Adam’s Cerebral Spillage

Over the last month or so I’ve started taking some classes for one of our instructors over in Falmouth. It’s new to me, this teaching lark, but it’s slowly getting better.

I think it’s fair to say my first couple of lessons in charge weren’t as good as they could’ve been, and I’ve already started to see the things in my teaching I need to correct and make better. I talk WAY too much when I’m stood in front of the class, and I’m not nearly as concise as I could be when I’m trying to get an idea across, but I think that’ll come with practice. I went to the first couple of sessions with a very definite plan of what i wanted to do, and when, but I’ve found so far (and remember we’re only talking about 4 or 5 lessons so far) that I do much better when I go with only a couple of ideas in mind, and to see how the class evolves.

The last couple of lessons I’ve used that principle and, last night especially, it felt a lot better. It’s been a long time since I went to lessons that last an hour and a half, and filling that time as someone with very little teaching experience can feel daunting. You don’t want to bore people, nor do you want to get to an hour through and realise you’ve got nothing left. It’s fair to say that I was glad I was working on forms a couple of times as they can take up a lot of time, but last night I went in with the idea in mind to avoid forms altogether.

After my previous blog post I had punching on the brain, so I built the lesson around that. From making hand basics look better, breaking down a punch into its component parts to focus mitt drills and some one-step work. Working on a particular ‘thing’ (God, you’d think I could come up with a better word than that after years of writing here…) seems to be a nice way to build a lesson, and it gives me a lot of flexibility once I see which pieces need work.

I always thought I was going to enjoy teaching, as I love doing small parts of classes or helping people one-to-one and I like teaching people in non-martial arts related things, and as the lessons are ticking by I’m starting to realise I was right. It’s daunting to be responsible for peoples’ progression in something I feel so strongly about, especially as I’m not as young or as fit as others (I’m staunchly of the mindset of ‘don’t teach what you can’t do’), but when I make a suggestion to improve someone’s technique and I see it work and see how it ‘clicks’ with them, it’s enormously satisfying. It’s also really good to find that I’m not forgetting some of the most simple things when I’m trying to demonstrate something. Well, not as often anyway .

(In hindsight, perhaps I shouldn’t have picked those particular lyrics as a post title…)

Technorati Tags tang soo do, teaching

For whatever reason I’ve found myself thinking about punching a lot lately. Ok, maybe it’s not too much of a leap for me to think about it, I practise martial arts for goodness sake, but even for me it’s been on my mind a lot. Mostly I’ve been thinking about the differences in the way different arts punch, and how the power is generated.

When you think about it quickly, a punch is a punch, but when you break it down there are so many different ways of doing it, and all with the express purpose of putting the opponent down as fast as possible. Can it really be that difficult to figure out the best way to do it? Apparently so.

Let’s start with what I know; Tang Soo Do. It’s actually pretty complicated to analyse a karate-style punch, because when we perform our basics or forms we tend to finish the punch at the same time we end in a stance (which is often a chun-gul jaseh – front stance). Obviously in practise this wouldn’t be the case, the punch would have to come out earlier, but the way we throw a punch is as important as when. Shin Chook (tension and relaxation) is a fundamental part of Tang Soo Do – it’s one of our eight key concepts – and as well as governing a lot of the ways we should move, it also dictates the way we should attack. The principle is that the arm and body should be totally relaxed through >95% of the attack, with only a small moment of tension at the point of impact. The idea behind it is sound, the relaxed muscles increase the speed available, the power’s delivered by the hip, and at the end of a day a good punch is one that delivers the weight at the fastest speed possible.

So why then, do boxers not punch in the same way? Watch a good middleweight or heavyweight boxer; the shoulders are often high, muscles tense – the polar opposite to a karate punch. When I think about it the punching is completely different, instead of relying on bodyweight being behind a punch, it uses the core muscles and a firm foot plant to generate torque. Obviously there’s more to it than that, and it’s not to say that TSD never punches that way – anyone who’s done some decent focus mitt drills can testify to that – but the point is that they’re a very different style of striking.

Jeet Kune Do has again, a different style of punching. Being called ‘way of the intercepting fist’ should give you some clues that it’s going to be done differently, but how exactly? JKD works on the principle of having the strongest hand forward and attacking with it, whereas most other arts will work with the strongest hand backward. The way I’ve heard throwing a JKD lead punch (the cornerstone of JKD as I understand it) is to imagine throwing a whip or a chain with a ball on the end. How many karate practitioners have ever intentionally thrown a power punch that way? Does it work? Undoubtedly.

All of this is before we even consider other things like the alignment of the fist. The vertical vs horizontal debate has raged on for probably as long as the martial arts have. I’m not going to get into that here, I can see why the proponents of each type prefers it, but that’s for another day. Now that I think about it, the reason this has been on my mind is probably because of the UFC event on the weekend when James Toney fought Randy Couture. I remember thinking ‘If that boxer gets in range to strike, he could end it quickly’, but why would I assume a boxer can hit that much harder than a MMA practitioner? Is there truth behind it or is it just a preconception based on well-planted people thumping one another? I’m still not sure .

Technorati Tags boxing, JKD, tang soo do

Is it just me or is it starting to feel distinctly Autumnal? Maybe that’s a bit of wishful thinking, as I write this it’s gorgeous outside and very hot, but that’s been the exception over the last few weeks rather than the rule. I know I probably sound like a bit of an idiot, wishing away summer, but I love autumn. Hell, have a search here for that word and see how much I do. It feels like the year’s speeding up now, and I think that’s the impending Bank Holiday making me feel like that, either way I’m looking forward to it.

Training’s still ongoing, and I’m still really enjoying it. I’ve finally nailed Jinto into my subconscious, and it’s really nice being able to concentrate on the performance of the moves rather than which one comes next. It’s a really tricky form to get right, there are very few ’standard’ moves in it, save for a few punches, and so execution is going to take me a while to get right. The cats are already getting fed up with me stomping around the kitchen practicing – getting excited as I get near the food cupboard, and then shouting at me as I go back the other way again. The most difficult part so far is nailing the balance during the crane stance parts of the form.

I don’t normally have too much of a problem with crane stances in other forms, I feel relatively solid during Chil Sung Sam Roh, Sip Soo and Rohai, and to be fair even in Jinto. The problems come with the transitions from the crane stance to the snap and precursor for the front kicks. The snap entails a 90° rotation of the upper body and a repositioning of the arms, but in order to do that it means a lot of torque which needs to stop abruptly and in a very solid position, all while balancing on one leg. In itself it shouldn’t be as hard as it is, but because it’s a very unnatural movement it’s very difficult. I think the root of my problems lie with not applying the same amount of torque with the top half as the bottom, and because they’re moving in opposite directions it means if more force is applied in one direction than the other, I keep moving when I intended to stop. This throws my balance off and leaves me hopping around like someone who just had their foot run over.

Unfortunately there’s no short-cut to getting it right, I’ve learned now that there’s only one way to make it happen, and it’s just repetition, repetition, repetition. But repetition done correctly of course! It reminds me of something I read somewhere once, but I can’t remember where, or how it goes exactly but it’s along the lines of: “If you practise a form 1,000 times you’ll know the form. If you practise it 10,000 times you’ll be able to see your opponent. If you practise the form 100,000 times, other people will be able to see your opponent”.

Technorati Tags autumn, Jinto, practice, TSD

Training feels more like it used to at the moment, I’ve got loads of new stuff to learn, it really reminds me of being a lower gup grade and having to take loads of new stuff on. At the moment I’m trying to load my brain (and muscles) with a combination of Naihanchi Ee Dan, Jinto and Joong Jol (Yuk Roh Ee Dan).

I always love the challenge of trying to take a new form on board and to learn it from start to finish. Refining it and making it look good always take time and come later, but remembering the sequence is the first step, and with some forms it comes much easier than others. Naihanchi Ee Dan went in easily enough, because it’s a small number of moves which are just mirrored (note: whenever I say I know a form here, I mean I know the sequence of moves, being able to perform it well is a whole other story!), some of which are straight out of Naihanchi Cho Dan. Over the past week or so we’ve been learning Joong Jol and so far I love it. I think over time it’s going to be one of my favourites. I’ve just about got the sequence in my head now, but there’s still quite a bit open to adjustment as we find a happy medium between how the Moo Duk Kwan originally taught it, and what’s being taught now.

That leaves me with Jinto (Chin To, Jin Do, Gankaku in Karate), a form which – if I’m honest – I’ve never been a fan of. I’m not sure what it is about it, but the times previous that I tried it I didn’t enjoy it, and I never really enjoyed watching it either. In a way, this is what will mean that I spend a lot more time with this form than any of the others. When I like a form I’ll practise it a lot, obviously because I enjoy it, but some tend to get neglected in comparison. Chil Sung Il Ro is a great example, I’ve never really liked it in the past (although I am warming to it more now), so I would seldom put the extra time into it that I should have. Jinto however I’m determined to crack. It’s taken me a relatively long time to memorise the sequence but I think I’m there now, it’s a strange form in as much as there’s very little repetition or mirroring, not like the vast majority.

When I learn a new form, I like to find out as much as I can about it, but this is much easier to do with some forms than others. Take Chil Sung and Yuk Roh for example, being relatively young forms, and having very limited exposure to styles other than Soo Bahk Do, there’s very few places to go to find out about them. Jinto is an absolute goldmine however, being a very old tode/karate form with a lot of history, most of it anecdotal of course, which is always the most fun. Even the meaning of the name is disputed, but I know what I believe in terms of its origins. In Chinese (China being the form’s origin) and Okinawan, the closest translation is something like “fighting to the East”. This came as a surprise to me, as I’ve always thought of it as being ‘the crane form’, and the crane stances in it obviously point to an origin in Chinese White Crane style kung fu, but it seems we have our old friend Gichin Funakoshi to thank for a lot of that.

Funakoshi is rightfully thought of as the father of karate in Japan, as he was instrumental in bringing it to the country from Okinawa and founding Shotokan. One of the more famous changes he made was the change from Pyung Ahn/Pinan to Heian, and personally I think a lot of the changes around this time were due to the bitter rivalries between Japan and its neighbours. Anti-Chinese sentiment was rife during Karate’s formative years, hence the change of Kanji used to write ‘kara-te’ from ‘china hand’ to ‘empty hand’. Funakoshi changed the name of Jinto/Chinto to Gankaku, changing its meaning  from something like ‘fighting the East’ to ‘crane on a rock’. It’s an obvious choice to make, as it made it far more socially acceptable, and it was instantly recognisable as to why to anyone who saw the form.

The story about the stranded pirate/sailor who defeated Matsumura Sokon with the form is a nice one, but I can’t really see it being any more than that – a nice story. There are other changes of course, like the fact we now perform it on a very North-South path, whereas originally it was diagonally, but that’s what makes it so interesting. A form with some history, a lot of stories and a lot to read about and to make my mind up about. This is the learning part of Tang Soo Do that I absolutely lap up. Whether or not I ever nail those crane stances, that’s another story.

Technorati Tags Chinto, forms, Gankaku, hyung, Jinto, tang soo do

Who’d have thought I’d be pleased to be back at work? Well today, I am. That’s mostly because I’ve spent the majority of the time since Saturday lying down on either the sofa or bed, within dashing distance of the bathroom, thanks to a particularly horrible gastric thing. Today I managed to eat and keep down some breakfast, and despite feeling weak as a kitten got my backside dressed and into work. I had to come in on Monday morning to help set up a new starter, but that was a really bad idea which I soon regretted. It’s nice to be vertical again, and the thought that there’s only three days until a weeks leave is a good one.

My time reclined hasn’t been wasted though, oh no siree, I’ve been wisely investing it in some quality time with the Xbox as it’s not had much love from me recently and I thought it was long overdue some. I managed to pick up a very cheap copy of Assassins Creed 2 and got around to sitting down and playing it, and I’m really glad I did. I haven’t had this much fun with a game since the very excellent (side note: whenever I write ‘very excellent’ I hear Bill & Ted saying it, just like in the film when they introduce the very excellent barbarian, mister Genghis Khan!) Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Most of the game is set in 17th century Italy in areas like Florence, Venice and Tuscany, and it’s all beautifully rendered with a real sense of attention to detail. Ok, there’s some artistic license, but it’s all very believable. I love the sound of the tiles slipping underfoot as you run over the roofs. Without wanting to ruin the story (which is great), for the most part you play a character named Ezio, who inadvertently finds himself learning the assassin trade in order to avenge his family. Ezio’s a nimble chap, and apparently free-running was all the rage 350 years ago in Europe, so you find yourself clambering, climbing, swinging, running and jumping through the ancient architecture. The sense of freedom works really well and it never feels like the acrobatics are shoehorned into what’s actually a very linear platform game, a la Prince of Persia. The main story is a great draw, but what’s really been eating into my time is all of the side missions and distractions.

There are ‘viewpoints’ to discover and scale, and making it to one of them and hitting Y reveals more of the fogged map. Then you get the fun of swan-diving from ridiculous heights into bales of hay or carts of leaves – entirely unrealistic but spectacular. At the same time as working your way through the story there’s loads of other things happening, like finding ‘glyphs’ painted on certain buildings. Scanning one of the glyphs opens an abstract puzzle, and solving it unlocks a couple of seconds of video. I imagine once I get them all I get to re-sequence them and see what the ‘truth’ is. You also spend your time distracting guards to liberate ‘codex pages’ which again, reveal something once complete.

There’s a real high to be had when you know the city guards are all out to get you, and you’re using your blending skills to hide among the crowds of people, or desperately trying to find a hiding hole as they chase you over rooftops. The assassin tomb side-missions are also great and really test your platforming skill; it’s satisfying to find yourself in the top of a massive cathedral and look back down at the route you’ve taken to get there.

You can pick it up for less than fifteen quid brand new now, and less than a tenner second-hand, and for that money I’d really recommend it. It’s a bit slow for the first hour, but get past that and the game world opens up and sucks you in like a Dyson. If you’re looking for something to play and don’t want to spend forty pounds on something brand new, pick it up. I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Now all I have to do is get some food in me, get some strength back and get back to training. Watching sucks, doing rocks.

Technorati Tags 360, Assassins Creed 2, ill

...and it is there, only there that you shall find the master

It really doesn’t matter how long I’ve trained for, I permanently feel like I’m only just getting to grips with a lot of things.  Last week we worked one of my favourite combinations;  san dan tollyo chagi > san dan dwi huri chagi (high section roundhouse to high section spin hook kick), and doing that against a slap paddle is enormously satisfying when you feel the heel whip through. Right-sided was fine, I’m quite obtuse in as much as I prefer left footed spin hooks, which is unusual for a righty. Left side though was a nightmare, the roundhouse coming out 6 inches lower than they should with enormous tight pain across the front of my pelvis. Something’s not right here I thought, and over the course of the next few kicks I started trying to analyse what I was doing wrong.

I’ve always trained for myself, to make myself better. Being a big guy I was never in any illusion of being 6 feet in the air with a perfect box splits kick, or side kicking vertically, so right from the off I’ve never been too… competitive. I’m naturally a very competitive person, and it’s not a trait I’m always very proud of, but I temper it back significantly during training. I think it can be good in a way, but only when it’s either asked of us (endurance and speed exercises), or when you’re competing against yourself. Some people seem to try to compete at just about everything, and the times when I see it most I notice how detrimental it is to progression. It’s not even when you might expect it, like sparring for example (where it obviously does belong to an extent), but something as silly as stretching. I’ve seen people trying to be the furthest turning during spinal stretches, the longest in a splits stretch etc., but all of that negates the point of a good stretch.

I think the problem comes mostly with advancing rank when it does happen, which is ironic as we should be showing more kyum son (humilty) as we progress. It’s almost as if some feel the need to prove their rank, and more often than not it seems to lead to bad technique if nothing else. I’ve been guilty of it in the past I know, but I make a concerted effort to keep my head in the moment now.

The reason for my apparent tangent above is because the situation I found myself in on that Friday could well have led me to making my technique sloppy just to try and touch the target and avoid some pushups, and I hate it when hook kicks get sloppy, as they turn into ugly looking crescents. Instead I just made a concerted effort to look at what I was doing and see what I could do to fix it. In this case I was holding my hips back, under-rotating, and not leaning back on it far enough. I didn’t fix it, but I at least managed to get a few kicks out without hurting myself or looking like a praying mantis with an inner ear infection.

I still find it amazing that even now, over four-and-a-half years after I started learning, I still have to look at how I throw a roundhouse kick and make big changes. And it’s not just with roundhouses either, I could write a list of things which need improvement but I’d be here all day. If I could give anyone any advice to help them make the most of their training, it would be to swallow their pride and look at themselves, not the people around them. I’ve been training for such a short time relatively, so this will probably sound very up myself with an over-inflated sense of self-importance, and I feel a bit stupid writing it if I’m totally honest, but this is my place so there you go .

(and I managed to get a very tenuous link to The Last Dragon in there too!)

Technorati Tags Kyum Son, The Last Dragon, training

I got hit with a sudden urge to learn something and become creative again last week (it happens sometimes, it rarely lasts), and for whatever reason I’ve decided that I want to start some programming again. I’ve wanted to become a good programmer for a long time, despite the stereotyped images that go along with it – most of which I probably fit already – so I’m going to. My intermediate goal is to be able to create a simple, one-screen game of some kind.

The first task was deciding what to learn to program in. In the past I’ve had a quite a bit of experience with various forms of BASIC (QBasic, Amos, ZX Basic, Blitzbasic etc.), a bit of Pascal (I sitll use pascal of a kind as the built in language with the database I use at work), and I even did a few evening courses in C++. However, there’s a lot of choice nowadays, and it’s been surprisingly hard work whittling it down. I was wavering between the likes of C++, C, C#, Java, Ruby and a few others, but in the end I’ve gone for Python. After a lot of reading it seems to be a very powerful, very adaptable language, and it’s already proving to be very easy to get into. How long that Honeymoon period lasts is another matter of course. The IDLE interface and built in editor are quite good, but I’m loving Komodo at the moment for authoring stuff, I love the way it illustrates loops for me.

I’ve stumbled across the very excellent-looking Pygame libraries and modules, so I hope to be learning to use those once I’ve got to grips with the basics. Basic logic is fine, I can handle that with no problems, my hurdles are going to come in the form of maths and physics. I have no idea what kind of game I want to cut my teeth on, but a simple platformer seems my best bet at the moment. I’ve found some great collision detection tutorials and references, and I even spent an hour reading up on A* pathfinding (that’s an interesting read in its own right, even if you aren’t going to program a thing).

I expect I’ll pop the results of my work on here, the growing expectancy from you lot (yeah, right) will force me to keep my hand in and keep working on it. More as and when it comes, and only if I don’t deem it coma-inducingly dull.

(the post title is a reference to the first program you learn in just about any language, how to print “Hello World!”)

Technorati Tags hello world!, Programming, Python

It’s another catchup post, hooray!

Last weekend was the first Moo Do Summer Retreat for our club, which meant ~15 of us packed up and headed off onto Dartmoor for a few days to completely immerse ourselves in Tang Soo Do. We had a hostel to ourselves to cook and sleep, and a field about half a mile away for training, and we didn’t need any more. I couldn’t get the Friday off that I’d already booked (….not that I’m bitter), so my brother and I headed up on the Friday night. I was gutted to have missed the first day of training, but glad that I could be there for the other two.

A 4am wakeup call was harrowing after a couple of hours sleep, and that Saturday was a long one, but at the same time the various sessions went very quickly. Before I knew it 10 hours of training were over and it was back for a chilled out evening with a couple of barbecues. Sunday started with a more humane 7am alarm, but again was a very tiring day. I won’t go into all the details of what we did here, as the vast majority of people reading really won’t be interested, suffice to say I came back exhausted, blistered and very happy. The fact that people are already asking to be booked onto the 2011 camp is a sign that it went very well.

Because of being away all weekend, and then being so tired I could barely function for the next couple of days, I’ve not been out for a proper ride for a week now. I mean, I’ve ridden it training and to the shops, but that doesn’t really count. If the weather stays not-too-monsoony today I’ll try to get out for an hour tonight, but the impending apocalypse clouds out the window suggest otherwise. The cycling is really working my legs, and the weight is continuing to drop off which I’m very pleased about. It was one of the main reasons I bought a bike again, as I know how good the exercise is. Time will tell how far it’ll get me before I have to start putting some more serious miles in, although I hope being lighter by then will make it less arduous than it feels right now.

Things are going well all in all at the moment, a bit more summer sun would top it all off.

Technorati Tags bike, Moo Do, tang soo do, training

After a couple years of saving, spending what I’d saved on something else and doing the same again, I finally got my act together this year and made sure I had enough money to buy something I’ve meant to for a long time; a bike! Nothing with a motor, a proper bicycle with no horsepower, just one adampower. I went through the usual process that I go through whenever I buy anything that costs more than a hundred pounds, which means lots of reading, researching, umming and ahhing until I finally make a decision and go for it.

The biggest decision I had to make was what kind of bike I wanted to get; should I get a Mountain Bike (MTB), a straight out road bike or something else. Once I’d looked at what I actually wanted to do with it I went with the third option, which turned out to be a hybrid. Hybrids can be a real mixed bag (as the name probably suggests) and range from the not-very-different-to-a-mountain-bike-at-all to the almost-a-road-bike, and I went for the latter. What I wanted it for from the outset is a mixture of commuting and fitness, and definitely nothing off-road, so I knew suspension of any kind was unnecessary and would just be slowing me down and adding weight to it, so anything MTB-ish went out the window straight away. With the likelihood of going for bags or packs of some kind at some point any advantage gained speed-wise by going for a pure road bike would probably have been negated, and until I get my confidence back up in heavy traffic I’d prefer the upright seating position a flat bar would give me. So I narrowed it down to a few different choices, including a really nice Trek and the new Specialized Sirrus, but in the end it had to be this…

My shiny new best friend

It’s a Bianchi Cameleonte (Alu II) and I’m over the moon with it. I won’t bore you with the ins and outs of what’s on it, but in a nutshell it’s got disc brakes which are really only just coming through on Hybrids, and much thinner tyres than many, much closer to Road wheels. In fact Bianchi refer to them as Sports rather than Hybrids, and they’re much closer to a road bike than many. For now I’m sticking with the toe clips which came with the pedals already fitted for me, just until I can afford to get a half-decent set of clip-ins and a pair of cleated shoes, it’ll give me a chance to get a bit more fitness and leg strength.

The first time out on the road on the evening I took it home was pretty wobbly. Once I thought back I realised I hadn’t really ridden a bike (not counting a ride on the Camel Trail a few years back) for about 15 years, so it’s no great surprise that I wasn’t completely comfortable with being sat up very high on a much lighter frame than I’d ever been on, looking down on wheels that seemed far too thin to be carrying me. For the first half-mile every bump had me thinking ‘crap I’m going to crash’, and I wasn’t having much joy with getting my other foot into its toe clip (which I figured out much later was because I hadn’t secured the buckle in the side of the pedal). Three or four miles on a quick loop around the block was all I needed to confirm to me that I really needed to get some miles under me and get comfortable in the saddle again. So, with best intentions (and after buying a bracket and recommended bottle) I got up extra early on Saturday morning with a route in mind and was on the road by 8am.

I took myself on some small roads out past the woods, down to the beach and then along the North cliffs road all the way down to a local viewing spot (and end-it-all jumping off point…) called Hell’s Mouth for a quick drink stop. After a few minutes enjoying the view and quietness of a Saturday morning on the cliffs, I hopped back on and took a different route back past the house my Granddad used to own. Unfortunately, I don’t go that way very often and I’d forgotten just how many hills there were on the way home! An hour after I set out I was home, thirteen miles under my belt and a lot of sweat lost – most of which seemed to have soaked into the chinstrap and padding in my helmet. I absolutely loved it, it was exhilarating whizzing down hills, albeit with a bit of trepidation as my brakes haven’t quite bedded in yet. I also need to get the front gear shifter looked at as it was reluctant to jump up to the biggest chainring unless I held it just past the clicking point. I get a free service at eight weeks from the shop though, which will give the cables plenty of time to find their length and settle in.

The view over Hell's Mouth on a sunny Saturday morning

Now all I have to do is keep going out, two or three times a week at least, until I get my stamina up where it needs to be. Ideally I’d love to be riding in to work in the mornings, which is thirteen miles each way, as it probably won’t take me much longer than it already does. I also need to plan out some routes for weekend rides, to get out and use some of the back roads and have a good look around the county. Great fun, although I’m not looking forward to making my first ‘I crashed’ post here .

Technorati Tags Bianchi, bike, Cameleonte, Cycling

Where to start? It’s been a while since I updated here so I’ll try to cover as much as I can for now. It’s been a busy couple of weekends as far as Tang Soo Do is concerned, with more to come. A couple of weeks ago I headed up with three others to Rushden for a Masters/Dan seminar with the rest of the EMTF, in a very hot hall, where we went over some higher-level forms.

The afternoon started with a big group warmup led by Master (Jan) De Vry which as well as being very hot, was hilarious. Master Kumar Jr took us through some basics which were far harder than they had to be. I don’t mean what he was asking us to do was difficult, because it wasn’t particularly, but the combination of the heat and my outrageously long dobok bottoms (I really must take them up!) made me give a much worse account of myself – and more annoyingly my club – than I’d have liked. But glancing around it was clear I wasn’t the only one struggling, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Later we split into smaller groups each with a couple of masters teaching, and I was with the very likable Master Mantle who took us through Jinto (one of the forms I’ll need at my next full grade) and my favourite form-I-won’t-need-for-a-long-time, Rohai. It was a really strange experience being taught by a different master, as everyone teaches differently, but it was valuable. Rohai especially; it’s not a form I actively practise, but I love the shape and movement in it. I cracked my knee on the floor far too hard with an over-enthusiastic ‘break’ punch halfway through, which still hurts if I kneel.

Later we all re-grouped and went through the second dan gum (dagger) form. I’d been through it a few times before with the people who went to the first seminar, but it was nice to have it drummed into my head with constant repetition for an hour or so. There were some finer details that I wasn’t sure about too which I’ve been able to clear up since which was good. The main problem with the day for me and many others wasn’t the heat directly (although it was really debilitating) but the kicking and turning on the wooden floor. I think a combination of the humidity and the wood meant that we ended up with a lot of blisters. Proper nasty, deep blisters. Most of them have healed now, but one tore open last weekend and now I have that super-soft baby skin on the bottom of my foot; I can’t see it being much fun to train on. The Masters ended the seminar by being taught the first new sword form introduced to the EMTF. It’s a very nice looking bit of very Korean sword, and I’m looking forward to learning it in the future. Our great hosts made sure we went away with full bellies as Master Kumar Snr’s wife prepared a great buffet with homemade samosas and pakoras – heaven!.

Skip forward a week, and it’s another weekend of Tang Soo Do. Saturday say my brother take his First Dan grading, and two others take their Senior First Dan tests in a scorchingly hot dojang back here in Cornwall. The heat was really oppressive, but everyone gave a great account of themselves despite it, I felt tired just helping out with the Ho Sin Sool, Il Soo Sik Dae Ryun and free sparring at the end – I can’t imagine how it felt for everyone else. The following day we all went down to the Falmouth dojang for the gup grading, which again was very hot, but a lot better thanks to the breeze. Again, everyone did very well, and at the end of another long day (which thankfully kept me from watching England’s dismal display in the World Cup) we had a quick lesson to brush up on some of the changes made to various bits and pieces we do. My blister tore open during one of the races we had at the end, but by then I didn’t even notice. A really good, if long, weekend which saw a lot of people take their next step on the ladder.

This weekend is free so far, so I’m planning a Saturday involving a long lazy barbecue in the afternoon followed by a trip to the Blue Bar in the evening for a pint on the beach watching the sun go down. I’d better make the most of it, it’s the club’s first annual summer retreat the next weekend, three days of 4:30 am starts and 12 hours a day training, eating and sleeping Tang Soo Do.

Awesome.

Technorati Tags Blue Bar, EMTF, tang soo do, training