Guest appearance by two cats, not just one. I approve!
So you've been training for just two months now? Looking good for that length of time, especially your side kicks. It's cool that you're practicing with your Mom.
One small step closer...
- Thread starter serietah
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So you've been training for just two months now? Looking good for that length of time, especially your side kicks. It's cool that you're practicing with your Mom.
- Thread Starter
- #62
Thank you! Yes we started on February 18, the day after the school opened. Today's test went well! We all passed, and I didn't fall on my face at any point haha. I was officially promoted to staff instructor immediately after receiving my yellow belt. That was so cool! Master Kim told me when I got there that he'd be doing that and I would need to make a short speech. Oh great, as if I wasn't nervous enough haha. But I found that standing there in front of all the other students and their families that I was quite comfortable and had no problems. I've got video of the entire test, but my mom is working on getting it imported and then we'll have to trim it and I'll get it posted for you guys. Thank you again to everyone for the support all along this first step of my journey. It's incredibly helpful to have so much support.
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- Thread Starter
- #64
Well here it is! This video includes my aunt (Lorie, the red head on the left in the video) and another adult student's test, then my mom and I with another adult student as well as a couple still photos. My mom JUST finished the editing and uploading so I honestly haven't even watched it yet, haha. Mom and I go second, so feel free to fast foward the first 10 minutes or so to get to my test. I was SO nervous so my kicks are not anywhere near as good as I'd like but at least I didn't panic as much as my poor mom. She was having a full blown panic attack and was very close to running off the mat. Poor Mommy!
Really awesome video! I wish I had a video of my yellow belt test, to look back and see how much I have improved. At what rank do y'all start sparring?
Fine work by all students. Congratulations.
- Thread Starter
- #67
Thanks guys! We have done a bit of non contact sparring in a few classes and have done "target sparring" a couple times, but we will be doing it more now at yellow belt. Full contact sparring is optional and sparring classes won't be open until we have green belts. At this point, being fat and out of shape, I'm not really interested in full sparring. I do want to practice though so some day when I'm not a fatty I can give it a go.
There are 8 Taegeuk forms. When you've learned them all, a KKW school issues a Dan (or Poom) rank. There are, however, 10 geup ranks. Note the disparity...
So KKW schools have various things that are taught prior to Taegeuk Il Jang. Some schools use things like "4 direction punch" and "4 direction block" exercises. That particular form is Kicho (or Kibon) 1. Our students learn that form to earn their white belt and dobak. Doing it that way means new students have a month or two to train without spending money on a uniform.
So KKW schools have various things that are taught prior to Taegeuk Il Jang. Some schools use things like "4 direction punch" and "4 direction block" exercises. That particular form is Kicho (or Kibon) 1. Our students learn that form to earn their white belt and dobak. Doing it that way means new students have a month or two to train without spending money on a uniform.
Flatfish
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Gotcha, we have three ten step forms that we learn before Taegeuk 1. I had not seen Kibon 1 before. Thank you Sir
Just FYI...
We use Kibon Hana at our school as well. From what I've read, it's essentially the same form as Kicho Hyeong Il Bu that's used at many Tang Soo Do schools, originaly developed by Hwang Kee in 1947. You can read more about it here:
Kibon Hana
It has some interesting properties:
We use Kibon Hana at our school as well. From what I've read, it's essentially the same form as Kicho Hyeong Il Bu that's used at many Tang Soo Do schools, originaly developed by Hwang Kee in 1947. You can read more about it here:
Kibon Hana
It has some interesting properties:
- If you do the full 20-step version (where the first line repeats) then you're following the same floor-pattern as the Palgwae poomsae. In other words, there are three parallel lines in the floor pattern, but the first and last line are performed on the same line. So in terms of being a basic form, it has the nice property that it prepares students for the "there will be three parallel lines" routine that they'll see from now on, whether they're learning Palgwae or Taegeuk poomsae. Personally, for that reason, I think it's a nicer basic form than (say) the Four Direction Punch for people who will be learning Kukkiwon forms.
- Interestingly, even though the arm movements are all very basic (middle punches and low blocks), the footwork at the top of the stem is a little tricky: you have to do a 270-degree leftward turn from long-front-stance into long-front-stance. That turn is really hard! In that sense, Kibon Hana is actually a bit trickier than Taegeuk Il Jang, where the turns are all much easier. Taegeuk Il Jang felt like a breath of fresh air when I learned it, with its simpler stances and turns.
- At our school, we teach this form to beginners, but then later with more advanced students we also revisit this form very frequently! When we teach this form to beginners, we focus on just having good stance, good turns, good chambering, and good snap. But when we revisit this form later, we use this form to drill hip-power and using the torso-twisting in the turns to add power. In other words, the movements are so basic, that it makes a good platform for working on the "advanced" subtleties of making power. So even though it's a basic form, our most advanced students still drill this form very often!
That form is also used in Cerio Kenpo and Shaolin Kempo (Villari-style) under the name 1 Pinan. I believe it's not taught until Orange belt (the third belt/7th geup equivalent I believe) in both styles.
- Thread Starter
- #74
Saturday we are doing our first school event, a special Mother's Day class with women's self defense and some taekwondo. As I'm being trained to be an instructor I get to do a demonstration during the class. We practiced today and it was super fun. I get to break a board with an elbow strike and then another with a sidekick. I'm so excited but also nervous to be performing basically for an audience.
Also a random note...I'm loving taegeuk 1. We've learned all the steps and just started putting the blocks and punches in. We're only to step 7 so far but I really enjoy it.
Taekwondo is just so awesome.
Also a random note...I'm loving taegeuk 1. We've learned all the steps and just started putting the blocks and punches in. We're only to step 7 so far but I really enjoy it.
Taekwondo is just so awesome.
- Thread Starter
- #75
This week I got my first (of three this time) tip on my yellow belt for doing Taegeuk Il Jang correctly. I had no idea I was being tested until I was done and he called me to the front to get my tip. It was pretty cool. My aunt got hers later in the same class, then my mom and the other adult student got theirs the next day. Last night we started learning the yellow belt one step sparring. Next belt testing is in about 6 weeks...yikes!
The thing I'm finding hardest at yellow belt is sparring. We do non contact sparring during class (actual sparring classes will start when we have green belts, though I'm not sure I'll take them. I suck at sparring...) so it's not too bad, but I just don't have the endurance for even a short round. I'll get there, but it's frustrating for now. In my head I know what I need to do, but my body is like "ack, stop I'm too fat for this" lol.
For the past few weeks I've been assisting at all of the kids classes, which has been fun. I'm not used to working with kids so it's a bit of a learning curve trying to get 5 and 6 year olds to focus and pay attention to what I'm saying. The 8 year olds are much easier for me, but I really enjoy working with all of them. I hold kicking targets, work with them on their basics, and help them with their form, whatever Master Kim needs me to do so he can focus on some other kids. It works well and I know he's always got an eye on me too. We also trade places about halfway through so he can check on what I was doing and I can keep working with the kids he was teaching.
About to head out to class now, hopefully some kids bring their friends so we can have a successful Bring a Friend week
The thing I'm finding hardest at yellow belt is sparring. We do non contact sparring during class (actual sparring classes will start when we have green belts, though I'm not sure I'll take them. I suck at sparring...) so it's not too bad, but I just don't have the endurance for even a short round. I'll get there, but it's frustrating for now. In my head I know what I need to do, but my body is like "ack, stop I'm too fat for this" lol.
For the past few weeks I've been assisting at all of the kids classes, which has been fun. I'm not used to working with kids so it's a bit of a learning curve trying to get 5 and 6 year olds to focus and pay attention to what I'm saying. The 8 year olds are much easier for me, but I really enjoy working with all of them. I hold kicking targets, work with them on their basics, and help them with their form, whatever Master Kim needs me to do so he can focus on some other kids. It works well and I know he's always got an eye on me too. We also trade places about halfway through so he can check on what I was doing and I can keep working with the kids he was teaching.
About to head out to class now, hopefully some kids bring their friends so we can have a successful Bring a Friend week
How long roughly timewise is there between yellow and green? If it's a long time, you'll have time to practice sparring. If not, then you should try the things you suck at! The more you do it, the less you'll suck
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If you suck at sparring, that is an excellent reason to spar more...
- Thread Starter
- #79
Indeed, we do practice sparring during most classes. I also get some extra practice when we have an odd number of kids in the classes I help with. It's not the same with a 5 year old, lol, but still lets me practice combinations of kicks.
Tonight we learned the next one step sparring sequence which is harder than any of the others but I quite like it. We were also shown how to use it in a real situation vs how we do it in class to demonstrate technique. That was neat.
Do y'all have yellow stripe as a belt? or does it go from solid white to yellow?
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