue with the master. Got to keep at it and try my best to improve. Blue looks better than purple anyway. Up next is brown (I think). These post-test pictures are starting to look a little too Charlie's Angels for my liking.

Taekwondo: Five down, four to go

Four tests down and I am now a taekwondo purple belt. In the grand scheme of things I am on my fifth belt in just over two months (white, yellow, orange, green and purple) and the next one will be for a blue belt (then red, brown and black). That's quick progress by anybody's standards but I think to really improve I need to lose weight and train more. This is a sacrifice I would like to make when the weather becomes a bit more agreeable. In the lead up to today I've been a bit ill, missed one days practice and couldn't train hard the other time but despite this I felt confident going in to the test. I felt no nerves this week at all.

The pre-test group practice went well but with ten minutes to go my technique deteriorated and I began making mistakes. Luckily this didn't carry over too much into the actual test. I passed but this was my worst display so far and I am not very happy with myself. I won't be dwelling on things but having just seen a clip of the next test poomsae there is a lot of work to be done to improve. When will I be able to take the black belt test? My estimation was initially for August but now I am thinking May or June. A May test would be amazing. Purple has never been my colour and I want to get rid of this as soon as possible. Hopefully I won't look so portly in my next picture.

Taekwondo: Green belt

Taekwondo progress continue at a great pace. I still feel like we're going to fast. The early stages aren't so difficult and we aren't actually doing 'that much' but compared to the slower pace of learning of hapkido I feel the tests are coming too early. Today's test was my third in under two months since starting. Contrast that to hapkido where I've been tested only every too months. The gap between tests there allows you time to improve and hone your technique. Eventually your mistakes will be ironed out for the test and for the long term. You have two months to be test ready. If you are not, then it's your fault and you deserve to fail.



The big difference between hapkido and taekwondo right now is that I'm doing significantly less than I would be at hapkido. Hapkido is more challenging in my opinion and is more useful in self defence. I'm sure others would disagree with me. Taekwondo is though a lot of fun. My classes feel less serious and less intense than hapkido and not as punishing on my body. I have begun to enjoy throwing my body about, even if it's just to get a "Well done" from my hapkido master.

From next month our class times change from 1:40pm to 11:10am. I think this is better as it leaves me a lot of time before work to get things done. I spend more time preparing for classes these days so I could do with the extra few hours. I also can't think of a better start to the day right now. As we speak I am at the tail end of taking a month long break from hapkido to spend more time with my wife in our new apartment. I hope to once again combine practicing the two martial arts together very soon.



Today's test went quite well. We all passed (my co-worker, the Masters wife and myself). I am now a green belt. Our next test will be for the purple belt. I presume this will not be in twelve days time like the gap was between the last test. The next one looks a good deal harder but seems like a good challenge. One difference today was that our tests were done together and in front of the other students who practice at the same time (kids aged around nine or ten I think) which is very similar to my hapkido experiences. It was fun to watch the other kids take their tests too.