Earned my Blue Stripes.
- Thread starter TKDinAK
- Start date
ralphmcpherson
Senior Master
Congratulations. Well done.
dancingalone
Grandmaster
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Congrats. What do you think you did particularly well on the test?
Congrats from a fellow late-starter!
sfs982000
Master Black Belt
Congrats, keep up the great work!
Congratulations!
Congrats, your post took me back!
Steve
Mostly Harmless
Congrats! For someone outside the style, about where does a green belt with blue stripes fall? How long have you been training?
- Thread Starter
- #9
Thank you.
I think my break was really strong. It was a jump front snap kick on one 12x12 board. Students can set their own height, and I've noticed that most will set it at something that is very doable... especially those students near my age. That's not my approach... I want to make the break, but I also want to push myself and show my instructor that I can perform at my personal highest level. I set mine above my head and had a very clean crisp break, right on the ball of my foot. Could have broken two boards pretty easy.
After the test, I was approached by one of the BB's who had sat-in and assisted with the test... he told me that my highest pattern, Won Hyo, was overall better than the the three red belts who were testing at the same time. Another BB told me he could hear the snap in my dobak when performing my patterns. He also said that I looked relaxed in between movements, which I strive for.
I had one brain fart in one movement in Do San... and one during my two step sparring. Oh... and I got ROCKED with a turning kick to the head during sparring. Hardest I have ever been hit in my life. The guy was a yellow belt, probably twenty years my junior, and kind of gungho... was going a little harder that he should have, but I leaned right into the kick and didn't have my guard up... so my fault, and a well timed and executed kick by him. Great leaning lesson for me. Plus... I got mine in...
Overall... I thought I had a good test. I knew the material and performed and executed it all at a high level for my experience and abilities. The mess-ups stick out more than what I did well... and I went home that night and worked on those things I saw as a weakness.
Congratulations. Colors vary somewhat from one school to another, and especially from one style to another, so it's often helpful to tell us what geup that is. For example, in our school, a green belt with a blue stripe is 6th geup.
Sounds like you did an excellent job. You should be proud.
Sounds like you did an excellent job. You should be proud.
dancingalone
Grandmaster
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That's great. I sound like a dull math teacher, but I like to tell my students it's important to come out of a test knowing EXACTLY what they should shore up for future improvement, Knowing what you did well is one aspect of that and it sounds like you got it covered.
chrispillertkd
Senior Master
Impressive! Was it an actual flying front snap kick, or did you do a flying high kick (where the foot travels upwards so your leg is veryical at the apex of the kick hitting a board horizontal to the ground)? I've seen people refer to high kicks as front snap kicks before so I was just curious.
This is a key concept as far as power generation in Taekwon-Do is concerned. Getting the idea in mind is one thing, getting it into practice is another. Sounds like you're doing great.
Have fun working on Yul-Gok, and congratulations again.
Pax,
Chris
- Thread Starter
- #13
Thanks, Steve.
I have been training for just over a year... but I missed a month of classes because of vacation. I normally go to class 3-4 times a week. But of course also practice at home.
Blue stripe is right about mid point concerning patterns. In the ITF, there are ten GUP "learning" sections and nine GUP patterns leading up to earning a First Dan. I am now learning Yul Gok, which is the pattern for fifth GUP. The pattern I am learning now falls right in the middle of the GUP patterns.
Halfway there!! Uhhh... not so fast...
Because of the way our school has it set up, the time in rank increases as you rise in rank... which means I have at least two more years until I am eligible to test for First Dan. So in reality, while I am halfway through my patterns, I still have the lions share of my training ahead of me.
I didn't start training in TKD to get a BB. Quite frankly, I had no idea how long it would take to obtain that level of experience and ability... as far as I knew, it was 10-20 years down the road. Of course earning a BB is a goal for me, but it's not why I am still training. I simply love it.
- Thread Starter
- #14
Thanks, Chris!
Not sure about the "flying" term... so here's how our right leg jump front snap kick is executed.
I step back with my left leg in a fighting stance... right leg forward. I bring my left knee up hard to help get some lift, and spring with my right leg. My right leg snaps up vertically, with toes pulled back(!!) and the ball of the right foot breaks the board. Executed correctly, the foot should make contact while the other foot is still off the floor.
It sounds like it's more like the latter of your two descriptions... the break is vertical as opposed to forward... and the board is held horizontal.
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Steve
Mostly Harmless
Sounds great. I'm also both a late starter and right in the middle. As a purple belt in BJJ, I'm smack in the middle between white and black belt.
But that's a good place to be. Settle in and enjoy. Sounds like you're doing great.
