My fourth belt test

It's been almost a year since I joined World Champion Taekwondo in Scappoose, Oregon. Friday night (03/12/2010), my seven-year-old daughter and I had our fourth belt test. We leveled up from yellow belts with orange stripes to orange belts. We have eight more belt tests before we get to black belt.



I was really nervous for this test. I don't know why, maybe because I invited people. My friend Terra came to run my video recorder which was very nice of her. My daughter invited her first-grade teacher, but she wasn't able to make it.



Our test was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on a Friday night. The white belts tested at 4:30 and the yellow stripes and yellow belts tested at 5:30, so we were the evening finale. While the masters readied themselves, our instructor told us to practice our forms, self-defense and one-step sparring one more time. Then we warmed up with some leg lifts and some push-ups. I couldn’t keep up with all the push-ups (again). I've been trying and trying to build up my upper body strength, but I've still got a long way to go.



We started with blocks and punches. Our instructor called out a lot of interesting combinations this time. Dominic, a fifteen-year-old black belt candidate, assisted the instructor by demonstrating the combinations. I did fine with the blocks and punches, but then we demonstrated our kicking techniques. I did okay with the roundhouse kicks, but I thought that my back kick was totally weak. The back kick was our new kick for this test.



When it was time to do forms, self-defense and one-step sparring, our instructor began with the higher belts. Jared was testing for his brown stripe and Elsie was testing for her blue belt. Their forms, self-defense and one-step sparring techniques always look so cool. Jared's form had a hop in it.



The name of our form was tae guk il jung. It's the first form in the tae guk series. It was a little more complicated than our basic forms. It included unusual combinations new turns (slides) and multiple stances. All the orange stripes did our form perfect the first time.



Our self defense move started with a choke hold. We put our hand on the attackers face and pushed them back over our shin until they fell on their back. I think maybe our instructor was tired of letting students throw him to floor. He would have been thrown to the floor SEVERAL times during the earlier belt tests. A couple of the new orange stripes from the earlier class stayed behind to watch our test. He asked them to pair up with us to demonstrate our self defense techniques. They were really good sports.



Our one-step sparring was pretty simple: when our attacker punched at us, we slid back, performed circle kick to the fist and then a hook kick to the ear. The circle kick was pretty easy, but the hook kick was a little tricky to learn.



Just before we demonstrated our breaking technique, we read off a bad habit that we wanted to break. My daughter admitted that she yells at me. She got a lot of attention for that. When another student promised to be nicer to his little brother, and his little brother made a sarcastic remark, our instructor put them both in push-up position. Eventually, he had all the kids in push-up position. He had them do three push-ups before he let them all stand up and we started breaking our boards.



We used the roundhouse kick to break the board which is a little tricky because we practice the roundhouse kick in class with the top of our foot, but when we break we need to use the ball of our foot. Everyone was able to break their board in one try except for one young boy. He must have kicked that board a dozen times before it finally broke. I'm sure it was because he was using the top of his foot, and kicking softly so as not to hurt himself because as soon as he actually kicked it hard enough to break it, he hopped up and down like he had hurt his foot, poor kid.



The next day we celebrated our new belts with a bar-b-que.

Tae Guk Il Jang

There are many sites on the Internet which offer instruction on performing the forms of taekwondo. They vary widely, partly because instructors refer to the same techniques by different names, but mostly because people just write things differently. I am intrigued at the notion that although we are all doing these forms exactly the same way, we are all talking and writing about them very differently. It's really easier to learn forms in class than it is to learn them from written text, but I think this is helpful. I wrote this out to help me study for my test, and I offer it up to anyone who might find it useful. If you note any errors, please let me know. Thanks.



Tae Guek Il (1st) Jang is represented by the symbol keon, meaning heaven. It should be performed with the greatness of heaven. As heaven symbolizes the beginning of the creation of all things in the universe, so this form represents the beginning of taekwondo training. This form is characterized by the easiest techniques: walking stance, front stance, low block, middle block, high block, middle punch and front kick. At my school it is required for advancement to orange belt. (We actually learn three forms that are even easier!)



From the Joon Be (ready) position

1. 1. Turn 90* to the left and step with the left foot in walking stance and perform a low block with the left hand.
   
2. 2. Step forward with the right foot in front stance and perform a middle punch with the right hand.
   
3. 3. Turn 180* to the right and step with the right foot in walking stance and perform a low block with the right hand.
   
4. 4. Step forward with the left foot in front stance and perform a middle punch with the left hand.
   
5. 5. Turn 90* to the left (facing flags) and step with the left foot in front stance and perform a low block with the left hand followed immediately by a middle punch with the right hand.
   
6. 6. Turn 90* to the right and slide the right foot (back foot) into walking stance (right foot forward) and perform an outside-in middle block with the left hand.
   
7. 7. Step forward with the left foot in walking stance and perform a middle punch with the right hand.
   
8. 8. Turn 180* left and step with the left foot in walking stance and perform an outside-in middle block with the right hand.
   
9. 9. Step forward with the right foot in walking stance and perform a middle punch with the left hand.
   
10. 10. Turn 90* to the right (facing flags) and step with the left foot in front stance perform and low block with the right hand followed immediately by a middle punch with the left hand.
    
11. 11. Turn 90* to the left and slide the right foot (back foot) up into walking stance (left foot forward) and perform a high block with the left hand.
    
12. 12. Perform a front kick with the right foot (fists on belt) and land in walking stance (right foot forward) and perform a middle punch with the right hand.
    
13. 13. Turn 180* to the right and step with the right foot in walking stance and perform a high block with the right hand.
    
14. 14. Perform a front kick with the left foot and land in walking stance (left foot forward) and perform a middle punch with the left hand.
    
15. 15. Turn 90* to the right (back to flags) and step with the LEFT foot in front stance and perform a low block with the left hand.
    
16. 16. Step forward (back to flags) with the right foot in front stance and perform a middle punch with the right hand. KI HAP! (yell)

Turn 180* to the left (facing flags) into Joon Be (ready) position.