Another fantastic trip
The Portland weekend was once again very good. This time, we spent a lot of time on basics. One of the funny things about advanced training is how much it resembles beginner training at times. We already know how to kick and punch and move at some level, but we’re learning to kick and punch and move more effectively. Other topics included a jo form, Osoto Gari into Kesa Gatame, and some wrist locks into arm bars.
I managed to escape unscathed, but it was a near thing. Our instructor pulled out a shinai and was whacking people with it when they moved too slowly. I was isolated at one time trying to change up my double front snap kick motion. One of my habits when I’m concentrating on things is to bounce a couple of times on the balls of my feet to get myself to relax and rebalance my body. Well, that found no favor, to put it mildly. I was told, “Don’t bounce!”, then I’d do the technique (poorly) and resettle myself for another attempt. And I started bouncing again. I think I was told 4 times not to bounce, and that was definitely shinai-worthy, though I didn’t get smacked.
One of the things that proves to me, though, is that it’s tough to concentrate on several things at once. And also that Practice Makes Permanent. Do not practice thoughtlessly, or you’ll train your body to do thoughtless movements.
One thing about Tae Kwon Do is that it historically hasn’t been a unified art. There were a number of different schools (or “Kwans”), and each did things their own way. The Portland school is descended from Chung Do Kwan, which does some things a bit differently than we have done them in our school. So when we go out there, we get our techniques tweaked. But since not all of the instructors go on these trips, we’ve been getting less consistent in our own teaching from instructor to instructor.
I think dealing with these discrepancies is going to be a big thing going forward. Some instructors might resist change to the point of leaving the dojang if we change. Others might possibly leave if we don’t change. I’m not sure how this will all shake out, but hopefully there will be minimal casualties.