Temporary Black Belt

Well, things have been very interesting. I haven't been blogging because my wife and I have been preparing for our black belt test for the past several months. We went to classes at least 5 days a week for the last 2 months and 7 days a week for the weeks leading up to the test so that we would have everything as close to perfect as possible. We also took a test on the meanings of the ITF forms, some commands in Korean, and a few history questions. We made it through everything, including the 2 on one sparring, and I believe, after watching the video, that we both did a very good job. I had some problems with my jump reverse breaking technique, through 3 boards, but over all and in general it went very well. We now have our Temporary Black Belts, which we will have for the next 6 months while we learn Palgwe 8 and Koryo for our First Degree test.

2007 Good Will Tour post review

As I mentioned before, my family was honored with the opportunity to participate in the 2007 Goodwill Tour. The demonstration started at 7:00 p.m. but we were supposed to arrive at 5:00 p.m. to begin practice, warm up and hang out. Amazingly, we arrived at Paramount Theater in Cedar Rapids at the appointed starting time. The kids were really good the whole evening, from the time we picked them up through the 2 hr ride from our home to Cedar Rapids, to the 2 hr practice prior to the actual start of the demo, they did great. More importantly my wife and I did great ;-) Anyway, the demo started and the US team was the first out on the mat. The mats were really slippery. They are those interlocking mats and I thought surely someone would fall down on them. But they didn't. My feet were sweating. Our team did really well, broke some boards, and my family did Chun-gi and that went over really well. Tiny Tiger was really nervous, but she came through the whole thing really well.

The North Korean Team did exceptionally well. Very acrobatic breaks, powerful breaks with concrete and brick edgers that I had not seen people use before for breaking. Usually we use a concrete paver, and they did too, but they also used an interlocking brick edger that I know is really hard. They did not "peg" the concrete so the blocks were directly on top of each other. It looked very impressive. Also, I had never seen the type of board they were breaking. It is 1/4" thick, springy pine. Small boards edge glued together with a stamp burned into it of a fist. I would have liked to have had one as a souvenir but they were all cleaned up after their demo. They also broke some 3/4" pine which is what we generally use. Anyway, they were just like the video. Very crisp, very polished, very professional. They were there just to do Taekwondo. No politics, thank goodness, nothing out of the realm of the art. And very serious for the most part.

I was mildly disappointed that we did not get to interact with them at all after the demonstration. It seemed like a perfect time, in my opinion, for athletes to communicate, even if we don't speak the same language. It is usually enough being in close proximity to others to understand that we are each friendly and have a common bond.

Anyway mild disappointment aside, we really had a good time, the demo was amazing, Grandmaster Jung, Woo Jin is an amazing fellow and we should all thank him for his work on bringing this fantastic opportunity to all of us. His perseverance and dedication to his goals in something that we should all strive to model our own lives after.

Test on 10/06/07

Wow, we are really getting there! My wife and I tested for our 2nd Temporary Brownbelt on Saturday. It was a good test. Our oldest girl and youngest boy tested for 2nd Perm. Brown. They did really well. Tiny tiger didn't test because she is testing for her black belt next time. The test was over forms, self defense and breaking. For my wife and I the break was roundhouse breaking. The kids had to do 2 boards knifehands and 2 boards jump reverse. Everyone did really well.

Working Towards Black Belt

My wife and I are working on our requirements for our Black Belt test. If all goes well we should achieve this goal by summer. The test is pretty intense, we are going to check it out on Friday. Basically the test is over 16 different forms, 7 3-step sparring and 35 1-step sparring/self defense techniques, 2 on 1 sparring and whatever else they can think of making us do. It should br both interesting and challenging.

Upcoming 2007 USA Goodwill Tour

Well, an interesting thing happened while I was standing around at the Jung's Tae Kwon Do tournament. As all of you may or may not know the North Korean Tae Kwon Do demonstration team is on the 1st ever 2007 USA Goodwill Tour performing at 5 separate venues in the United States in October. One in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Louisville, KY and one in Atlanta, GA. This should be a really great opportunity to see some outstanding Tae Kwon Do. A video of them is hosted at the TaeKwonDo Times Magazine web site in their videos section.

Now I know that there have been some "issues" with North Korea of late, and I know that they are politically not our "friends" and that Kim Jong Il is not "Ok", but I intend to go see the demo team and have a good time. By the way Kim Jong Il won't be there.

Anyway, this is a cultural exchange and not a political event. Grand Master Jung says that it is about "Tae Kwon Do people". "We are all Tae Kwon Do people and are the same in our hearts." he says. I believe this is true. I don't know if there will ever be peace anywhere, but not to consider doing everything to work toward that goal would be wrong. I just think it is the right thing to do.

So back to me standing there with my Instructor Mr. Garrett, we are talking about something when Master Wells comes up and says "Are you planning to go to the demo on October 10th?" and I say "Well sir we have been discussing it but haven't decided yet". He says "Let me make your decision a little easier, I want your family to perform Chun-gi at the demonstration." I said "Yes sir!", we bowed and he returned to what he was doing for the tournament. Well, that was exciting, and I am honored that he picked my family to perform at this historic event. As things go sometimes changes are made last minute and we will see if there is time for us to perform. Hopefully there is time.

We need to work on Chun-gi. :-)

Jung's Tae Kwon Do Tournament

Our school is affiliated with Master Woo Jin Jung's Tae Kwon Do school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Master Jung is the publisher of TaeKwonDo Times Magazine. His dedication to Tae Kwon Do is an inspiration to all of his students and we were honored to talk with him at the tournament.

It all started on Friday, I took a few hours off of work and our family including my Mother in law and my wife's friend Treva (also a 2nd gup or 2nd Temporary Brown Belt) made the short ride up to Cedar Rapids in the family truckster. It was a lot of fun. We had made arrangements with my instructor Mr. Garrett (4th Dan) and his wife Mrs. Garrett (4th Dan) and our school owner Master Wells (7th Dan) and his wife Master Mrs. Wells (7th Dan), to meet for dinner when we got there.

We met at Olive Garden and had a really good time talking about our hobbies outside of Tae Kwon Do and enjoyed the company of some truly great people.

The tournament was very educational. The first competition was forms. We all did Toi-gye and I, my wife, and youngest son received first place in our respective categories. My oldest daughter received second and youngest daughter placed 3rd with her rendition of Chun-gi.

Next up was breaking. I have been practicing a breaking set that is, for me, pretty challenging. It is upset knife hand strike, turn 180 deg and then reverse punch, then a tornado kick. I did well and earned first place. My wife did a round house breaking and Axe kick through 2 boards, and received first place. Our oldest daughter did palm strike and Axe kick through 2 boards and received 2nd, and our youngest daughter received 3rd place.

Then all of us who received 1st in forms competed for in Grand Champion Forms. It was exciting, however I got tapped out in the first round and my wife in the second. Our youngest son got tapped out in the 2nd in Junior Grand Champion. The Grand Champion went to a lady from Iowa State Tae Kwon Do who was a 3rd or 4th degree. She did really well, and we all send her our congratulations on a great job.

Sparring ensued with an exceptional win by my wife, against great competition. Our oldest daughter earned first in her sparring. Our youngest son won first as well. Tiny Tiger did not spar as there was no Tiny Tiger competition. I lost 3-4 in the first, won 5-2 in the second and 5-1 in the third to get a third place finish. I really felt happy getting 3rd in this tournament, as it was against some of the toughest competition that I have had. Congratulations Mark on getting second and the gentleman from where ever for getting 1st. I wish I could remember your name and I will at least try to get your dojang and put that in here. You were an excellent competitor.

We then watched Black Belt sparring and that was really cool. I know that I speak for my wife and children when I say we can't wait to get there.

After the tournament the competitors were invited to Godfather's Pizza to have some more fun, interact and make new friends. It was a really great experience again this year.

New Hampton, Iowa Tournament

The tournament was held at New Hampton, Iowa in September. We did pretty well overall. I earned a second in sparring, 2nd in forms and 2nd in board breaking. My wife earned a first in sparring, forms and board breaking. The oldest daughter earned a third in sparring, forms and board breaking. The youngest son earned a 1st in forms, 2nd in board breaking.

The highlight of the day was my wife earned Grand Champion in Colored Belt Forms. We were all very excited for her. She really deserved it and it shows what determination and hard work can really do.

I am very proud of my family!!