I realized I never reported here on getting my blue belt a couple of weeks ago. It was a long test (mostly because the blues tested near the end) but not quite as gruelling as the last one–maybe because I remembered to drink more water this time. We had a little less time to prepare for this test than usual because the last one was two weeks later due to spring break for the kids. It meant a little more concentrated effort, especially on terminology and kicking combinations. I’m starting to think that in another belt or two, my head just might explode from trying to remember ALL of the kicking combinations! (We have to learn two new ones for each test, so I was up to twelve this last time.)

I do want to crow about breaking my board on the first try this time, after the embarrassment of taking three tries last time around. This time we had to break with an axe kick, which I found MUCH easier than the back kick. Let’s face it, it’s a lot easier to aim at a board that’s in front of you than one that’s behind you! Next time, though, we have to break with a back spinning kick, and I’ll admit it already has me nervous. Real easy to land on your behind with that kick, even when NOT trying to break a board. Opportunity for embarrassment is high.

But that’s part of why I’m doing this–to play outside my comfort zone and get over the whole fear of embarrassment thing–so I’ll just try to embrace the experience as Personal Growth if I screw up!

One more belt test under my belt!  This is one of those “between” belts that are a little awkward to describe because different schools use different colors: it’s the one between green and blue, which at our do-jang is green with a white stripe. (When my daughter took taekwondo classes a few years back at school, it was a purple belt. Another nearby school uses a green belt with a blue stripe.) 5th geup, in any event.

This test was interesting because our group (a large one–about 18 people in my “belt class) didn’t go first, for a change, so I was able to watch several other tests before my own.  I’m already getting nervous about the test the red belts have to take to move up–it was a complicated one!  And of course it’s always fun to watch the little kids testing. Some (especially very young white belts) are clueless, while others are totally focused.  I think I may be the only adult female color belt without any kids in the school, so I’m able to watch for pure enjoyment–no vested interest.

My own test went smoothly until the board breaking. Back kick this time, and I’d practiced and practiced on the bag and with targets, but I was still nervous. With reason–it took me three tries!  At least I wasn’t the only one who had trouble, but it was still a little embarrassing.  But hey, getting embarrassed means I stepped out of my comfort zone, right? And that’s a GOOD thing.

Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. And I do have my new belt!

Now that I’m only a couple weeks from my next belt test, I think I’m finally becoming respectably aggressive when it comes to sparring. At the very least, I think I can say that I’m not the LEAST aggressive sparrer (is that a word?) in the whole school!
There’s a city-wide tournament coming up (which I won’t be competing in–maybe next year), so our Master is teaching us more about sparring and scoring and such. Interesting thing I learned: a solid kick to the body is worth one point while a kick to the head is worth two. Now, setting aside the fact that people kicking each other in the head seems like a generally bad idea, I’m wondering if that’s an area I should work on?
I may not be as fast or as strong as most of the younger folks in the school, but I’m good and flexible. I work hard at that, mainly to avoid injury to my knees and tendons. So in THEORY, I should be able to kick high enough to whack someone in the head. Whether I could actually do it is a whole different question, of course. We do wear padded headgear, but I’ve still never seen anyone kick anyone else in the head while sparring. (In class I mean–I know it happens in matches, though again I’ve never seen it except on TV.)
If I ever do manage it, I’ll report on it here. Wouldn’t it be a hoot if everyone had to treat the old lady with extra respect because she’s known for kicking people in the head?? LOL!

And yes, that trip was a wee bit more adventurous than either I or my daughter had bargained for.  Enough so that I’m glad I decided to go along rather than let her make the trip solo. (She’s just 23.)

The first adventure was just a couple of hours into the trip, when we had a flat tire. Tooling down I-70 somewhere west of the IN-IL border we heard a funny loud rattling sound. Then it stopped. We weren’t even sure whether it came from inside or outside the car, but since we were coming up on an exit, I suggested we pull off and take a look, just to be safe. Good thing we did! By the time we pulled into a gas station and got out, the tire was nearly flat and going down visibly. Lucky us, there was a tire repair place just down the road and even though they normally closed at noon (it was about 1pm) the guy was still there and came over to take a look. He was able to pull the tire, repair it and have us back on the road in no time. We only lost an hour and $60. All adventures should be so easy!

The next day and a half were fun. From St. Louis on, we were basically following old Route 66, though on the interstates. Great way to see the country, I must say, though early February probably isn’t the best time of year to do it. We chose the southern route to LA rather than the slightly more direct one via Denver because of the season. HOWEVER….

Day 3 found us still paralleling Route 66 into Arizona. We were debating the relative merits of a side trip to Sedona or Las Vegas as we approached Flagstaff, when the first snowflakes began to fall. Then it started snowing in earnest, and soon we were facing near white-out conditions. In Arizona! Somehow we hadn’t realized that Flagstaff is 7,000 feet above sea level… I was driving at the time and the wipers were so caked with ice I couldn’t see. I pulled off in Flagstaff to clear the wipers and get gas, and we very nearly ended up stuck for the night at a Circle K. The city streets were MUCH worse than the highway, so once we managed to get back on the road, we decided to brave the interstate again in hopes of driving out of the storm.

Bad idea.

The next exit with lodging was 20 miles away and it took us a full hour to reach it. It was the most harrowing hour on the road either of us had ever experienced, but we safely reached a Holiday Inn in Williams, AZ–both shaking like leaves. However, that blessed Holiday Inn had a restaurant (with full bar)  AND an indoor pool and hot tub, and after taking full advantage of both we felt MUCH better.

We discovered the next day that I-40 had been closed just west of Williams due to a 6 tractor-trailer pileup. Good thing we stopped when we did!  We passed the remains of that pileup around noon and it wasn’t pretty. But after a late start and a dicey hour or so, we were back on clear roads and made it the rest of the way to LA without incident.

It was a great mother-daughter bonding trip, though I don’t know that I’d advise the blizzard portion! And now I’m back to my tamer adventures in the taekwondo do jang.

I’m officially a green belt in taekwondo now!  Our group went first (again! I think because we’re the biggest group) but all 18 of us acquitted ourselves well, I think. Some of the youngsters needed a couple of tries to break their boards, but otherwise I didn’t notice any issues.

As always, I was paired with the only other adult woman of my rank for the kicking combinations and sparring. She’s a good bit younger than I am, but I’ve been working on my flexibility and stamina and felt like I held my own.

I think I need to come up with some way to display my “retired” belts. Three of those so far–and many more to come!

Next adventure: driving cross-country with my younger daughter (just the two of us) to move her to LA!

And I think I’m ready. I’ll review my terminology (Korean terms for front, side and roundhouse kicks, skipping versions of those kicks, and terms for low, middle and high blocks) and make sure I’m solid on my kicking combinations.

I’ve started back on the elliptical machine to work on my stamina. There’s nothing like sparring with teenagers to make someone my age feel REALLY out of shape!  (And hey, I think I’m in pretty darned good shape for my age. But, um, I’m not a teenager.)  Every step forward is a step forward, right?

I just have two or three more classes until I test for my green belt on Friday!  I’ve been practicing my form (taeguk yi jang) obsessively, and have been working a lot on my kicking combinations. I still have to think about the counter moves in combinations #7 and #8 but less than I used to. (It’s that roundhouse kick in place that always gets me!)  I’ll have to break a board with a roundhouse kick, which means learning/practicing how to do it with my toes pulled back instead of pointed, so I hit the board with the ball of my foot instead of the top.  I’m pretty sure I have my terminology down, but I should probably review the stuff from earlier tests, since they can ask us those, too.

Then there’s the two minutes of sparring. Still the part I like least and that I need the most work on. I’m not quite as timid as I was, but I don’t think anyone would call me aggressive…yet.  I’m getting there.

I’ll report back after the test!

Or, more specifically, outside of comfort zones…  That’s what this whole blog is really about, even though I started it to talk about scuba diving.  I’m getting a late start on my 2009 resolutions, but one of those resolutions is to blog more faithfully. (Let’s face it, every other week would be more faithfully, but I hope to do better than that!)

Since I haven’t had an opportunity to dive for quite a while now–my husband’s health was an issue during our most recent vacation, to Key West–I’ll just talk about other ways I’m trying to stretch my boundaries. One of those, of course, is the Taekwondo I’ve already been posting about. Last weekend I participated in my very first tournament (after a bit of nagging by my Master Instructor). That was definitely outside my comfort zone, but I did it, and brought home a medal!

Okay, full confession, EVERYONE who participated got a medal. I competed against a fellow yellow belt in forms and came in second…out of two.

BUT THAT’S NOT THE POINT!  The point is that I, easily the oldest student in my belt class (by a decade or more) competed.

I have to say that if anyone reading this has ever considered taking up a martial art even though you think you’re “too old,” go for it!  I’m having a blast, and I can tell it’s really good for me, both physically and mentally.  I’ll bet I’m adding years to my life with this. Productive years.

Another way I’ve started pushing my personal boundaries lately is in local community theater, but more on that later.

I’m finding out life is a lot more fun when you throw out the whole idea of “too old” or “too different.”  I recommend it!

I’m now 7th geup, which is the equivalent of orange belt in some schools (though we don’t use orange at my do jang). I had to break another board, this time with my hand. I’m determined to be a tough cookie in my old age!

Yes, me! If someone had told me even a week ago that I’d be able to do this, I would have laughed. In fact, when our Master Instructor picked up a few boards and said, “Brenda, you come up first,” my response (instead of the correct “Yes, SIR!”) was “Uh-oh.” He raised an eyebrow and said, “Yes, SIR!” which I promptly echoed, scrambling to my feet. I’d been practicing my skipping side kick, since it will be on my yellow belt test in a few weeks, and that’s what I used to break the board. Hey, I think it’s fairly impressive that I can even kick that high (above waist-level) at my age, much less break a board while doing so! So I had to come here and crow about it.