Around the dojang
June 11th, 2009
There have been a few bits of news and notes around the dojang.
- Master Morgan’s book has been released, and I have my personally autographed copy. In his note to me, he makes a crack about me needing a haircut (I’m bald). It is neat to have a book written by someone you have trained with, if only once or twice a year. I haven’t started reading it yet, but I will do so fairly shortly and give a recap of it when I’m done.
- As I’ve mentioned previously, this weekend is the children’s tournament at our dojang. Last I’ve heard, there are only expected to be 25-30 competitors. I put a couple students who aren’t competing on the spot during class, and just kind of got mumbled “’cause I don’t want to” responses. Disappointing. Friday night is dojang prep and ring setup.
- I’ll be testing for my 3rd dan in TKD in September. It will be my last TKD promotion exam, as subsequent ranks are presented when the head instructor deems they have been earned. The 3rd-to-4th guideline for time-in-rank is 5 years, so this will be my final promotion for quite a while. 2nd dan Hapkido isn’t really on the radar, either. Purple belt in BJJ will require me to actually start up that training again, and wouldn’t happen for a few years once I do start back up. Phase 1 Kali certification might happen at some point.
- Speaking of BJJ, I do miss grappling. My shoulder is getting a lot stronger, but getting it caught in a Kimura or an omo plata would be a very, very bad idea. I had been thinking that maybe I could restart in August, as my next doctor’s appointment is on August 5. But with the upcoming TKD promotion exam, maybe I’m better off holding off on BJJ until after that.
- Sometimes, class attendence is weird. This week, my intermediate class had exactly 4 students. Last week, there were 15.
- I missed last night’s Hapkido class because I got stuck at work. Can’t remember the last time that happened.
- The red belt I had written about a while ago has been coming regularly to Hapkido classes. It’s good for him and he is enjoying it. He might still be a bit frustrated with TKD, but he’s fitting in nicely with a different focus to his training.