I have to admit I am loving Taekwondo way more than I thought I was going to. I figured I would enjoy it enough….but I actually love it! It’s giving me something to look forward to during the week and an overall goal (black belt) to work towards. I have a LONG ways to go before I reach that goal, but I am up for the challenge.

This week in our classes we are focusing on proper technique in our forms. We went through the first combo of the form paying special attention to our stances and the movements of our legs and arms/hands for each move. I am going to have to work hard on my stances making sure my feet are pointed the correct way and my legs are in the proper position for each stance. I think this is going to require building muscle memory in my legs so I don’t have to concentrate so much in the future. I also need to work on making sure I have the rotation down in my arms and hands for the strikes and blocks. I think overall as a white belt I am doing okay with the form. I memorized the first half of the form, working on the second half. Now to apply the proper technique to clean it up.

Tuesday’s class was a very good class, I learned a lot. After the core basic class was over we stayed for the black belt club class, where we learned the moves with the Bahng Mahng Ee. I must say working with the weapons is fun. Pairing up with Dave to practice the moves was a lot of fun too! How many people are sanctioned by their Taekwondo instructors to beat their spouse with a stick! Fun times!

It basically looks like a nerf bat. Sadly I do not have my own Bahng Mahng Ee at this time, Since I just now joined Taekwondo I was not able to get the weapons for this belt cycle. However, at the end of this month I will be able to order my weapons for next belt cycle. Very exciting stuff.

I am officially signed up in the Leadership program at Taekwondo. I have my uniform and white belt. I made it through my first classes last night. I really enjoyed the classes, though I did miss last week learning the first few steps of the green belt form I think after some practice tonight I’ll have it down and ready for class again on Thursday.

I felt really good during class, a little winded (apparently I am completely out of shape) but I pushed through all that. My muscles are really sore today. I was very proud of myself that I made it through all the exercises without having to stop. They said 20 push ups I did all 20. They said 20 sit ups, I did all 20! Keep in mind that I am out of shape so 20 felt like a million!

This cycle we are doing the green belt form, Songahm 5. It has 34 moves to perform. I learned part of the form last night and now have some items to work on to improve. Lucky for me, Dave was given the DVD for the green belt form when he was awarded his green belt last cycle. So I can watch that at home and also I have Dave to help me with hand positions and kicks.

I’m very excited about class on Thursday. I think for the first few weeks I’ll be doing Leadership and Adult Core/Basic classes on Tuesday and Thursdays and maybe the Family Basic class on Fridays. There are some other classes I can attend. Since I signed up for Leadership I can technically attend any of the classes I want (with the exception of the Tiny Tigers and Karate 4 Kids classes). At any rate, sore or not I am excited and can’t wait to practice a little tonight at home and then have class on Thursday! I’ll try to get a picture of me in my uniform after I get it washed and starch-free!

I figured this would happen eventually….I decided to sign up for Taekwondo. What I didn’t figure was how soon I would be signing up. I had originally talked about beginning classes after we got moved into our new house. Watching the belt tests, and going to the tournament last weekend really made me want to join. I’ve been talking about it for about a week now. Dave did some number crunching and it turns out that I could start immediately if I wanted. It was funny when Dave tried to get me to go sign up and begin classes yesterday evening. I’m not a real impulsive person, I’m more of a planner who likes to ease into things. So I decided that tomorrow I will go with Dave to his class to watch and talk with the staff at the school to schedule my first class for next Monday. That’s about as impulsive as I get. I have to be able to plan and prepare for events.  Might seem a little weird to free spirits (like Dave) but it’s worked well for me in the past.

So if all goes well, I will be officially signed up for the Leadership program with the school and I will have my first class next week. I’m both excited and nervous. I hope I can make it through the classes okay. It’s more the workout at the end of the class I am concerned about. It wears me out just watching the class from the sidelines. Now I’m going to have to join in the workouts and survive. It this doesn’t get me in shape….nothing will!