Final countdown

We are on the final countdown to black belt testing. Even though I know I am prepared (as prepared as anyone CAN be for this) it is still a nervewracking thing to face.

This Saturday, the 9th, is Phase 1. We will be tested for 5 hours--which is as much a test of our endurance as anything. We will have an hour and a half of solid kicking. This is killer. A sparring match typically lasts 3-6 minutes, and by the end of that match, I promise that you'll be tired, if not exhausted. And we'll be kicking for an hour and half. There will be solitary kicks as well as combinations that have to be performed with fluidity as well as speed, accuracy and power.

We'll also be doing all the forms we know--these are set patterns of techniques, including blocks, strikes, kicks, etc. We have to remember the patterns precisely, and perform them with accuracy, sharpness, and power. The kids testing for their 1st degrees have 10 forms. I have 15. This is actually the portion I have the most confidence in.

The biggest clincher of the day are our self defense demos. These are 15 minute demonstrations of all the self defense we have learned during our journey to black belt. I am in a team of three, and we have been working for several months on this demo. It takes a LOT of energy to perform. We do blocks and strikes, joint manipulation, throws--Judo, Hapkido, Ju-Jitso--and since I'm testing for my second degree, I also have to show two-on-one defenses and knife and gun disarments. The demo is a lot of fun, but it is a TON of work.


In two weeks on the 23rd, we have Phase II. This portion is shorter, only 2 hours, and open to visitors to come watch. We will perform the best of our performances--kicking, forms, self defense--from Phase 1. I will add my staff fighting form (whacking people with a stick!). We will also add BREAKING. This is when I will break BRICKS with my HAND.

And at the end of it all? IF we survive and perform to par, we will be awarded our new degrees at the banquet that evening. That, my friends...that will be triumph. Just gotta get there!