Today I tested for my red stripe belt in Tae Kwon Do. It took me several months to get my blue belt, so I was kind of surprised to feel ready after just two months to try for my next belt, but I did and Mrs. P confirmed this. As summer is traditionally a time of lighter populations in both the kids and the adults classes, we had a combined test. I came in feeling good...a huge difference from my last two tests...and I left feeling good (also a difference).
I felt proud, not just of myself for representing my knowledge of the techniques well (or at least with minial mistakes), but I also felt proud of the other people in my school. As the second highest ranked person testing today, I had a long wait before it was my turn and as I watched everyone from the white belts through the blue stripes, I could see the improvements. I could see my own journey as a martial artist reflected. As a white belt, I felt so awkward in my own body. Every stance and every block, and even most of the kicks and punches felt totally foreign whereas now, while I still have challenges like trying not over rotate my turning side kicks and making sure my wheel kicks are level, I feel balanced and strong. I feel confident that if it were absolutely necesary I could thorougly kick someone's ass...and that is a great feeling. Assuming I did as well and I think I did (I'll findout on Monday), I will soon begin preparing for my next belt...red belt, which is the danger belt because it is the last belt before the first black belt...and that close to black belt you should be pretty dangerous.
This part of my journey is all about refining the basics, sharpening all my techniques and perfecting my self control. We all had a good lesson in self control today when one person kicked another below the belt. This was shortly after another person kicked the other during a no-contact display of one steps. They were both higher ranks and should've had better self control, but that not withstanding, it was still a good test.
Meanwhile, I spent this week settling into my new job. I think I am done with my back from Vegas funk because I am actually excited for the school year to begin. I like my new co-workers. And now that I am mostly over my aversion to having to be some place at a set time everyday, I am enjoying my new job. Everyday is different. In addition to teaching, I also support the Admissions team (which is only a one person team), the Academic team, and the main office assistant, so I have a variety of different things to do. What TKD reminds me is that while not everything I have to do is intuitive right now, with time I'll get better. I can already see that I will be well suited to this position. I guess it's just all about patience and consistency.
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