State of My Arts

That's me with a back kick through 3 boards

We had a couple of students last night who had difficulty with their board breaks.  When students have trouble with their breaks, it is usually a combination of one or more of the following factors:

1. Poor mechanics — the whole technique is a bit suspect.
2. Poor distance — the student is either too close or too far away from the board.
3. Poor focus — the student misses the center of the board.
4. Hitting the board instead of hitting through the board.
5. Hitting the board with an incorrect hand/foot position.

Last night, the number 5′s resonated with me a bit.  One teen had some issues with a palm heel thrust, and eventually bruised his hand and tweaked his wrist and elbow.  His mechanics were a bit off as he didn’t chamber back far enough to give his arm a good distance to travel.  But one of the other things going on was that he was hitting the board with pretty much his whole palm.

With a palm heel thrust, you should be hitting with the heel of the hand (which would be why it is a palm heel thrust and not a palm thrust).  But you also want to turn your wrist so that you are hitting primarily with the palm heel just on the pinky side of your hand.  It is kind of like doing a bellyflop into a pool: if you hit the water with a lot of surface area, you barely penetrate the water and it hurts!  But if you dive in and pierce the water with a dive, it is a whole different experience.  So a successful break is a dive, penetrating through the water.  An unsuccessful one just kind of slaps the surface.

I see this a lot with palm heel thrusts and side and back kicks.  On the kicks, you need to hit with primarily the heel.  Plenty of board failures on side kicks come about because the whole foot is distributed evenly across the board.  The heel allows you to drive through the target because of the smaller surface area.

TKD

It has been a bit of a busy last month and a half.  We moved in the early part of May, from a 4 bedroom house into an even larger house.  So, packing and unpacking and getting things arranged for the house have taken some time.   We now have a nice, big 10 kW solar array installed on our back roof generating a significant portion of our elecricity.  And somehow there’s still a lot more to be done, as I’m sitting here typing this in the office and there are 4 boxes of stuff staring balefully at me.  The moving interrupted my training a bit.  So did yet another bout with poison ivy this week that caused my right eye to swell halfway shut. 

When I get busy, the first thing to get dropped is BJJ.  It was getting to the point where I was questioning whether I should continue taking BJJ, or if I should just drop it.  I do really enjoy it, but I have been stalling out in my progress, a result of averaging fewer than two classes per week.  I was invited last month to test for my purple belt, which I declined — I barely feel qualified to be a blue belt.  The invitation was extended purely on the duration of my training, not on my ability, I’m sure.  I started just over four years ago, though I’ve been unable to train for a number of months in that span due to a variety of injuries.  But the BJJ schedule has recently changed so I can take intermediate classes on Mondays and Tuesdays in addition to 2 hours of open mat time on Thursdays.

Last night was a gup promotion exam with eight students testing for ranks between yellow belt and black stripe red belt.  As a group they did well, though as always there are many areas of improvement.  Testing nights usually inspire me as an instructor, though it is usually because I see so many things I know I need to spend more time teaching rather than because the level of TKD is necessarily inspiring.  Last night was no different.  I think punching combinations and focus on kick placement will be an emphasis next week.

BJJ, TKD, Training

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.

Hapkido, TKD, Teaching

This weekend is another one of our parent school’s Hapkido seminars.  It’d be easier if it weren’t 3,000 miles away, though.  So we’re flying out of Philly tomorrow at 6 AM, which means getting up at 3 AM.  Then, due to a quirk of plane ticket economics, we’re connecting in San Francisco before we fly out to Portland.  We were last out there the end of Novemeber last year.  It’ll be a very long day, though I should have a couple of hours of down time before the evening session starts.  Two more sessions on Saturday, then we’re flying back on Sunday.

And on Tuesday, my wife and I are closing on a new house.  It is close to our current house, and consequently close to the dojang.  Much nicer and roomier, and just fits us much better than the current house.  We’re looking forward to moving in.  And I’m using the whole packing/organizing thing as an excuse for why I haven’t posted recently.

My back is in much better shape after numerous chiropractor visits, and I’ve been training regularly.  This week I’ve been fighting a cold, so not as much training.  BJJ is the first thing that falls off my schedule when I’m feeling a bit under the weather.  At the dojang, there have been a couple of promotion exams recently, including a junior black belt promotion.  I ran a plyometric-type of class last Saturday, and I felt that for days.

My weight ballooned a bit over the last couple of months, but it is back down to around 200 now, though I still want to drop that a bit further.  I’ve added a 15 minute workout in the early morning during the week: 5 minutes on the bike at a fairly heavy resistance level, followed by 10 minutes of lifting, ab work, stretching, or whatever else I feel I need that day.  That’s been working fairly well for me.

So, that’s my recent martial arts life in a nutshell.  Moving and such will keep me fairly busy over the next couple of weeks, but hopefully I’ll sneak in a couple of posts between now and then.

BJJ, Hapkido, Health, TKD, Training

A year ago, my instructor passed away from leukemia.  We miss his presence, knowledge, and enthusiasm, and can never replace that.

The dojang, though, is still going strong.  His widow has been running the dojang since then in an administrative position, and has been helping out as a secondary instructor.  The classes are still going strong, run by dans of various ranks from first to seventh.  Quality of instruction has remained high, even as there have been some changes.

Our school has been converging with the way our parent school teaches techniques, due to our Hapkido instructor, who trained for 30 years at the parent school, having taken over the Hapkido and children’s programs.  His wife, a 3rd dan, is doing a lot of the operational work in the Tae Kwon Do program.

I’ve still been training and teaching regularly, despite my dearth of posts.  We just came to an agreement on the sale of our house, the process of which has been my primary (lame) excuse for not posting.  I’m planning on posting more regularly again.  Right now, though, I’m off to BJJ training.

Hapkido, TKD, Teaching

My workouts are feeling good again.  I still have clogged ears, but everything else has seemingly returned to normal.

Last Friday was a gup test, and I was one of five on the testing panel.  9 students tested, and they all did a great job.  It was a good 2-hour test, and even the young ones maintained focus throughout.

I finally taught the beginner adult TKD class tonight after 3 weeks away (2 weeks sick and 1 week with a family commitment).  We pulled out the mats and worked on rolling and falling.  Four students had never rolled before, so it was good to get them some experience.  We went through front rolls, back rolls, side falls, back fall, front fall.  So we ran the gamut there.  At the end, myself and two other instructors did a couple simple takedowns, and I gave each a hip throw.  Just a litle application of techniques there.

BJJ has been going pretty well.  I still stink at it, but some things are coming along.  Yesterday’s drilling focused on collar chokes, and it is kind of crazy how many variations there are.  Today’s drilling was half-guard sweeps and half-mount passes.  I’m pretty pathetic in half-guard, so it is good to drill that.  Sparring has been a bit of a struggle.  Blue and Purple belts at my size (and some of those smaller than I am) pretty much have their way with me.  Some of the stronger and more experienced white belts battle me to a standstill.  But I managed to get a gi choke on a newly-minted purple belt today (okay, I outweigh him by 45 pounds).  Then he came back with a nice armbar that opened up for him when I was defending a choke attempt.  Last night was about my toughest night: one of the bigger blue belts ran a clinic on me, probably half a dozen different submissions in 10 minutes.  But it is all fun and a good learning experience.

BJJ, TKD, Teaching

Well, the cold I mentioned the last time was a bit more serious.  I finally went to a doctor the day before Thanksgiving, and her diagnosis is that it started as a viral infection, then I got a secondary bacterial ear infection and another bronchial infection as well.  I got put on three prescriptions and am now feeling a lot better, but not back to normal yet.  When I take a deep breath, I start coughing.  Ears are still a bit clogged as well.

It turns out my health problems could be worse.  My Hapkido instructor was out sick with pneumonia, and his symptoms started the same way mine did.  And the guy I was working with at BJJ on Monday had basically the same thing as well, though he went through two separate courses of antibiotics (one of which was the same I took).  So I guess this sort of thing is going around this area.

But, not being one to allow such minor complaints stop me, I started working out again on Monday.  I went to BJJ class, which was a normally-structured class: warmup, techniques, then sparring.  One of the techniques was a half guard sweep, which I should really remember because my half guard is atrocious.  Tuesday I had a family thing to go to, so I did the P90x Chest & Back workout instead of teaching TKD and going to BJJ.  The P90x knocked me down for the count.  I had to pause it twice to catch my breath (and push the nausea down a bit), and even then I couldn’t do nearly as many reps as I normally do.

Tonight was the class trifecta: Hapkido class followed by teaching the TKD intermediates (greens and blues) followed by the red and black belt class.  The Hapkido class wasn’t too physically taxing.  But then I kept the intermediate class pretty high energy since we had two visiting teenage 2nd dans who just moved into the area and are looking for a new school.  Hopefully they had fun.  Anyway, I joined in with most things and gave myself a pretty good workout there.  Then the next class took most of the energy I had left.

Being out sick for several weeks allowed my inner glutton to surface.  My caloric intake remained about the same (until Thanksgiving), but without exercising I put on some weight.  My BJJ partner thought I felt more like 225 than my current 200.  And tonight I told one of the black belts that I put on 6 or 7 pounds in the last few weeks, and she said “Oh, is that all?”.  I’m taking that to mean that I look like I put on more like 15.  Okay, she didn’t really mean it that way, but it makes a better story that way.

Regardless, I need to lose some weight, so I’m trying to eat less without necessarily counting calories.  Trying to get from the 201 I weighed at today down to 194 by Christmas.  Then I’ll screw it up by gorging on cookies, but at least I’ll have gotten down to a better weight before I do.

BJJ, Hapkido, Health, TKD, Teaching

Now that I’ve hit 3rd dan in TKD, I’m reflecting a bit on where I’m headed.

In TKD…

I’m continuing to teach, that’s a given.  My training will continue as it has been.  I’ve been emphasizing low, centered movement, but I’m still working on improving that.  I also had the chance to watch part of a video from my black belt exam where I was sparring.  To my own eye, I looked slow and fairly immobile.  Some techniques were good, but my movement was only middling.  I need to work on quickness and slipping techniques.  My body type isn’t really built for that (6′ 195, large thighs), but I think I need to improve in quickness and balance.  Added core strength would be a plus.

In Hapkido…

Okay, this one is really easy.  2nd dan test in 2 weeks.  Many of the same principles I mentioned in the TKD section also apply here.  I need to transition from entries into techniques more fluidly.  We’ve been doing a lot of countering drills, feeling the balance and shifting to a different technique when the opponent’s energy changes.  It is great stuff, but I still find it difficult to quickly recognize the balance and positioning, and then figure out my best more from there.

In BJJ…

Finally going to start it back up!  It has been 10 months.  I’ve missed grappling, so I am looking forward to going back.  Here, quite simply, I need need to work on not injuring myself.  I’m going to try to work on technique and fluid movement without relying on muscling my opponent around.  Easier said then done… once the blood starts flowing in a grappling match, my competitive instincts take over.

In Kali…

Well, something has to slip.  I stopped it leading up to my promotion exam, and I didn’t miss it.  I think that means I’m not ready to be a student.

In Fitness…

P90x has been great.  However, for 2/3 times per week, I’m not sure it is the best use of my time.  The number of reps in the workouts is high, but maybe I’d get better results by splitting those reps across more days.  I think I’ll do the Plyo workout periodically.  Maybe I’ll try out kettleballs sooner or later.  If the weather cooperates, I might going jogging more often.  I went for around 2.5 miles on Sunday, and it was almost fun.

BJJ, Fitness, Hapkido, TKD, Training

The congratulatory announcement went up today, and two of the candidates who tested for 1st dan/poom were presented their interim black belts.  The way we do it is that when a student is promoted to black belt, they are given an instructor’s old belt to wear until their personally embroidered black belt is presented to them.  It is a neat tradition.

Anyhow, within our dojang, my title is now Sa Bum.  1st dan title is Kyosa, 2nd is Kyosa Nim.  3rd is Sabum, and 4th is Sa Bum Nim.  It’ll be at least 5 years before I get to 4th dan.

But as far as my training went today, we’ve got a phrase: “Sometimes you are the windshield, and sometimes you are the bug”.  Today I was the bug.  I wasn’t feeling great at the start of Hapkido, just tired and creaky.  During class, I wasn’t doing things well.  Teaching the intermediate class went fine.  But in the advanced TKD I didn’t do as well as I should.  And now my back is locked up.  Oh, well.

Hapkido, TKD

Yesterday was my long-awaited 3rd dan test.  The short version is that it went well.  The longer version is below…

When I woke up in the morning, my back had loosened up a bit.  So that part was good.  The bad part is that my “trick toe” was giving me a lot of trouble.  I couldn’t walk without a limp for the first couple of hours.  Makes me wonder if I’ve got a bone chip in the joint that periodically floats into a bad position, or something like that.  Fortunately, my toe eventually felt a lot better.  I buddy-taped it for the test hoping it wouldn’t become a problem.

The test started shortly after 6PM.  I got there around 20 minutes early to warm up and stretch out.  I surprised myself by getting a bit nervous in the hours leading up to the test — I really psyched myself up to do an excellent job, and would be disappointed with anything less.  There were 11 of us testing: 2 for 3rd dan; 1 for 2nd dan; and 1 adult, 2 teens and 5 young ‘uns for 1st dan/poom.  The testing panel consisted of a 7th dan, 3 5th dans, and 2 4th dans.  There was also a large contingent of other black belts and a decent crowd of frends and family.

After bowing in, the test started with breathing exercises.  Next were stances, followed by moving blocks and punches.  Everything was very formal and traditional through this point, and my nerves were burning up a lot of energy.  When you’re working precision like this with extreme focus, it is tough to get into a groove.  The next section was kicking, which is something I’m good at.  I still wasn’t feeling comfortable, and by this point I was sweating profusely and was very out of breath.

The next section was our forms.  My mind was still working overtime, and I flubbed one of the student poomsae twice.  Not enough that you’d notice unless you knew what to look for, but I knew that I did an inside block instead of a knife hand attack.  The other forms went more smoothly.  By the time we got to the black belt forms I was again (unobtrusively, I hoped) gasping for air.  I was the only one doing the form Pyong Won, so I still didn’t get a chance for a short breather. 

Next up were bong forms.  The funny part here was that I was drenched with sweat.  A lot of bong movements have the bong in contact with the torso at some point, and every time I did one of those moves, it sounded like a wet towel smacking against a wall.  It also left the bong slipperier than a greased pig.  Not, mind you, that I’ve ever tried to hold a greased pig.  I was very pleased that I was able to make it through my forms without dropping the bong.

Next up, One-Step Sparring.  We’ve got 18 of them, and I had the chance to do maybe a dozen of them.  That section was fine, and I was partnered with the gentleman testing for 2nd dan.  We had the same partners for the self-defense portion.  Since both of us are testing for Hapkido rank, that part wasn’t any trouble either.  We continued with rolling and falling, followed by a bit more Hapkido-ish techniques: hip throws, Osoto-gari, kote-gaeshi.  I was finally able to catch my breath and relax a bit here.

Next up, sparring.  We got our gear on, sans chest protectors.  Our matches are free flowing, no called points.  I sparred the same guy and we had a fun two-round battle.  I pressed him hard and he was looking fatigued.  He had a kind of cotton-mouth thing going, which was turning his lips white, but underneath the white they were also turning blue, so he only sparred once.  My second match was with a 3rd dan who was there as an observer and who is the toughest sparring opponent in the dojang.  What ensued was a drag-’em-out fight; we both were giving fairly heavy contact with our blows.  I caught a few in the face from him, and I caught him back a few times.  He definitely got the best of me, but it was a fun battle.

Board breaking came next.  The younger ones went first, so it was probably a good 15 minutes of standing around.  I caught a clash on the outside of my left thigh, which left me with a bit of a charlie horse.  Due to a few factors, I decided to do my breaks with my left foot.  Most right-handed people are also right-footed, so people usually do their breaks with their better leg.  But my balky toe is on my right foot, turning kicks to the right aren’t working so well when the left side of my back is tight, and I had that thigh contusion that made it tough to use that leg for planting.  Anyhow, my first break was a 3 board jumping back kick power break.  That felt nice, my foot went through easily.  2nd break was a speed break — the holder holds the board with two fingers and you need to hit the board fast enough for it to break before it is knocked out of his hand.  That break was a jumping back hook kick, which took me two tries (on the first I knocked it out of his hand).  3rd break was another speed break, a knife hand through a smaller-sized board.  Again, that took me two tries as well.

We finished up with question-and-answer.  It was a bit after 9PM, so the test lasted around 3 hours.  During the wrap-up, one of the teens started swaying, and almost passed out.  He was probably dehydrated.  He had to sit down for a couple of minutes.  Afterwards, we all got lots of congratulations.  The others who were testing did really well as well.  It really was a good testing group.  One person who I didn’t know who was there watching a relative came up to me afterwards and told me it was a pleasure to watch me do the test, so that was a nice compliment.  The results haven’t officially been made public, but it was obvious that we all passed.  At some point next week I should be officially confirmed with my new rank.

Today I was a bit sore and tired.  But myself, my erstwhile One-Step/Self Defense partner, and the Hapkido instructor came back to the dojang at 7:30 this morning to review requirements for our Hapkido exam next month.   Training never stops!  We mostly talked through things and did some technique cleanup, nothing remotely strenuous.

The following photos are blurry enough to preserve my internet semi-annonimity:

 Back hook kick during the kicking portion of the exam

 3 board break, jumping back kick

 Speed break, jumping back hook kick

TKD