Poomse: Excellent
I got my blue belt today. It is so very blue and it makes me very happy.
R. wasn't there, so it was just me and Master Paul. He actually started teaching me back kick weeks ago on another day when it was just the two of us, so we worked on that again as the first of my new skills. It's very hard to do slowly, and with no target to aim for. I was wobbling all over. When he got out the big shield target, though... man, that's an effective kick. (Anything that I can put enough power into to actually push Master Paul backward is awesome in my book.)
Then he gave me the choice of what other new thing I wanted to do. I picked form, since I saw him do it at testing and was kind of intimidated. (It's poomse Sa Jang, for those for whom that has any meaning.) We only did the first four moves, but that really was enough to be getting on with. It's not like any of the first four forms, although I did learn the double knife hand block that it starts with in poomse No Name, so I'm not totally clueless. (We also have a single knife hand block in Sam Jang, so the movements aren't completely unfamiliar.)
I think, once I get past being intimidated by it, I'll actually like it, because it is different. Hopefully that will also make it easier to remember, because I won't be able to confuse it with any of the others.
One thing I liked was that he actually explained to me the application of the moves. The first four are pretty straightforward, but Sa Jang is a bit funky. But he explained that the first move could block a kick, then you drop the front hand to push down a punch or kick, and then you do a knife hand spear strike (or whatever he called it - memory fail) to the solar plexus or throat.
"So, aim for somewhere that's going to make it hard to breathe?"
"Pretty much."
At the end of class I gave him my renewal form, so I'm now paid up for the next year. No matter what else might happen financially, at least I know this is taken care of, which is good, because it's one of the main things that keeps me sane. And hey, since I renewed for a year, he's going to throw in a new uniform. I was thinking about getting a second one anyway, so yay!
I also got my progress report for testing, and there were a few goods, a lot of very goods, and for my poomse? Excellent.
I GOT AN EXCELLENT. It's the first one I've ever gotten, and I am SO DAMN HAPPY.
He also told me that he'd gotten an email from one of the parents, who had mentioned that they always saw me there, but never saw me train, and they were very impressed by my skills during testing. One of the boy's moms also told me that her son was very impressed by the way I tossed R. to the mat during self-defense. I was kind of amused by that.
So yeah, I'm pretty revved up, which is a nice place to be after the last few weeks have dragged with review, review, and more review.
This entry was originally posted at http://eternaleponine.dreamwidth.org/11533.html. Comments can be left on either site.
R. wasn't there, so it was just me and Master Paul. He actually started teaching me back kick weeks ago on another day when it was just the two of us, so we worked on that again as the first of my new skills. It's very hard to do slowly, and with no target to aim for. I was wobbling all over. When he got out the big shield target, though... man, that's an effective kick. (Anything that I can put enough power into to actually push Master Paul backward is awesome in my book.)
Then he gave me the choice of what other new thing I wanted to do. I picked form, since I saw him do it at testing and was kind of intimidated. (It's poomse Sa Jang, for those for whom that has any meaning.) We only did the first four moves, but that really was enough to be getting on with. It's not like any of the first four forms, although I did learn the double knife hand block that it starts with in poomse No Name, so I'm not totally clueless. (We also have a single knife hand block in Sam Jang, so the movements aren't completely unfamiliar.)
I think, once I get past being intimidated by it, I'll actually like it, because it is different. Hopefully that will also make it easier to remember, because I won't be able to confuse it with any of the others.
One thing I liked was that he actually explained to me the application of the moves. The first four are pretty straightforward, but Sa Jang is a bit funky. But he explained that the first move could block a kick, then you drop the front hand to push down a punch or kick, and then you do a knife hand spear strike (or whatever he called it - memory fail) to the solar plexus or throat.
"So, aim for somewhere that's going to make it hard to breathe?"
"Pretty much."
At the end of class I gave him my renewal form, so I'm now paid up for the next year. No matter what else might happen financially, at least I know this is taken care of, which is good, because it's one of the main things that keeps me sane. And hey, since I renewed for a year, he's going to throw in a new uniform. I was thinking about getting a second one anyway, so yay!
I also got my progress report for testing, and there were a few goods, a lot of very goods, and for my poomse? Excellent.
I GOT AN EXCELLENT. It's the first one I've ever gotten, and I am SO DAMN HAPPY.
He also told me that he'd gotten an email from one of the parents, who had mentioned that they always saw me there, but never saw me train, and they were very impressed by my skills during testing. One of the boy's moms also told me that her son was very impressed by the way I tossed R. to the mat during self-defense. I was kind of amused by that.
So yeah, I'm pretty revved up, which is a nice place to be after the last few weeks have dragged with review, review, and more review.
This entry was originally posted at http://eternaleponine.dreamwidth.org/11533.html. Comments can be left on either site.