My Second Spotlight is Tonight

[Lynne]

Does the nervousness ever go away? Is it possible to take a test and not be nervous?

I just finished practicing for about an hour, working on combinations, stances, forms, one-step sparring and wrist grips.

I'm still sore from last night (Wednesday) and Tuesday night. We did around 200 pushups each night plus squat thrusts with pushups. Actually, at the end of class last night, the lactic acid moved most of the soreness out of my pecs. Now, the soreness is back. I'm just rambling....nerves I guess.

My daughter spotlights tonight, too.

All my orange belt classmates were all atwitter and worried. Some of them have only practiced the wrist grips once in class. I told them they would probably be tested on them tonight.

I hope I pass, I hope I pass....

 

[terryl965]

Best of luck to both of you and no the nerve stay forever. Just remember you ahve been training and know what you are doing.

 

[Lynne]

Best of luck to both of you and no the nerve stay forever. Just remember you ahve been training and know what you are doing.

Thank you, Master Terry. I needed to hear that. I know what I'm doing, I know what I'm doing...

 

[terryl965]

Thank you, Master Terry. I needed to hear that. I know what I'm doing, I know what I'm doing...

Yes you do. I have been doing this for forty five year and I still get nervious when I test, so I can feel for you.

 

[JT_the_Ninja]

Best of luck! And yeah, you're always nervous, because you always know there's something on which you could improve.

Tang Soo!

 

[Lynne]

My daughter and I both passed. I'm glad to say the entire testing group passed, all fifteen of us.

Master R gave me a compliment on my back stance I was on cloud nine after he said, "Good back stance!" I've been working on it.

I really did know my material, I'm glad to say. I'm always surprised how well I perform during testing. I think it's because I worry so much about everything that I practice, practice, practice.

We tested in the upstairs Dojang which is hardwood floor. I found I kept my balance better on the hardwood floor. The hardwood floor is murder on the knuckles during pushups and on the heels doing splits though. We did 150 pushups, 40 squat thrusts, and 100 leg raises (just 100 crunches - bah). We did lots of horse stances with punches, too. It was definitely a workout. I was sore from doing 200 pushups last night and the night before as well as doing squat thrusts both nights. But I wanted to come to class to make sure I was ready for tonight. I felt the burn during back stances and during side punches but it didn't affect my performance.

 

[Empty Hands]

Congrats, and great job! The nice thing about testing nervousness is that you don't have the time or energy to be nervous after about 15 minutes in.

 

[Lynne]

Congrats, and great job! The nice thing about testing nervousness is that you don't have the time or energy to be nervous after about 15 minutes in.

You are 100% right. The jitters just seem to evaporate after a bit. This time, we didn't warm up first. We started off with combinations. I started to get warmed up from doing the combinations, though, and the nervousess went out the window. The pushups and all didn't come until later but having warm muscles seems to help, too (I think?).

 

[newGuy12]

Congrats, and great job! The nice thing about testing nervousness is that you don't have the time or energy to be nervous after about 15 minutes in.

:ultracool

 

[Lynne]

Oh, my daughter and I test the Saturday after Thanksgiving for our next gup level. Me - 7th gup; daughter - 5th gup. I have to learn the back kick and perhaps some new combinations and that's it. Of course, I will be improving on what I already know.

I guess someone was confident that we were going to pass tonight. My husband said the test schedule was up and our names were listed for testing in November before we even spotlighted tonight. That's a good thing! Starting at orange belt level, there are fewer names listed for spotlights, midterms, and tests. Part of that could be because a lot of people drop out at orange belt level though?

 

[Empty Hands]

Oh, so this is more like a pre-test? We have something similar, but less intense, and only two days before the real test.

 

[Lynne]

Oh, so this is more like a pre-test? We have something similar, but less intense, and only two days before the real test.

More like a quiz, but with some guidance - Master R will give us pointers and corrections. People do fail their spotlights though, especially if they haven't been in class. Sometimes we are tested on material we have not been exposed to. It happened tonight to one of the students. And they were difficult combinations, too, but Master R and one of the Dans worked with her.

At orange belt level, we have to have two passing spotlights before we test for the next gup level. Spotlights cover current class material although we do some lower belt material. At testing time, we do all lower belt material plus current material.

The spotlights are a way for Master R to personally assess our progress. We have a very large school. I don't know the exact enrollment but I do know that 285 of us competed in the New York Central Classic! I had no idea our school was that large. So, I think the spotlights are definitely a good idea and glad we do them.