My second tournament

My second tournament was 05/07/2011 (a year and a half ago). I competed as a red belt. It was sponsored by my school association, same as my first tournament, but this one was billed as a state championship and a qualifier for the 2011 ATU National Taekwondo Championship in Los Angeles in July.

I entered sparring, forms and breaking again. I was a lot less nervous during my forms competition, but I was still nervous. I received second place again.

I remember that I only broke 5 of my boards this year. Last year, I broke 6, but I hurt my hand. I think I was afraid to hit it so hard this year. A friend of mine from Scappoose was also entered in breaking, and she powered through 8 boards! She's the only woman I've ever known to break so many at once.

This year, they found three women to put together in a sparring division. My friend and I and a woman our same age who was wearing a junior black belt that was too small for her. I suspect she earned it as a child and is now working towards her second dan.

My friend fought her first and lost. She was really frustrated, and she really wanted me to beat her. I did, but just barely. She was a tough competitor, and I was barely holding my own. At the end I was really tired, but I was frustrated, too. In the last seconds, I punched her really hard, squarely in the chest. She took a step back, stunned, leaving her open to a roundhouse kick which scored me the winning point.

I was really happy, but I remember that one of the referees said something which made me think that he was disappointed with my win. He said that she was really tired. True, she had just fought a round, and I went in fresh, but that is part of the sport. It wasn't very nice of him to say that.

I brought home one gold and two silver that day. My daughter brought home 1 gold (breaking), one silver (sparring), and one bronze (forms). She was really disappointed that she didn't do better in forms. She is always the first in our class to memorize her forms, but she likes to do them fast. She isn't very careful to them right. She was proud of her silver medal in sparring, and she wanted me to take her to nationals, but she didn't beat anybody. There were only two fighters in her division.

My son also competed that day. He brought home 1 gold (breaking), and two bronze (forms and sparring). This was his first sparring competition, and I remember that his opponent kicked him really hard in the chest. He said that his heart moved from one side of his chest to the other, and he did not wish to continue the match.

My eighth belt test

On Monday 03/07/2011 I took my eighth belt test at KnK World Champion
Taekwondo in Scappoose, Oregon. I advanced from blue belt to brown
stripe (a blue belt with a brown stripe). It represents two full years
of taekwondo study. This time next year, I will be preparing for my
black belt test. This was my first belt test without Master Jason
Leitzke. He had been my instructor up until he enrolled in nursing
school in January. It was a little sad to test without him. Our new
instructor is Mr. HyungMin "Eric" Jun. Our test was scored as usual by
Grand Master Byong-Cheol Kim, but Grand Master Je-Kyoung Kim was not in
attendance. He has only ever missed one other belt test. I imagine his
schedule did not permit him to be in Scappoose that night.



My test began at 7 o'clock and included green belts, blue stripes and
blue belts. The white belts had tested at 6 o'clock and the yellow and
orange belts had tested at 5 o'clock. Our school doesn't have any brown
belts or red belts yet. We do have one black belt (first dan) and one
black stripe. He will test for his first dan next month. Sometimes
they attend our belt tests as assistant instructors, but they did not
attend tonight. There's been a lot of flu going around. I hope they
are not ill. Their absence made me high belt, so I lead the bowing
ceremony. It's pretty simple and easy enough. I just have to say:
"Attention, face the flags, bow. Attention, face the grand master, bow.
Attention, face the instructor, bow." But I have to say it all in
Korean, and I couldn't' remember the word for grand master, so I just
said the word for master. No one corrected me, so I guess I didn't
offend anyone.



We started with some jumping jacks and some stretching. Then, the
instructor asked the green belts and the blue stripes to sit down. And
the blue belts did some pushups, blocks, stances and punches. There
were only four of us: me; my friend, Heidi Peck, my eight-year-old
daughter, and her six-year-old son. We did our self-defense and
one-step sparring (which seemed to me a lot like a self defense move).
Our self defense move started with an attacker holding a knife on us.
We slapped the attackers wrist from both sides with our hands, causing
him to drop the knife. Then we jumped up, spun around and kicked him in
the chest with a back kick. Our one-step sparring moved started with a
bear hug from behind, we dropped to a bent knee position and trust out
our arms to break our attackers grip, then we placed two elbow strikes
in his ribs, jumped up and placed a back kick in his chest. We
practiced lots of back kicks in preparation for this test.



Our form this time was Tae Guk O Jang. It was a little complicated
because it featured lots of back fist strikes and middle blocks which
look almost the same, so it was challenging to perform them both
precisely enough to tell the difference. I had a little trouble keeping
my back foot down during all the front stances, but at least we didn't
switch stances constantly like in our last form. The form also features
a side kick with a punch. We've never done a kick and a punch at the
same time before, but the best part was the hop. After the last kick,
we hop forward, land in cross stance, perform a back fist strike and
yell. It's a pretty cool finish.



After our form, we lined up to kick a target. We did round house kick
and back kick, four each with each leg. Grand Master Kim complemented
me on my back kick. He said that I had very good form. I felt seven
feet tall. I've been working really hard, but my back injury has made
every thing very difficult these past few months. I think maybe all the
work I've been doing with my physical therapist to improve my posture
has made me a better martial artist. Who would have thought?



Then we sat down, I was a little surprised. It didn't seem like we had
done very much. The green belts and the blue stripes took the floor and
did their pushups, blocks, punches, forms and kicks. There were eight
of them: four green belt and four blue stripes. It seemed like they did
more, but maybe it just took them a little longer because there are more
of them. I remember Master Kim had a lot of praise for one little boy
who showed much improvement. He's a shy little guy that mostly just
tries to keep up by copying his brother. They look the same size, they
might be twins, but they are very different in temperament.



Their self defense moves included throwing their attacker to the floor.
Mr. Eric made a great show of falling very hard as usual, but two
students: Mr. Rob and Ms. J.T. move really very fast, so I'm not sure if
he was just showing off, or if he really did fall that hard. I tried
throwing my partner really fast like that once, and I dropped her right
on her head. Since then, I've been very careful about my self-defense
routines.



The next thing we did was to read our philosophies and our bad habits.
I wrote that my bad habit was eating junk food, but Master Kim
remembered that was my bad habit last time. I did not remember that, so
I tried to think of what it was last time, and my friend, Mr. Bert
reminded me that last time I said that my bad habit was spending too
much time playing video games - everyone laughed at that - again.



We all broke our boards without any trouble. Blue belts used an elbow
strike to break their boards. My eight-year-old daughter received a
trophy and a gold star for having an excellent attitude for the past
several weeks. I think all the children earned their trophies this
time. At the test, they did NOT have new belts for us. They have been
ordered, but they have not arrived. That's always a little sad and
frustrating and anti-climatic, but they did have two very exciting
announcements. First, they will be having four session of summer camp
at our school in Scappoose, so the kids can come and play taekwondo all
day long for $150 per week. They are even going to teach them some
nunchuk routines. Second, they will be going to Korea and China in
June. I wish I could go, but they need the money by the end of the
month, and even though it's only $3300, I just can't put it together in
time, but I have started a plan to get it together for next year. My
eight-year-old daughter is planning to raise her share of the money with
a lemonade stand!

Tae Guk Oh 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 Oh (5th) Jang is represented by the symbol for wind.



From the Joon Be (ready) position:

1. Turn 90* to the left, stepping with the left foot in front stance and perform a low block with the left hand.
   
2. Turn 90* to the right, returning to ready position, look left, and perform a hammer fist strike to the left with the left hand.
   
3. Turn 90* to the right, stepping with the right foot in front stance and perform a low block with the right hand.
   
4. Turn 90* to the left, returning to ready position, look right, and perform a hammer fist strike to the right with the right hand.
   
5. Step forward with the left foot into front stance and perform an outside-in middle block with the left hand followed immediately by an outside-in middle block with the right hand.
   
6. Perform a front kick with the right foot, coming down in front stance and perform a back fist strike with the right hand and an outside in middle block with the left hand.
   
7. Perform a front kick with the left foot, coming down in front stance and perform a back fist strike with the left hand and an outside in middle block with the right hand.
   
8. Step forward with the right foot into front stance and perform a back fist strike to the face. KI HAP! (yell)
   
9. Turn 270* to the left (so that you are facing 90* to the right) and step with the left foot in back stance and perform a double knife hand block with the left hand.
   
10. Step forward with right foot into front stance and perform an elbow strike with the right hand (left hand holds right fist).
    
11. Turn 180* the right and into back stance and perform a double knife hand block with the right hand.
    
12. Step forward with left foot into front stance and perform an elbow strike with the left hand (right hand holds left fist).
    
13. Turn 90* to the left and step with the left foot in front stance and perform a low block with the left hand followed by and outside-in middle block with the right hand.
    
14. Perform a front kick with the right foot, land in front stance, and perform a low block with the right hand and and ouside-in middle block with the left hand.
    
15. Turn 90* to the left without moving the right foot and slide the left foot forward into front stance and perform a high block with the left hand.
    
16. Perform a sidekick with the right foot and a face high punch with the right hand, landing in front stance then perform an elbow strike with left hand (right palm holds left elbow).
    
17. Turn 180* to the right and step into front stance and perform a high block with the right hand.
    
18. Perform a sidekick with the left foot and a face high punch with the left hand, landing in front stance then perform an elbow strike with right hand (left palm holds right elbow).
    
19. Turn 90* to the left, stepping with the left foot into front stance and perform a low block with the left hand.
    
20. Perform a front kick with the right foot and leap forward into cross stance (left behind right) and perform a face-high back fist strike with the right hand. KI HAP! (yell!)

My back injury

I'm not really sure I should refer to my current condition as an injury. There was no incident of injury, but it hurts really badly, and it's different from any previous back pain I've suffered through. Usually when my back hurts it's because I strained it somehow, and the muscles in the lower back are in spasm. A lot of rest usually has me all fixed up, but this has been entirely different. The pain is localized primarily in the back of my hip around my sacroiliac joint, and it occasionally shoots down my leg. I've decided to document my experience here in the event that knowing something of my experience may be of some help to someone else.



Week 1: A sharp pain around my sacroiliac joint had been pestering me on and off for a few weeks. It bothered me mostly when I was running laps at the start of my taekwondo classes. It was only occasionally annoying, so I just ignored it, hoping it would go away. By 10/14/2010, I decided that it wasn't going to go away without help. Assuming that I had pulled a muscle, I asked my taekwondo instructor for a stretch that might help. I took a week off taekwondo.



Week 2: A week of rest didn't help, so I made an appointment to see my primary care physician on 10/19/2010. She prescribed some anti-inflammatory medication, some muscle relaxants and an x-ray.



Week 3: The x-ray came back inconclusive, so my primary care physician ordered an MRI. The anti-inflammatory medication worked great, but the prescribed dosage diminished each day, and the pain came back, so my physician refilled it. I actually competed in a tournament 10/30/2010. I took first in sparring.



Week 4: The MRI was a horrible experience. I had to stay very still in a very uncomfortable position for what seemed like a very long time. I guess it was loud and crowded, too, but I didn't notice. The results came back for a bulging disc, so my physician referred me to a specialist. The specialist turned out to be a surgeon, and he couldn't see me for three weeks, so I went back to my physician. She refilled my prescription for anti-inflammatory mediation and she referred me for some physical therapy.



Week 5: I had my first physical therapy session 11/08/2010. It was pretty intense. The therapist was attempting to determine the nature and extent of my condition, so she ran me through a thorough series of tests which were exhausting and rather painful, but in the end she determined that my bulging disc was not the source of my pain. Instead she determined that the source of my pain was some tension in the nerve running down my leg and some instability in my core causing certain muscles to do jobs they were not really designed for.



Week 6: I had two more physical therapy sessions. In the first (11/15/2010) she tried to bring more mobility to my joints. In the second (1/17/2010) she tried to help me build up some strength in my core. She taped my sacroiliac (SI) joint which helped a lot. It was great.



Week 7: At my physical therapy session, I received an SI belt (11/23/2010) which did very much the same job as the tape. I was also counseled against doing any jumping in my taekwondo classes. I was told that jumping created too much compression on my spine, and I just needed to lay off a bit. I actually decided not to go to any classes this week. I was in too much pain, besides the school was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.



I also saw the surgeon this week (11/24/2010). It was mostly a very disappointing experience. He did not seem to consider the possibility that the bulging disc was not the source of my pain. He mentioned physical therapy as a course of treatment only once but not seriously. He really gave me three treatment options: (1) do nothing, it might get better on its own, (2) receive a cortisone shot to deal with the pain while it gets better on its own or (3) let the surgeon trim off the bit of the disc that is bulging. I told him that I wanted to go with the least invasive treatment first, and he agreed that was reasonable. He said he would call me in 30 days to see if I wanted the cortisone shot.



Week 8: I had two more physical therapy sessions this week in which my therapist discovered a lack of mobility in my knee which was effectively making one leg shorter than the other - not good for core stability.



Week 9: I arrived on Monday (12/06/2010) morning a little late and too sore to do very much real work. I was really worried about being able to perform at all during my belt test that evening, but my therapist was able to straighten me out and get me moving smoothly again. I was able to perform very well during my belt test, but I decided that I would take at least two weeks off to focus on my therapy. Later this week I fell which created an upslip in my hip, but my therapist was able to correct this as well.



Week 10: After a full week off taekwondo (and no falls),I arrived for my session much less sore, and we were able to do more work. My therapist discovered that my pain had localized over just one vertebra, my SI joint and my knee. This was a sign of good progress. I also asked if she though I might be able to enter a tournament in February, and she said yes. I'm very excited about that - 54 days away.

My seventh belt test

My eight-year old daughter and I have been studying taekwondo at World Champion Taekwondo in Scappoose, Oregon for 21 months now. Monday night (12/06/2010), we had our seventh belt test. We leveled up from blue stripes (on green belts) to blue belts. We are looking forward to taking our black belt test in April 2012.



The morning of the test, I woke up really very sore. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to test. I've been battling back pain for about eight weeks, and it was really flared up this Monday morning. Thankfully, I had an appointment scheduled with my physical therapist, and she was able to straighten me out a bit. I was still sore, but a few hours seated in front of my computer at work, a little aspirin and a little ibuprofen had me moving smoothly by late afternoon.



Our test was scheduled for 7:00 pm, but the two previous tests had each gone a bit long, so we got off to a late start. Master Byong-Cheol Kim and Master Je-Kyoung Kim were both in attendance to score our tests. We started with some calisthenics to warm us. He asked us to do ten jumping jacks, but my physical therapist told me not to do any jumping, so I just sort of hopped a little. After 20 pushups and some stretching, Master Jason asked us to sit on the floor with our eyes closed. I don't think he's ever asked us to do that before. One of his substitute teachers (Joon) had us do that in class once, but this was a first for a belt test. While we were sitting quietly, he told us that our test would be short but intense. He encouraged us to do our best and above all, to yell loudly (at the appropriate times).My guess is that even though we were starting late, everyone wanted to get home on time, but he wanted to assure us that our test would be worth taking and we would really be earning our belts.



We started with blocks and punches. I think we did eight of each (four to the left and four to the right), but it was intense. Master Jason kept a quick pace, and we moved from one block to the next in rapid succession. We performed: low block, middle block, high block, and palm block down, palm block side, palm strike, elbow strike, c-strike, chop, reverse chop, single punch, double punch, three punches, four punches, five punches, ten punches and 50 punches. At the end we were getting a little horse, but I think some of us got louder as we noticed others were getting quieter. Good team work.



Then we did stances with our hands behind our backs. We took four steps forward and then four steps backward for each stance: walking stance, front stance, side stance (aka horse stance) and back stance.



Then we did kicks: front kick, axe kick, round house kick, face-high round house kick, circle kick, side kick and back kick. I had a little trouble with back kick. I couldn't quite work out how to get from the finish of the kick back into sparring stance for the next kick, but I was getting pretty tired by then. It was time to kick targets. We kicked the hand-held paddles. Eric held for my group. We did combinations: (1) roundhouse kick + round house kick + face-high round house kick, (2) front-leg roundhouse kick + jumping double roundhouse kick, and (3) ten roundhouse kicks. I probably shouldn't have done the jumping double roundhouse kicks, but I didn't want to be the only one, so I did them, and I was fine.



Next we did self-defense and one-step sparring. The green belts went first. Ms. J.T. took Master Jason down really hard, twice! It was awesome! My group (the blue stripes) went next. I got my self-defense a little mixed up. I yelled before I punched him, but he just smiled at me. Finally, Jared, our only red belt performed his self-defense and one-step sparring with Dominic, our youngest black belt. They did great (as always), but then Master Jason had them do 30 seconds of non-contact sparring. That was new. We don't usually do sparring in our belt tests. Then, Jared had to fight Dominic AND Robert. Then, he had to fight Dominic, Robert and Eric, so he was exhausted when it was time to do his form.



Jared did his form first. He did great. He was breathing heavily the whole time, but he did great. Then we (the blue stripes) did our form. I was so nervous. I hadn't practiced that day, so during the 15 seconds that I'm standing there waiting for him to tell us to begin, I was frantically trying to remember the first step, but I didn't forget anything. I was slow (as usual), but I didn't forget anything. Master Jason called out the stances as we went, which was really nice of him because he knew those had been giving us trouble. Finally, the green belts did their form. There are only five of them: four adults and a preteen. They always do their form so sharp. It's neat to watch.



After forms, we lined up with our boards. We read our philosophies and our bad habits. The green belts broke first with hammer fist. Then we broke with chop. I wish we had practiced more. I knew that I was supposed to hit the board with the edge of my palm and not my fingers, but I failed to execute that move properly and I crushed the tip of my smallest finger. It only turned a little purple - not too bad.



My daughter was the only one to earn ten black stripes this time and receive a trophy and a gold star, and she just barely squeaked by, earning two stripes a week for the past three weeks. There were fewer weeks this quarter than most, and my back pain discouraged me from helping her during most of the quarter.



After the test, Master Byong-Cheol Kim approached me to compliment me on how much my kicks have improved. I felt about eight feet tall . We took a group picture, but we didn't have our new belts. That makes for a rather anti-climatic ending, but they should arrive next week.

My friend's black belt test

Dominic has been studying taekwondo at World Champion Taekwondo in Scappoose, Oregon for at least a year now. Saturday (11/20/2010), he was finally able to take his black belt test. I was very pleased to be able to attend and cheer him on. I’m looking forward to taking my own black belt test in April 2012. I offer this description of the event to anyone who might be wondering what a black belt test is like.



World Champion Taekwondo was founded by Grandmaster Byong-Cheol Kim, Olympic gold medalist, 1992. There are five campuses: Portland, Lake Oswego, Saltzman, Murray Hills, and Scappoose. The Lake Oswego campus is owned and operated by Master Je-Kyoung Kim, also a gold medalist at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Students from all five schools attended this test. I counted 25 students testing for the 2nd or 3rd degree (dan) black belts certification; 24 students testing for a junior black belt (less than 13 years old); and 37 students testing for their first dan.



I think that kukkiwon regulations: divide black belts (dan) and junior black belts (poom) at age 15, but our school draws the line at age 13. Technically, Dominic is 12.75 years old, but he tested for a "regular" black belt today. Anyway, there were about 87 students testing today.



We began arriving at Reynolds Middle School in Fairview, Oregon at about 9:00 am. The test was conducted in the gymnasium. I was surprised they did not put down the mats. This is the same location that we use for our friendship tournament twice a year, and they put down mats in this room for that, but today the students tested on a hardwood floor. Friends and family were seated in the balcony. They did not set up the bleachers on the floor. This gave them a lot more floor space, but it made it harder for us to get very good pictures. A zoom and a mono pod would have been handy accessories.



The test began at 10:00 am. Master Andrea led the stretching. Master Andrea received her 4th dan certification last May, at the same time our instructor, Master Jason, received his. At 10:15, they broke up into three groups: (1) those testing for 2nd or 3rd dan, (2) those testing for junior black belts, and (3) those testing for 1st dan. There was some small drama about getting Dominic into the right group. Technically, he was about 12.75 years old on the day of the test. His masters had agreed that he should test for 1st dan, but he divided himself up with junior black belts by mistake, but Master Jason remedied the situation quickly.



From this point, it was really three different tests being conducted in the same room, and I mostly observed the 1st, 2nd and 3rd dan candidates. I couldn't really see the junior black belts from where I was sitting. They started with endurance testing. I had always thought of this portion of my belt tests as the warm up, but it was listed as endurance testing on the program, and it's basically calisthenics: jumping jacks, pushup, squats and crunches. I didn't pay close enough attention to note how many of each exercise they were asked to do, but I did notice one poor guy with sprained or broken wrist. He wasn't able to do the pushups, so he just kept doing more crunches. I'll be he wished they were working on mats.



I was impressed that no one appeared to be doing pushups on their knees, but otherwise, I was not impressed with the quality of the pushups, even among the 2nd & 3rd dan candidates. Somewhere I got the idea in my head that a black belt ought to be able to do 100 pushups, and I've been working on that goal myself on and off for almost two years now. Most of the sit-ups I observed were VERY shallow. If I were ever in a position to suggest an improvement to the curriculum at World Champion Taekwondo (and I don't suspect that I ever will be), I would suggest bringing back the yellow stripe, and having it represent milestones in physical fitness such as pushups, crunches and squats.



A ten-minute break followed endurance testing, and then the students drilled through basic techniques: punches blocks and stances. They finished this portion of the test with three sets of 100 punches. The first set was very impressive, the second set less so, the third set was a little pathetic, everyone was so tired that no one was pulling their punches all the way back to their belt any more. This might be another skill for me to practice as I prepare for my black belt test.



The kicking drills were conducted much the same way as the basic techniques: lots of combinations. Dominic commented later that it was a little hard to hear and understand the directions. They finished this set with 100 front kicks.



Another 10-minute break preceded the sparring portion of the test. We had been sitting in the bleachers for nearly two hours, so we were ready for a break ourselves. We went downstairs and walked out onto the floor and chatted with Dominic as he put on his sparring gear. The master instructed all of the students wearing glasses to remove them, and then they were paired up and instructed to demonstrate their skills without hurting each other (light contact). Master Jason commenting that he always negotiated with his partners in belt tests to go ahead and kick each other full force because light contact is boring. It was quite chaotic with 20 pairs of competitors kicking at each other, so they asked half of them to sit down. Dominic out-classed his partners in a big way. He loves sparring. He's small but quick. There was another 10-minute break after sparring for the students to change out of their gear.



At this point it's about 12:30 pm. I'm glad I packed plenty of snacks because there was no lunch break. The next item on the program was forms. I was surprised that they included the basic forms. I had only expected to see the tae guk forms. I was also surprised to see them performed out of order. I will need a lot of practice to be able to do that, and some of the students testing appeared to be in need of bit more practice. To keep things interesting, they had half the students sit down at one point and watch the other students perform, and then they switched. Then, they had half the students perform one form while the other half of the students performed a different form.



At 1:00, it was time for nun chucks. The poom candidates and the 1st dan candidates sat on the floors to watch because only the 2nd & 3rd dan candidates learn the nun chuck routines. It was something like forms, but they were only just numbered. They didn't have names. They just worked through a series of pre-defined movements. It looked cool. Dominic is looking forward to learning nun chucks. He will pretest for his 2nd dan three times in the next two years. I think he has to learn the first four routines for his first pre test.



At 1:00 pm it was time for speeches. The masters previously asked four people to prepare a few words. The first speech was given by a 30-something woman who was testing today for her 1st dan. She described how she and her husband used to work out at different things until they started practicing taekwondo together. He was testing for his 1st dan today, too. Master Jason commented that he knew them when they first started, so I'm guessing they studied at Master Kim's Portland location on West Union Road.



The second speech was given by a mother of one of the poom candidates. She described her son as "bouncing off the walls." It made me smile. That's how I got started in taekwondo: looking for something for my son. The third speech was given by a father who over came spinal injuries in order to practice taekwondo with his son. His son has been ready to test for some time now, but he's been waiting for his dad to test with him. His dad is currently a brown belt, so he's about a year away from his black belt test, but he convinced his son to go ahead and test today. The final speech was given by a black belt candidate who remarked how much he hates to exercise. I could really appreciate this. I really hate running for example. I used to like weight lifting, but he also commented how motivational he found the frequent rank advancements, and I had to agree with that, too. When my next belt test is only three months away, I'm very unlikely to slow down or take a break. Even the black belts pretest every six months.



Finally, it was time for board breaking. It rather a long time to hand out all the boards. Each student had to receive their boards from their master, presumably because the cost of the boards was paid from the e testing fee which is paid to the head master of each school. This is perhaps an indelicate detail, but it's a detail lots of people need to know, so I will share with you that the belt fee for this particular test was $550.00. I'm glad I discovered that because my daughter and I will hopefully test on the same day, and that is not a sum I can come up with all at once, but a year is more than enough time to save it up.



Anyway, each student received eight boards. The poom candidates received thinner boards than the dan candidates. Students held for each other, and they seemed to choose their own breaking techniques. Dominic broke his eight boards with four kicks, two at a time. Master Jason had gone down to the floor at this point to help hold boards, and he had to make some special effort to hold for Dominic as others, trying to help, kept offering to hold for him.



The closing ceremony began with the distribution of new uniforms. These uniforms featured the familiar school logo on the back, but they also included the words World Champion Taekwondo on the pants in large red letters. To be more specific, the word World appears on the outside of the left leg, the word Champion appears across the back of the jacket, below the belt, and the word Taekwondo appears on the outside of the right leg. This led to some confusion in Dominic's family because from the back the students all appear to be labeled as champions. In addition, the 1st dan uniforms feature a single black line on the shoulder and on the outside of the leg; the 2nd dan uniforms feature two black lines on the shoulder and on the outside of the leg; and the 3rd dan uniforms feature three black lines on the shoulder and on the outside of the leg.



When the students arrived in their new uniforms, the masters called them up one at a time to receive their new belts. The belts were all embroidered with the students name and either the name of the school or the name of their master. I can't remember. There was also some Korean embroidery. The 1st dan belts included a single gold bar embroidered at the end of the belt, the 2nd dan belts included two gold bars embroidered at the end of the belt, and the 3rd dan belts included three gold bars embroidered a the end of the belt. I believe the poom belts included the same embroidery, but they were not entirely black. They were divided in half lengthwise and one half was red and the other half was black. I can't remember if the it was the top half or the bottom half that was red, but I do remember that those little kids sure were happy running around in their new uniforms and belts.



The final element of the closing ceremony was a group picture.

Tae Guk Sa 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 Sa (4th) Jang is represented by the symbol for_____.



From the Joon Be (ready) position:

1. Turn 90* to the left, stepping with the left foot in back stance and perform a double knife-hand block with the left hand forward.
   
2. Perform a downward palm block with the left hand (from the belt), step forward with the right foot into front stance and perform a middle spear-hand strike with the right hand.
   
3. Turn 180* to the right and step with the right foot in back stance and perform a double knife-hand block with the right hand forward.
   
4. Perform a downward palm block with the left hand (from the belt), stepping forward with the left foot into front stance and perform a middle spear-hand strike with the left hand.
   
5. Turn 90* to the left (facing flags) and step with the left foot into front stance (left foot forward) and perform open palm high block with the right hand and a chop with the right hand.
   
6. With the right foot, perform a front kick coming down in front stance (right foot forward) and perform a middle punch with the left hand.
   
7. Perform a side kick with the left foot, coming down in horse stance.
   
8. Perform a side kick with right foot, coming down in back stance and perform a double knife-hand block. KI HAP! (yell)
   
9. Turn 270* to the left (so that you are facing 90* to the right) and step with the left foot in back stance and perform a forearm block with the left hand.
   
10. Perform a front kick with the right foot (fists at chest), returning to back stance (left foot forward) and an outside-in middle block with the right hand.
    
11. Turn 180* to the right and find the right foot forward in back stance and perform a forearm block with the right hand.
    
12. Perform a front kick with the left foot (fists at chest), returning to back stance (right foot forward) and an outside-in middle block with the left hand.
    
13. Turn 90* to the left (back to flags) and step with the left foot in walking stance and perform a open-palm high block with the left hand and a chop with the right hand.
    
14. Perform a front kick with the right foot (fists at chest) and land in front stance (right foot forward) and perform a back fist (from the belt) with the right hand.
    
15. Turn 90* to the left and step with the left foot into walking stance and perform a outside-in middle block with the left hand and a middle punch with the right hand.
    
16. Turn 180* to the right and find yourself in walking stance with the right foot forward and perform an outside-in middle block with the right hand and a middle punch with the left hand.
    
17. Turn 90* to the left and step forward (toward the back) with the left foot into walking stance and perform an outside-in middle block with the left hand followed immediately by a middle punch with the right hand and another middle punch with the left hand.
    
18. Step forward with the right foot in front stance and perform outside-in middle block with the right hand followed immediately by a middle punch with the left hand and another middle punch with the right hand. KI HAP! (yell)

Wait for the signal, then turn 180* to the left (facing flags) into Joon Be (ready) position.