Post grading
Okay, a summary of my grading to those who are curious:
Friday night: slept at five to catch up on barely having slept at all the night before. Got up at 7pm, had dinner, an energy drink, a shower, and went back to bed.
Saturday morning: Got up at 7am, showered again, tried not to throw up my breakfast, and thankfully succeded.
GRADING: Dad got me there just after 9, and I was being warmed up with the rest of the students until about 10, when Master Rhee arrived. Also, Penny had called in sick from work to see me grade, which was fantastic. My mother was late though. When she did arrive however, Diana was with her. After four months in Asia she came home early...I was so stunned I had to be prodded before I realised I was being called up to talk to Master Rhee.
Interestingly enough, Master Rhee himself called all the 1st degrees up to ask us when would be a good time to begin our grading. For those of you who have never seen Master Rhee, I can assure you, this is VERY unusual. We decided to begin in about 10 minutes, and so were sent outside to warm up while the yellow belts graded.
After the yellow belts were done, we were called back in for sparring. Man that was good. It's true what my instructor said about being so tired you can't remember who you sparred with :)
We had a lot of blackbelts this time, and any blackbelt could spar with anyone. So I got to spar with men as well as women. Can't remember exactly when, but at some point I was also sparring with Brett.
Also can't remember the order of things from thereon in, so correct me if I screw it up. I think after about 5-10 minutes hard sparring we had to break 2 boards with a sidekick. There were four women in front of me, two of whom were also women from my dojang. I remember staring at those boards for a good five minutes, practicing so many times... the least number of tries I'd broken them in before was 5. Not exactly something to be proud of.
But let me say, it feels really different at your grading. For the first time, I broke them both on the first try.
Margaret broke them as well, but Paulette couldn't, and was out of the running.
After that, we either had some more time out or went straight onto spinning heel kick. I'm pretty sure it was time out, so let's assume it was.
Penny, Ryan and Alex all came outside with me providing water and calming me down somewhat.
Spinning heel kick was up next. Three women now in front of me. Broke it on the first kick again. Felt awesome.
Unfortunately, this kick caught Margaret out and she now also has a continuation. Next was jumping back kick. I had issues with this one. First try I missed the board completely. Second and third tries kicked with the ball of my foot instead of the heel. Fourth time....I got pissed off. You can guess ;)
More sparring. Much more sparring. Another rest. At this stage, a six year old green belt girl from my dojang walked up to me and wished me good luck. ...was somewhat... surprised.
Last leg.
More sparring. I can imagine the look on my face by this stage must have been very ugly. So. Freaking. Tired. You have no idea. For the most part, I ended up sparring with the same three or four people every time, because I was so far down the back no one saw me. Occasionally, I was even sparring my instructor. Somehow, I spar better against some people than others. My instructor is one of the people I spar well against.
Master Rhee then told us to stop, we broke a board in a downward knife hand strike (which I did on the second go, most ridiculous considering this is the easiest break of all) then guess what? More sparring.
Much yelling going on on all sides. From me, from my opponents, from other blackbelts, my instructor, and from the audience.
Finally, the main part was over. Master Rhee asked myself and the remaining 1st degrees to sit, and one was called up to be promoted. The rest of us were then asked to stand, and 'five minutes freesparring all blackbelts!' When that was over, we were asked to sit again, and the process was repeated. Third time, I was called up.
I received my senior blackbelt.
Ummm....wow. There's really not a lot you can say to describe what that feels like. One lot of sparring and a few promotions later, the grading was over.
And dude....I don't remember the last time I was surrounded by so many people. Probably never. People from my dojang, people from dojangs I've been going to for extra training, my family, my friends, my instructor. Let's just say it's not something you forget in a hurry.
Even got a photograph with Master Rhee afterwards. Brett managed to save a couple of the boards I'd broken, which are now in my room.
My blackbelt has been sitting on my bedside table since.
Absolutely fantastic day. Thanks Alex and Penny, for coming. I'm really happy you turned up.
Training should be interesting here on in.
Friday night: slept at five to catch up on barely having slept at all the night before. Got up at 7pm, had dinner, an energy drink, a shower, and went back to bed.
Saturday morning: Got up at 7am, showered again, tried not to throw up my breakfast, and thankfully succeded.
GRADING: Dad got me there just after 9, and I was being warmed up with the rest of the students until about 10, when Master Rhee arrived. Also, Penny had called in sick from work to see me grade, which was fantastic. My mother was late though. When she did arrive however, Diana was with her. After four months in Asia she came home early...I was so stunned I had to be prodded before I realised I was being called up to talk to Master Rhee.
Interestingly enough, Master Rhee himself called all the 1st degrees up to ask us when would be a good time to begin our grading. For those of you who have never seen Master Rhee, I can assure you, this is VERY unusual. We decided to begin in about 10 minutes, and so were sent outside to warm up while the yellow belts graded.
After the yellow belts were done, we were called back in for sparring. Man that was good. It's true what my instructor said about being so tired you can't remember who you sparred with :)
We had a lot of blackbelts this time, and any blackbelt could spar with anyone. So I got to spar with men as well as women. Can't remember exactly when, but at some point I was also sparring with Brett.
Also can't remember the order of things from thereon in, so correct me if I screw it up. I think after about 5-10 minutes hard sparring we had to break 2 boards with a sidekick. There were four women in front of me, two of whom were also women from my dojang. I remember staring at those boards for a good five minutes, practicing so many times... the least number of tries I'd broken them in before was 5. Not exactly something to be proud of.
But let me say, it feels really different at your grading. For the first time, I broke them both on the first try.
Margaret broke them as well, but Paulette couldn't, and was out of the running.
After that, we either had some more time out or went straight onto spinning heel kick. I'm pretty sure it was time out, so let's assume it was.
Penny, Ryan and Alex all came outside with me providing water and calming me down somewhat.
Spinning heel kick was up next. Three women now in front of me. Broke it on the first kick again. Felt awesome.
Unfortunately, this kick caught Margaret out and she now also has a continuation. Next was jumping back kick. I had issues with this one. First try I missed the board completely. Second and third tries kicked with the ball of my foot instead of the heel. Fourth time....I got pissed off. You can guess ;)
More sparring. Much more sparring. Another rest. At this stage, a six year old green belt girl from my dojang walked up to me and wished me good luck. ...was somewhat... surprised.
Last leg.
More sparring. I can imagine the look on my face by this stage must have been very ugly. So. Freaking. Tired. You have no idea. For the most part, I ended up sparring with the same three or four people every time, because I was so far down the back no one saw me. Occasionally, I was even sparring my instructor. Somehow, I spar better against some people than others. My instructor is one of the people I spar well against.
Master Rhee then told us to stop, we broke a board in a downward knife hand strike (which I did on the second go, most ridiculous considering this is the easiest break of all) then guess what? More sparring.
Much yelling going on on all sides. From me, from my opponents, from other blackbelts, my instructor, and from the audience.
Finally, the main part was over. Master Rhee asked myself and the remaining 1st degrees to sit, and one was called up to be promoted. The rest of us were then asked to stand, and 'five minutes freesparring all blackbelts!' When that was over, we were asked to sit again, and the process was repeated. Third time, I was called up.
I received my senior blackbelt.
Ummm....wow. There's really not a lot you can say to describe what that feels like. One lot of sparring and a few promotions later, the grading was over.
And dude....I don't remember the last time I was surrounded by so many people. Probably never. People from my dojang, people from dojangs I've been going to for extra training, my family, my friends, my instructor. Let's just say it's not something you forget in a hurry.
Even got a photograph with Master Rhee afterwards. Brett managed to save a couple of the boards I'd broken, which are now in my room.
My blackbelt has been sitting on my bedside table since.
Absolutely fantastic day. Thanks Alex and Penny, for coming. I'm really happy you turned up.
Training should be interesting here on in.