Not much going on.

Well, I haven't been writing here lately as there hasn't been a whole lot going on in my TKD world so much. Drew is on his sabbatical, although due to some show, he said he wanted to do Kung Fu, and I don't think he understands what that means, so I told him that he was already taking Korean Kung Fu, which is called taekwondo, and he was taking a break. He'd play with his SJB(numchaka) and his BME, and he still has some good form. When I asked if he wanted to go back now rather than later, he said no. LOL I think he does miss it a little, but I think there are some other stressors in his life that he does need the break, but I'm glad he still has the interest.

It's been a tough week at home, due to Drew and things going on at school. I won't go into detail here, but if you are so inclined to get details, you can check it out on my "regular" blog, Windsornot's Knotted Life, and read posts from the past week or two. It hasn't been an easy time for anyone, and stress levels at home are rather high, but we're trying to do the best we can.

At this point, I'm still working on relearning IW#1, getting my sword information down, and avoiding sparring. I really shouldn't avoid sparring, because I suck at it so badly, and I can't improve if I don't at least participate in it every once in a while. Last week, SW was trying to get me to work on the last two sections of IW#1 in greater detail, because she knows it's what I am going to be doing for the next tournament in April. Bleeh. I appreciate that she wants to spend the extra time with me getting the kinks out, especially after I told her how disappointed I was in my scores at the last tournament. I know what she's up to. Part of me doesn't want to put that kind of time in, as I rarely get close to placing except for that one time last year, and it happened to be with this same form. It's not my favorite form either. But, the fact that she wants to help, and evidentally finds some worth in how I do that she wants to put that time in, I might as well try. Can't hurt. My kama routine is fine for competition, so I'm not worried about that. I just do it to review and make sure I don't forget the skills or moves.

My adventure with the sword continues. Yesterday, SW was really picking that apart. I didn't have the sword blocks over my head correctly, I was moving in the wrong direction, etc. Well, footing is my biggest problem with that. I know she's a first degree in Gumdo, as is Gary, so I know I have to work with them and not Ryan so much with that. Ryan is not a first degree, but he wasn't helping me with the footing as much as the combination. So I have 2/3rds of the combination down, but a lot of mistakes that need to be fixed. Hey, I'm one of the few leadership people doing it this cycle, so give me some credit! I could take the Gumdo classes on Saturdays to get better, but it's just a lot of time out of my schedule to do it, even if it's at no cost to me being that I'm in leadership. :-S I'll get it. I have the main gist of it, it's working out the feet and the blade angles a little better, I think.

Board breaking isn't going too badly. I'm just starting to get the run-jump-sidekick (RJSK) combo down. It has to be down with a reverse elbow break as well, so I was practicing the latter yesterday, since I hadn't done that in a while. It's amazing how much easier that is now than when I was first learning it. I'm confident about doing the RJSK on wood, not so much on plastic. I've done both now, so I know I can do it. I just have a problem with follow through on the kick. It'll come with practice, I'm sure. Also trying to defy gravity with that break (the jump) is not easy with my bad knee, which is the leg I land on, and, well, you've seen my photo, I'm not exactly a petite skinny person! I just need a slight break, or take it easy, rather than train so hard. I did that for the last one, and it didn't get me as far as I would've liked all the way around, especially with form, so I need to relax, and just do the best I can without trying to stress myself out. I still have a few weeks, so I'm not worried yet.

So, things are coming along, but nothing much to write about. I haven't seen that they've updated the tournament stuff for a week, so maybe by the end of this week they will have more. By my estimations, if I can win this next regional tourney, and depending on how they stack up the interschool tourneys, I could either be one point under or tied for 1st place in the state for weapons. So, in my head, I have a lot more riding on the weapons than my form or sparring. I just wish that ATA HQ would hurry up and tally this stuff. I'm anxious!