After I closed out of my last post the other evening I received an email from my instructor. It looks like the next two black belt tests (Cho Dan and up) are going to be in May and Sept. So, this delays my testing a few months. This also means that if I pass it will have taken just a few months shy of three years to achieve Cho Dan.
At the end of the day, a few more months give me all that more time to be as good as I can possibly be so I’m OK with this. In fact, I just read my Black Belt MagazineE-newsletter and they had a story about Ed O’Neil. He just received his black belt in Gracie Jujitsu and he did it at age 61. How long did it take him? 14 years! Congratulations Ed O’Neil!
Due to lost mail we did not receive notification of the Cho Dan Board of Masters’ Test. Naturally, my instructor found this out last night from Master C.
So I call her back and she asks me if I can be ready by Saturday. Sadly, I had prior engagements and even if I did I cannot be ready on that short of a notice! (can you say panic attack?!) In fact, while we’ve maintained fundamentals, we’ve hardly practiced that which I’ll be tested on since I passed the school black belt test back in December.
The good news? Master C. is going to work something out for us. So sometime in February I’ll test. Better still, I’ll have some time to get things back up to speed again.
So, starting tonight all training is centered on review, review, review! When I got home from work I knocked out what I lovingly call 100’s. I got the idea from Mokuren Dojo a few weeks back. Though I’ve modified it from what Pat does, here’s what I try to do once per week:
100 push-ups
100 leg raises
100 lat pull downs
100 squats/calf raises (light weights)
I use this routine to replace one of three at-home workouts. It sucks at first but once you get started and keep rolling it’s over in about 20 minutes. It also gets your cardio up if you do it fast with no rest. When I started this I could not do more than 30 push-ups at a time. Now I can do 50 before having to move on to the next exercise.
After the 100’s I reviewed all forms from Il Jang to Koryo. I have a little game I play when I practice forms at home. I cannot move onto the next form until I do the one I’m on almost perfect. Namely, it’d have to pass a promotion test or look good at a tournament. It’s harder than it looks and sometimes I’ll forget a step and get stuck on one for five or six tries. Tonight went good until I got to Koryo. I ended up with a brain lock on the first leg grab/strike to the knee.
Forms where (and are) my weakest link–mostly owing to performance anxiety. Doing this little drill really paid off. At the school black belt test I did all my forms arguably the best I’ve ever been able to do in a test setting. So, it’s worth a try if you have the same problem.
Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. (No cheating!)
Find Page 123.
Find the first 5 sentences.
Post the next 3 sentences.
Tag 5 people.
The nearest book happens to be in a pile of papers on my desk. It is Jack Hibbard’s Karate Breaking Techniques. P. 123 is a photo so I had to use p. 124.
This allows for a strike to the sternum or ribs. A movement’s direction affects which muscles react. It is very important that every conceivable direction and angle be utilized, in all techniques, to develop the entire body.
