Due to end-of-the-year stuff at work and another busy weekend at home, my training has slowed. In a way it’s probably good because I notice that when I come back after short breaks everything seems better.
Case in point: I normally have a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at-home workout. However, this weekend due to many commitments including my instructor’s wedding, I just could not fit my workouts in. I did find the time to stretch but even my attempt to get back into meditation has taken a nose dive these last few weeks.
Today I did find the time for a taekwondo warm-up, and a review of all fundamentals, poomse, one-steps, and self-defense. The latter two really take two people to practice fully. However, I’ve found that if you treat them like mini kata or poomse it REALLY pays off when you do have a partner. (Hint to those of you out there who want a way to prepare for your own tests!)
Anyhow, the above was a light to moderate workout and it covered most of that which I will soon be tested on. My brief hiatus gave me a fresh perspective so I nailed just about everything and missed no steps in the 11 poomse we have to know. Weight training for the martial arts and calisthenics took a dive but that’s OK. Maybe next weekend…
The only thing I’m disappointed about is I did not have time to practice my weapon’s katas or spend any time on the mook jong. This is two weekends running now. I am really starting to see how it can be very hard to even master one martial art if you work full time. Before the road to 1st dan I was sort of an eclectic mix of practical training that I learned from the DOC and formal training in other arts. While I had four years of use of force situations from the DOC, the formal training was always on again and off again.
I’ve tried to practice core parts of those other arts by integrating them into my at-home training. That was easy when I was a 10th gup but at 1st gup and really close to 1st dan it’s very hard now, given my time (or lack thereof).
The next five months are almost all taekwondo-related and are looking like this:
- School black belt test (Dec.)
- Korean short stick seminar (end of Dec.)
- Board of Masters’ test (Jan. – Mar.)
- Possibly my last tko tourney (Mar.)
- The usual helping to teach class
Anyhow, the Christmas break will give me some down time and hopefully start the creative juices flowing again. I also hope to find time to inquire about the costs of this school and also visit the other Kung Fu school in the area that teaches Chin Na. So far I’ve only found two Kung Fu schools in the greater Indianapolis area that offer Chin Na. However, that Ryu-te Kempo sounds very interesting too.
Advanced students of Ryū-te achieve multiple blocks and strikes in a single flowing motion, rather than thinking of blocks, strikes, and locks as separate techniques end-to-end.
The question is how much?
~BCP
[tags]martial arts, taekwondo[/tags]
