First TKD Class on Monday


 I attended my first (trail) class this last Monday.   I thought I did quite well - however I don't remember the forms and my stretching was a bit underwhelming.  

Let me start with the stretching.   My front kick could only go 5 feet to the upper chest, but no higher.  Some of the stretching on the mat would not go far, for example the Sitting Feet-together Adductor Stretch was not good.  Also the stretching of my knee and hip was not to good.   One last thing was sitting down on top of my legs - I just couldn't do it.  :p

The forms I was doing poorly on.  I would go the wrong way, and I would not throw out a punch at the right time.  I was a good effort, but not up to speed. 

At the end of class Master Kang invited me to sit at the front of the class and introduce myself.  I was not ready for this - and gave a summary of my life (my work, marriage life, & TKD history with Ki Chung Kim) and with an awkward. pause, they clapped to welcome me to the class.  

After the class I met a fellow named Michael - he was a brown belt (I think). 

After the class I sat down with Master Kang, and after asking some questions about membership and payment, I then joined up on a monthly basis.   With this he provided me with a uniform with my name written in Korean.  

So my aim over the next week is to work on my stretching and my forms - where I hope to do better.  Two thing I did not have a problem with is that 1) I did not hurt myself stretching and 2) I did not have a problem keeping up with the class.   :) 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy New Year! 2023 Gone, 2024 is here!

Image
 Just one year ago I resolved to get back into Tae Kwon Do (TKD), and at least three years down the line to get a black belt.  It seemed like a crazy thing to think never mind to do in my 60's, when most of my friends are talk about playing golf, going on cruises, and moving to mature retirement communities.  Also the choice of activity seems a bit nuts at my age, since TKD is all about high jumps and high kick and challenging attacks.  The journey has been hard on my mind and body, but also has been exciting, challenging and a true joy.  One last thing to share.  I get a little upset with my slow progress over the last year, but you can see from the pictures below,  how my kicks has become higher and more powerful over the last year.   That blur in the picture on the right is a board I broke which flew up and hit the ceiling.  :)                                        Yellow Belt Test / March 2023          Orange Belt Test / Sept 2023               
Read more

A Little History

Image
I was looking through some old news papers, and found the advertisement for my 1 week Free Tae Kwon Do class - back in 1977-78 (I was 15 year old). I believe that classes back then costed $30.00 per month which allowed you to attend as many classes as you want (and I did).   My first school was part of the United Tae Kwon Do Federation which is part of the large International Tae kwon Do Federation.  My rank in the UTF was a greenbelt as of June 6th, 1979.   I was part of this school until the owner sold the school to another martial arts owner that taught multiple martial art disciplines including Tae Kwon Do.   This owner name was Jami Betha Epstein, and claimed the rank of 3rd degree black belt, and a national heavy-weight champion.  Here is an ad that was place in the paper during a grace period when the two were merging.  At that time I did not know what Tae Kwon Do Style Karate was - but I found out three years later in Sept 1980, which I was a Bo-Dan (black belt candidate) .  I
Read more

TKD Belt Levels

Image
  There are 12 belts from white belt to black belt.  Right now I am white belt - which was not just given to me, but instead I had to pass my first belt test.   The white belt meaning is purity, basically an empty canvas which to be written on by the teachers.   White it's humbling to be a white belt again for the third time you need to remember the Chinese Proverbs that "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".   For me being a white belt is exciting not because it's a first step, but that I have the adventure of the next thousand miles!
Read more