Plethora of Promotion Possibilities
This past week, the head of our Hapkido program, a 7th dan in Hapkido (who also holds rank in a bunch of other disciplines) approached me about the possibility of testing for 2nd dan in Hapkido in the middle of October. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I”m currently prepping for my TKD exam.
The TKD exam will most likely be around 3 hours in duration. The components of the test will be: kicking and punching in multitudinous ways; forms (8 Tae Guk forms, plus 4 black belt forms); bong (staff) techniques including 2 forms; Ho Shin Sul (aka self-defense, usually from various grabs); board breaking; sparring; ukemi (rolling and falling); and Question-and-Answer. I think I got everything listed there. I think there are 8-10 of us testing, including a few young ‘uns going for junior black belt rank. Should be fun.
Back to the Hapkido exam. Nothing is really set yet, so it may not even happen. In the middle of October, a group of us will be flying out to Portland for a Hapkido seminar. We tend to go out there once or twice a year. We’ll fly out on Friday, train that night and all of Saturday, then fly back on Sunday. Our instructor’s instructor is a 9th dan in Hapkido, and gives us enough to think about in those two days of training to last several months.
Anyhow, I’ll be waking up around 4:00 in the morning that day, flying from Philadelphia to Portland, and then it might be that I hop off the plane and take a promotion exam an hour later. We’ll see. As I said, it may not even happen, so I’ll just take whatever comes. But even if I do test after a 3,000 mile cross-country flight, it probably won’t be as uncomfortable as my first dan Hapkido test, when I tested with a dislocated rib. Falling was not comfortable that day.
I think the idea of taking whatever comes is probably the best idea. And, just thinking about the time interval between the TKD test in September and this seminar/potential test in October, I would think you’d want to keep your training/exercise regimen going but avoid overtraining yourself. I’m sure your joints will be extended enough from just the seminar, if nothing else.
@Mike
Yeah. Should all be good. We’ll be on vacation the week before the seminar, so I’ll have a long break there.
This might also push BJJ back. I was thinking on restarting at the beginning of October, but with not wanting to take the risk of screwing myself up before the seminar, maybe I should wait until after.
The vacation should be a good hance for additional rest & relaxation.
Insofar as the BJJ goes, if it’s possible to avoid rolling with spazzy new guys who think that they’re facing Marcelo Garcia in the finals of the Mundials, you should be OK. Easier said than done, I know.
@Mike
True. On a practical level, though, timing isn’t great. If I take a week between the TKD exam and starting BJJ, then I’d only have one week of classes prior to going on vacation, which adjoins the seminar. At that point I might as well wait. Though even when I start, I’m not sure the instructor will want me to roll immediately anyway, since I’ve been off for 10 months.