One small step closer...

[Dirty Dog]

I’m assuming it’s that probationary black belt. Some karate organizations do it, calling it shodan-ho. In those organizations, you’re given a black belt upon passing the test and you’re recognized as a black belt immediately in your dojo. But you don’t receive your official certificate and other things (wherever applicable) until a standard time period of consistent training.

I'm familiar with that process. In our MDK system, you progress from geup ranks to black belt candidate, to black belt. Because 1st Dan in this system is a teaching rank, that candidacy period is used for 'how to teach' training.
But "poom" means kiddie black belt. A black belt candidate holds the rank of Chodanbo. The literal translation is 'half a black belt' and we do use a half red/half black belt (red belt being the highest geup rank...) to signify this rank. It's the terminology I question, not the practice.
Improper use of Korean terms is not at all uncommon. It's not a huge issue, so long as everyone in your school knows what you mean, but it does become an issue when you're talking to people from other schools, or if you actually train with Korean speakers.
For example, our school has apparently always used "Sabumnim" for the chief instructor, and "Sabum" for all others. This isn't at all correct. "Sabum" means 'teacher' and "nim" is an honorific meant to show respect. So referring to someone as "Sabum" basically means 'teacher I don't respect.' Correct titles for assistant instructors would be things like "Busabum" or "Kyosha" with "nim" added to show respect. Likewise, one would never use "nim" when referring to oneself. Doing so would be incredibly arrogant.

 

[dvcochran]

So next Saturday, 11/3, I will do a local tournament...my 2nd and last one as a color belt. I'll be doing Taegeuk 8 by myself and again with my mom in the family category. I'll also be doing board breaking. Then one week later...Black Belt test time.

I did a private lesson last week and will do one more probably next week. I really want to get good scores and impress the guest masters so I'm working on the tiniest details now. My new black collar uniforms are in the storage room, taunting me every day when I see them. I got to touch my poom belt when it came in the order, but I'm trying to pretend it's not there in the belt drawer lol. It's SO close now. I can't believe it.

Last Saturday, we had a board breaking day and not many people signed up so I went ahead and participated. I got to work one on one with a master to improve my flying side kick. It helped a LOT.

Some of you guys have been reading this since I literally got my 1st or 2nd tip on my white belt, and now I am two and a half weeks away from Black belt. It's very emotional to think about. I don't know how I will get through reading my 5 page paper I wrote at the test lol. I'll be crying the entire test day I think. I just can't wait.

Great, great post. This may be the first entry I have read from you. It is very refreshing to hear the love, passion, and excitement you have for reaching your next, big step. Congratulations!
I am curious, do you know what your testing will consist of (forms, etc...)?

 

[JR 137]

I'm familiar with that process. In our MDK system, you progress from geup ranks to black belt candidate, to black belt. Because 1st Dan in this system is a teaching rank, that candidacy period is used for 'how to teach' training.
But "poom" means kiddie black belt. A black belt candidate holds the rank of Chodanbo. The literal translation is 'half a black belt' and we do use a half red/half black belt (red belt being the highest geup rank...) to signify this rank. It's the terminology I question, not the practice.
Improper use of Korean terms is not at all uncommon. It's not a huge issue, so long as everyone in your school knows what you mean, but it does become an issue when you're talking to people from other schools, or if you actually train with Korean speakers.
For example, our school has apparently always used "Sabumnim" for the chief instructor, and "Sabum" for all others. This isn't at all correct. "Sabum" means 'teacher' and "nim" is an honorific meant to show respect. So referring to someone as "Sabum" basically means 'teacher I don't respect.' Correct titles for assistant instructors would be things like "Busabum" or "Kyosha" with "nim" added to show respect. Likewise, one would never use "nim" when referring to oneself. Doing so would be incredibly arrogant.

Put the way you just put it, I’m sure it’s a matter of terminology. And absolutely, people confuse the terms all the time. They may call a poom belt what you call a chodanbo belt.

The organization I’m in (Seido) gives a plain unembroidered black belt upon passing the 1st dan test. After six months of consistent training, we’re given an embroidered black belt which has the student’s name, organization’s name, and a single bar signifying 1st dan. The non-embroidered belt holder is called a kari-shodan. No idea what that technically means, but I’m assuming it’s alternative way of saying shodan-ho. I’m not a Japanese speaker, so I don’t know the semantics involved.

At the end of the day, so long as the student knows their rank, requirements and expectations, what it’s called isn’t relevant beyond conversations IMO. Sure it’s annoying to hear someone misuse a term, but it’s not like it’s our primary language. It’s going to happen

 

[Dirty Dog]

Put the way you just put it, I’m sure it’s a matter of terminology. And absolutely, people confuse the terms all the time. They may call a poom belt what you call a chodanbo belt.

I suspect that is the case, but hoped for clarification. I prefer not to assume when a simple question can eliminate guesswork.

The organization I’m in (Seido) gives a plain unembroidered black belt upon passing the 1st dan test. After six months of consistent training, we’re given an embroidered black belt which has the student’s name, organization’s name, and a single bar signifying 1st dan. The non-embroidered belt holder is called a kari-shodan. No idea what that technically means, but I’m assuming it’s alternative way of saying shodan-ho. I’m not a Japanese speaker, so I don’t know the semantics involved.

We do the same thing, but with a red/black belt as the transitional belt. And it's generally more like a year between the two. Most likely because in our case it's not just a formality, it's the 'learn to teach' time.

At the end of the day, so long as the student knows their rank, requirements and expectations, what it’s called isn’t relevant beyond conversations IMO. Sure it’s annoying to hear someone misuse a term, but it’s not like it’s our primary language. It’s going to happen

It's not even annoying. When someone for whom English is their native language doesn't know the difference between "they're", "their", and "there", that can be mildly annoying. But when someone is using a term from a foreign language, especially one they don't speak at all, it merely rouses curiosity. I'm not fluent in Korean, (I'm pretty sure I sound like a toddler with a speech impediment to someone who is fluent) so while "that's just what we've always called it" is perfectly fine, I might also learn something. While it's true that the conventional translation of "poom" is "junior" (with the connotation of younger, not lower ranked) it's always possible that there are other translations of which I am unaware.

 

[JR 137]

I suspect that is the case, but hoped for clarification. I prefer not to assume when a simple question can eliminate guesswork.



We do the same thing, but with a red/black belt as the transitional belt. And it's generally more like a year between the two. Most likely because in our case it's not just a formality, it's the 'learn to teach' time.



It's not even annoying. When someone for whom English is their native language doesn't know the difference between "they're", "their", and "there", that can be mildly annoying. But when someone is using a term from a foreign language, especially one they don't speak at all, it merely rouses curiosity. I'm not fluent in Korean, (I'm pretty sure I sound like a toddler with a speech impediment to someone who is fluent) so while "that's just what we've always called it" is perfectly fine, I might also learn something. While it's true that the conventional translation of "poom" is "junior" (with the connotation of younger, not lower ranked) it's always possible that there are other translations of which I am unaware.

I’m a school teacher. Don’t get me started on they’re, there and their. And using apostrophes to pluralize something. And “should of.”

And I’m not an English teacher. I teach science and physical education.

 

[JR 137]

@serietah
In my sidetracked rambling, I forgot to say something:

Keep up the hard work and great spirit!

 

[serietah]

Thanks guys! We call it "poom belt" and it is the half red, half black belt that a kid would wear until they are old enough to convert to a dan rank. We use it as a "probationary" belt of sorts for all new Black Belts, just until the official ceremony where we receive our embroidered belts and Kukkiwon certificates. It's not a separate rank, and students wearing it are full black belts, start learning Koryo, coming to black belt class, etc. I believe that this comes from my master's previous schools and this probationary period covered the 3 months or so it would take to receive the Kukkiwon certificate. Now they are actually pretty fast, and I heard that they will be moving to an electronic application soon, so it will be even faster.

I've learned quite a bit of Korean in the past few years...enough that sometimes my master will start speaking Korean to me for a minute before switching lol. I understand a lot more than I can speak. I can read and write, but don't have a huge vocabulary yet. Still studying!

Tonight we only had one kid show up for family class because of Halloween, so I got to get in an extra class. It was great. Our guest master for right now is ridiculously amazing at poomsae and I got his one on one attention for almost 30 minutes. We drilled Taegeuk 8, and I felt really really good about it at the end. We also practiced my board breaking for the tournament. My foot is bruised, but I have more confidence for the tournament now because I know I can break a board with a tornado kick YAY! He also corrected my chamber for roundhouse kick a little and it really felt like it made a big difference. Sometimes having a new set of eyes is really helpful.

My favorite part of today though...my master and I were sitting in the office talking and he is SO excited for me to get my black belt. He's going to start teaching me how to actually teach and lead classes so that I will be able to lead our little ones and white belts in the future. He has a lot of confidence in me, which just feels awesome.

Going back to nearly 3 years ago, I can't even recognize who I am anymore. Tae Kwon Do made me a new person. If anyone just starting TKD reads this, go back to the beginning of this thread and you can read every milestone...every step of the journey.

Every step. And now next week, I will put on a black belt. I can't believe it.

 

[_Simon_]

Thanks guys! We call it "poom belt" and it is the half red, half black belt that a kid would wear until they are old enough to convert to a dan rank. We use it as a "probationary" belt of sorts for all new Black Belts, just until the official ceremony where we receive our embroidered belts and Kukkiwon certificates. It's not a separate rank, and students wearing it are full black belts, start learning Koryo, coming to black belt class, etc. I believe that this comes from my master's previous schools and this probationary period covered the 3 months or so it would take to receive the Kukkiwon certificate. Now they are actually pretty fast, and I heard that they will be moving to an electronic application soon, so it will be even faster.

I've learned quite a bit of Korean in the past few years...enough that sometimes my master will start speaking Korean to me for a minute before switching lol. I understand a lot more than I can speak. I can read and write, but don't have a huge vocabulary yet. Still studying!

Tonight we only had one kid show up for family class because of Halloween, so I got to get in an extra class. It was great. Our guest master for right now is ridiculously amazing at poomsae and I got his one on one attention for almost 30 minutes. We drilled Taegeuk 8, and I felt really really good about it at the end. We also practiced my board breaking for the tournament. My foot is bruised, but I have more confidence for the tournament now because I know I can break a board with a tornado kick YAY! He also corrected my chamber for roundhouse kick a little and it really felt like it made a big difference. Sometimes having a new set of eyes is really helpful.

My favorite part of today though...my master and I were sitting in the office talking and he is SO excited for me to get my black belt. He's going to start teaching me how to actually teach and lead classes so that I will be able to lead our little ones and white belts in the future. He has a lot of confidence in me, which just feels awesome.

Going back to nearly 3 years ago, I can't even recognize who I am anymore. Tae Kwon Do made me a new person. If anyone just starting TKD reads this, go back to the beginning of this thread and you can read every milestone...every step of the journey.

Every step. And now next week, I will put on a black belt. I can't believe it.

Love this post so much.

And I am just... so darn excited for you

 

[Deafdude#5]

Awesome!!! We are excited with and for you too!!

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Thanks guys! We call it "poom belt" and it is the half red, half black belt that a kid would wear until they are old enough to convert to a dan rank. We use it as a "probationary" belt of sorts for all new Black Belts, just until the official ceremony where we receive our embroidered belts and Kukkiwon certificates. It's not a separate rank, and students wearing it are full black belts, start learning Koryo, coming to black belt class, etc. I believe that this comes from my master's previous schools and this probationary period covered the 3 months or so it would take to receive the Kukkiwon certificate. Now they are actually pretty fast, and I heard that they will be moving to an electronic application soon, so it will be even faster.

I've learned quite a bit of Korean in the past few years...enough that sometimes my master will start speaking Korean to me for a minute before switching lol. I understand a lot more than I can speak. I can read and write, but don't have a huge vocabulary yet. Still studying!

Tonight we only had one kid show up for family class because of Halloween, so I got to get in an extra class. It was great. Our guest master for right now is ridiculously amazing at poomsae and I got his one on one attention for almost 30 minutes. We drilled Taegeuk 8, and I felt really really good about it at the end. We also practiced my board breaking for the tournament. My foot is bruised, but I have more confidence for the tournament now because I know I can break a board with a tornado kick YAY! He also corrected my chamber for roundhouse kick a little and it really felt like it made a big difference. Sometimes having a new set of eyes is really helpful.

My favorite part of today though...my master and I were sitting in the office talking and he is SO excited for me to get my black belt. He's going to start teaching me how to actually teach and lead classes so that I will be able to lead our little ones and white belts in the future. He has a lot of confidence in me, which just feels awesome.

Going back to nearly 3 years ago, I can't even recognize who I am anymore. Tae Kwon Do made me a new person. If anyone just starting TKD reads this, go back to the beginning of this thread and you can read every milestone...every step of the journey.

Every step. And now next week, I will put on a black belt. I can't believe it.

I just love the enthusiasm in this post, Serietah. Love it.

 

[dvcochran]

Thanks guys! We call it "poom belt" and it is the half red, half black belt that a kid would wear until they are old enough to convert to a dan rank. We use it as a "probationary" belt of sorts for all new Black Belts, just until the official ceremony where we receive our embroidered belts and Kukkiwon certificates. It's not a separate rank, and students wearing it are full black belts, start learning Koryo, coming to black belt class, etc. I believe that this comes from my master's previous schools and this probationary period covered the 3 months or so it would take to receive the Kukkiwon certificate. Now they are actually pretty fast, and I heard that they will be moving to an electronic application soon, so it will be even faster.

I've learned quite a bit of Korean in the past few years...enough that sometimes my master will start speaking Korean to me for a minute before switching lol. I understand a lot more than I can speak. I can read and write, but don't have a huge vocabulary yet. Still studying!

Tonight we only had one kid show up for family class because of Halloween, so I got to get in an extra class. It was great. Our guest master for right now is ridiculously amazing at poomsae and I got his one on one attention for almost 30 minutes. We drilled Taegeuk 8, and I felt really really good about it at the end. We also practiced my board breaking for the tournament. My foot is bruised, but I have more confidence for the tournament now because I know I can break a board with a tornado kick YAY! He also corrected my chamber for roundhouse kick a little and it really felt like it made a big difference. Sometimes having a new set of eyes is really helpful.

My favorite part of today though...my master and I were sitting in the office talking and he is SO excited for me to get my black belt. He's going to start teaching me how to actually teach and lead classes so that I will be able to lead our little ones and white belts in the future. He has a lot of confidence in me, which just feels awesome.

Going back to nearly 3 years ago, I can't even recognize who I am anymore. Tae Kwon Do made me a new person. If anyone just starting TKD reads this, go back to the beginning of this thread and you can read every milestone...every step of the journey.

Every step. And now next week, I will put on a black belt. I can't believe it.

Awesome post! Love to hear the good news about someone's MA journey. Keep spreading the news!!!

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

I've learned quite a bit of Korean in the past few years...enough that sometimes my master will start speaking Korean to me for a minute before switching lol. I understand a lot more than I can speak. I can read and write, but don't have a huge vocabulary yet. Still studying!

How did you learn? For me, I've only learnt TKD related terms.

 

[serietah]

How did you learn? For me, I've only learnt TKD related terms.

My master’s wife gave me a paper with the alphabet and how to combine characters to make syllable blocks. I was intrigued so I grabbed a $6ish book from amazon and taught myself to read and write Korean. Then I started using Talk to me in Korean books and workbooks to self study. I picked up a shelf full of other books along the way. I also listen to Korean music and watch Korean tv. I listen to native speakers daily in the dojang too so I’m immersed in it about as much as I can be. I have a LOT to learn but I understand enough to know I was getting first place in the tournament today before they had us turn around hahaha.

Speaking of the tournament...
I brought home three first place medals! Individual form, family form, and breaking. When I yelled for breaking, people stopped what they were doing to watch. I wouldn’t believe that if I hadn’t seen it on the video my mom took lol. It wasn’t impressive breaking but I yell louder than anyone and break the boards on the first try so yay!

For individual forms, I competed against my mom and a teenager that is on their schools demo team. There was also a poor adult guy with our group that got an auto first place because we all did Taegeuk 8 and he is a yellow belt so he did Taegeuk 2. He was the only adult near his rank. We each had to do our forms twice. Once with one other person and once alone. After I finished my solo one, I saw the main judge say “she’s good” to the other judge. I almost smiled :-D My poor mom messed up a little, but she’s been so sick recently and hasn’t been to class in nearly two weeks so it’s ok. She got 3rd. I got 1st, and the person who got 2nd was notttttt happy.

Later she was in a group form and my master was watching with me. He commented that she was good, and I told him I beat her. He said again, she’s good. You beat her? I said yes sir, she’s good but I’m better! I am trying to fill myself with confidence before next Saturday. The tournament today helped.

Only 4 more days of class before the big day. I will be running an event booth Friday...ack.

 

[serietah]

It's 12:03 AM. Black Belt Testing Day is here!!!!!

We don't have any classes (90% of the mats are in the school van lol), so I'm going to sleep til I wake up, go eat a delicious breakfast at ihop, then go promote myself...and the others...in our computer system, print out certificates, and go set up for the test!

Let's hope I don't have to "remove" anyone from the promotion list haha. I'm feeling confident. Had a private lesson today and got to run through everything a few times. I had one brain fart when I accidentally looked at my Master instead of the poster (I get really nervous if I look at whoever is judging me, so I usually pick a spot above them), but I just literally told myself "focus" and was fine.

There's nothing left to practice. It's time to show off the past nearly 3 years of hard work.

See you guys when I'm a Black Belt. In 15 hours, it'll all be done. Korean BBQ first, then I'll come home and post lol.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

It's 12:03 AM. Black Belt Testing Day is here!!!!!

We don't have any classes (90% of the mats are in the school van lol), so I'm going to sleep til I wake up, go eat a delicious breakfast at ihop, then go promote myself...and the others...in our computer system, print out certificates, and go set up for the test!

Let's hope I don't have to "remove" anyone from the promotion list haha. I'm feeling confident. Had a private lesson today and got to run through everything a few times. I had one brain fart when I accidentally looked at my Master instead of the poster (I get really nervous if I look at whoever is judging me, so I usually pick a spot above them), but I just literally told myself "focus" and was fine.

There's nothing left to practice. It's time to show off the past nearly 3 years of hard work.

See you guys when I'm a Black Belt. In 15 hours, it'll all be done. Korean BBQ first, then I'll come home and post lol.

GOOD LUCK!!! Promote everyone after the test though haha. It will be easier to do, and will make it fel more like a test than a formality. I'm sure you'll do great though. Take a video!

 

[_Simon_]

It's 12:03 AM. Black Belt Testing Day is here!!!!!

We don't have any classes (90% of the mats are in the school van lol), so I'm going to sleep til I wake up, go eat a delicious breakfast at ihop, then go promote myself...and the others...in our computer system, print out certificates, and go set up for the test!

Let's hope I don't have to "remove" anyone from the promotion list haha. I'm feeling confident. Had a private lesson today and got to run through everything a few times. I had one brain fart when I accidentally looked at my Master instead of the poster (I get really nervous if I look at whoever is judging me, so I usually pick a spot above them), but I just literally told myself "focus" and was fine.

There's nothing left to practice. It's time to show off the past nearly 3 years of hard work.

See you guys when I'm a Black Belt. In 15 hours, it'll all be done. Korean BBQ first, then I'll come home and post lol.

Very best of luck!!! You're so ready for this.

Breathe deeply, focus on just one thing at a time, and ENJOY this day

 

[Gerry Seymour]

It's 12:03 AM. Black Belt Testing Day is here!!!!!

We don't have any classes (90% of the mats are in the school van lol), so I'm going to sleep til I wake up, go eat a delicious breakfast at ihop, then go promote myself...and the others...in our computer system, print out certificates, and go set up for the test!

Let's hope I don't have to "remove" anyone from the promotion list haha. I'm feeling confident. Had a private lesson today and got to run through everything a few times. I had one brain fart when I accidentally looked at my Master instead of the poster (I get really nervous if I look at whoever is judging me, so I usually pick a spot above them), but I just literally told myself "focus" and was fine.

There's nothing left to practice. It's time to show off the past nearly 3 years of hard work.

See you guys when I'm a Black Belt. In 15 hours, it'll all be done. Korean BBQ first, then I'll come home and post lol.

Have fun with it - you earned this!

 

[JR 137]

Go get ‘em Serietah!

 

[dvcochran]

It's 12:03 AM. Black Belt Testing Day is here!!!!!

We don't have any classes (90% of the mats are in the school van lol), so I'm going to sleep til I wake up, go eat a delicious breakfast at ihop, then go promote myself...and the others...in our computer system, print out certificates, and go set up for the test!

Let's hope I don't have to "remove" anyone from the promotion list haha. I'm feeling confident. Had a private lesson today and got to run through everything a few times. I had one brain fart when I accidentally looked at my Master instead of the poster (I get really nervous if I look at whoever is judging me, so I usually pick a spot above them), but I just literally told myself "focus" and was fine.

There's nothing left to practice. It's time to show off the past nearly 3 years of hard work.

See you guys when I'm a Black Belt. In 15 hours, it'll all be done. Korean BBQ first, then I'll come home and post lol.

Fantastic! Make it a day you will remember.

 

[serietah]

I did it.

I am a Black Belt!!!!!