At least it was Fun Week

This is my last week of TKD...but not forever! Heck, I'm too close to that black belt, darn it, to quit now! But since Boot Camp is still next week (our boot camp is where you cram the whole summer's worth of curriculum in one week), this week and next week are Fun Weeks, thus no curriculum. Yay! Well, we still get elements of it, but nothing where we are learning forms or anything like that.

So this morning's class was actually a pleasure. We had Sandy and myself, both being called "the black belts" even though both of us are 1BR, as well as two new ATA moms that were joining. One, T, has a son who's been there for a while. I'm not sure what belt her son has, whether it's black or at least high level color belt. The other one, S, has a son that I remember I helped get her set up last year, and now her family has joined up, including herself. Well, by a strange coincidence, it turns out that Sandy and S knew each other in college, and that was 17 years ago and in NC! Small world, huh? I think because the 50-somethings weren't there, it was a fun class. Sandy and I watched our Ps and Qs to set a good example for the new students, and since it was fun week, we didn't have to really be learning anything in particular. We did some drills, and I did start to learn the beginning of the 1st degree weapons form, which is single SJB, as Sandy is learning it so she can compete with it in September. I'm still not sure if I'll be going to that DE tourney or not, but at least I'll know it if I should go to the tourney in November, and by that time I WILL be a black belt. We'll see. So that was fun for the most part.

Tonight's class was a similar tone. Since there were some kids who are still new to the instructor level of classes, she reviewed some information and how to teach it, giving each kid a different section to remember, and then each had to direct the group. My "part" was the bow in and bow out part. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. ;-) In the end, however, once we reviewed the whole form once, I had the whole thing down, so I'd coach the kids in what THEY were supposed to be doing or saying. We then worked on the BME, and parts of the BME form, as certain moves are also part of my drills I have to learn as a 1BR. So it was good. At the end of class, I received this:

State Champ Certificate

So it's official. I am now truly the state champ for now. You'd better believe that this is getting framed!

SW asked who was serious, at least in the next semester, about moving up for instructor rank. I'm not sure. On one hand, I'm sure if I cram and practice the first three forms and one steps backwards, forwards and inside out, I could certify easily. I understand LifeSkills information very well-- heck, I sell it for her in getting people in the school. In many ways, I could be ready by December. But in some ways, I'm thinking I should wait a little longer, maybe until Spring when my life settles down a little bit more. I think I just have cold feet more than anything. It takes a long time for me to feel that sentiment of "Yes I can!" before I truly believe it. If you look at old posts here, you'll see that for a long time, I truly questioned what I had gotten myself into not only with doing TKD, then moving up to Masters, but especially moving up to Leadership and taking these instructor classes. I've now gotten accustomed to classes, and don't feel as overwhelmed. But at the same time, I still feel like the dumb ol' blonde, the ADD/SID person who is overloaded with information that she chokes before she learns it. It's terrifying. So I don't know what to do. But that's for another time to worry about that.

I'll be off on vacation for an extended week down south. We'll be driving down to SC starting on Friday, and not returning until the following Sunday, so that should be a sufficient break from life in all respects for a while. But I will bet you that between the pool, the ocean waves and beach, I'll probably be practicing forms anyway at some point. ;-)

Until then, my friends....