Keeping up with the Joneses

Wednesday is always a busy TKD for us. It's the day that Drew has class, and I get a little bit of training, and then I have Leadership class later that night. Today was no different. Drew seemed to be having fun in class, and I like how he's much more apt to want to talk to the teachers, especially Mr. Anderson, now. He's not shy, and will ask them things, like today he was asking Mr. A if he ever watched the Doodlebops (a Disney Channel preschool show that Drew loves, for those not in the know), and he admitted (not surprisingly) that he didn't know about them, and Drew went on to explain about them happily, and Mr. A listened intently (and politely!). He seems to do well with Mr. A, so I hope he sees him as the role model that Mr. A is. Mr. A is a very good instructor, probably the highest ranking one after Ma'am at our school, and I have definitely benefitted from his direction myself.

While Drew was doing his thing in class, I was helping Nancy, and I got to put in the cards for attendence and learn some of Nancy's methodology, which worked for me. I got a lot of good info without it being overwhelming, since I'm doing bits of it at a time. So I felt that went well.

Class for tonight wasn't too bad. Even though I'd seen Ma'am earlier in the day during Drew's class for a little bit, she wasn't teaching my leadership class tonight-- she seemed to be long gone when I had gotten there early. So, those people who were testing for an upgrade soon were practicing with us as a warmup. There were a few problems with that. First, Penna (who has now joined the Leadership ranks) was next to me, and she couldn't move out of the way with her wheelchair fast enough. It really wasn't a problem, because of other issues. Namely, the instructors who were testing had to go through Songham #1 through Choong Jung Ee-Jang#2 and give the directions. They kinda glazed through them as everyone except Penna and I had done the forms before. Just to put it in perspective, this was pretty much all the forms from white belt through red belt (red belt being the next to last belt before becoming a black belt). I haven't done all the Songham forms, and I certainly haven't done the Choong Jung forms, so I was winging it, and going solely by the directions of the instructor trainees. I had to, and I also followed along with others. I lost my place, and in some cases, I could only mark through, so it really wasn't that much of a problem that Penna was in the way. I assured her not to worry about it, as I wouldn't kick or hit her and I didn't know what I was doing anyway. After that long exercise and pretty much keeping up for the most part, considering I didn't have a clue what I was doing, we stretched and then we had the option of working on our own forms and stuff, or helping the instructor trainees some more. I chose the former, and fortunately Alex V. did too. Since I've had to cram the whole form in the span of less than a week, I knew he knew it, and so he could help me get through. I know I need practice, but between him mostly and a little help from Em, it was starting to click a little more, so I was happy about that. If I can just get the sequence down, then I can fine tune it, then add the appropriate ki-haps (that's my last concern!). Doing better still with the board break. Did the elbow break on the 2nd try, so I was happy. I think I have a MUCH better handle on that one. :-) Did only one round of sparring as I was tired and not enough people, but do you hear me complaining? The kid I went against I think was happy that I was pretty easy tonight, as I think he was tired too.

So, all in all, not a bad night. It's still a little overwhelming, in retrospect, that I will eventually have to know ALL these forms and one-steps in order to get my instructor certification eventually, but until I'm told otherwise, I'm just going to take in as much as I can, and not try to worry about it too much.

I have a break until Saturday, but I have a feeling that I will be put to the challenge on Saturday in class.

Keeping up with the kids, as usual, and Kareem and Bruce

I went to the odd night of going to class on a Tuesday. I usually don't go on a Tuesday, but since I have a GNO on Thursday, when I'd normally go, I had to switch it to another day. Reports are that I shouldn't been around last night, according to Em and Penna, as Ma'am was cracking jokes the whole night. Man, I could've used that last night, since my anniversary was a disaster yesterday, I'm sure I would've had more fun doing that if it was that good. Oh well.

So tonight, it was me and three boys. One very young Indian boy who kep asking a lot of questions. He was a red belt, but somehow seemed like he was pushing himself to do too much too soon, and didn't seem to know what he was doing of what he was supposed to do. (If that made any sense). The other two were the Joel-lookalike (Joel being my brother, and this kid looks like a taller, skinnier, less geeky version of my brother) who is a brown belt, and Alex V., whom I've mentioned before, who is a red belt as well. And Em and Penna. So, we started out with some drills and stretches, and then we started on the form. I still haven't even gotten it all down of what we had so far, and here we are learning the last section. Crud. Well, it's not hard stuff, but a lot to cram in, so I have some studying to do. So we get through that, and then we work on weapons. So I learn the ssang-jeh-bahng form, which is easy, but I have to practice to make it look beautiful. It's still very awkward for me. It's only a triangle, figure 8, snap out, triangle, switch sides behind your back. That's pretty easy, but again, I just have to practice. It's a review week with board breaks, so I did my elbow break pretty quick again, so I was happy with that. I think I'm starting to GET IT with that. You just have to pummel straight through. Sparring was good today. I was exhausted when I was done, but it was good. I first sparred with the Indian kid, and he was a little easy because all he'd do is duck when I kicked, but then he'd get me good with a few punches. I then sparred with the Joel-lookalike, and that was kinda fun. I kicked him in the tushie at one point by accident, and we actually knocked knees when kicking which hurt, but was funny. After the last few rounds with sparring in tournaments, I'm feeling more confident with that, and that's good. So that was class, and it was fine. Just me and the kids, as usual.

I also paid for my seminar for the 12th, so I'm glad that's out of the way. I'm looking forward to that, as it turns out a few people from my school will be going, so that's cool.

On a totally unrelated thing, but somewhat related, I was watching this program on AMC today that had to do with Bruce Lee. They showed the last part of a movie-- or some sort of footage from a movie called "Game of Death". It was a strange movie, but now that I understand a little bit about martial arts from my TKD exposure, it was more interesting to watch. I think the most interesting scene was Bruce Lee going up against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Now, you have to understand, it turns out that Kareem was a student of Bruce's as well as being the All-star basketball player, and I'm sure because of the way he looked, Kareem was good for the movie part. But man, is KA-J TALL! I mean, I knew he was, but he seemed to make Bruce Lee look so tiny. And to watch him do side kicks and roundkicks, etc. was kinda wild. I have a better appreciation for Bruce Lee movies now, for sure, even if they are still pretty violent. They make some sense, at least from the martial arts perspective.

Sometimes you need a reminder of how lucky you are.

Today, I slept in and skipped my own class. My jaw still hurts a little, but I'm not ready to get into sparring in class, and felt I needed the rest, and I did. I slept in and my jaw hurts a lot less today. But I had promised to help out today with the Special Abilities class, so I went.

I knew a few of the kids because I had seen them before when Drew used to go to Cubs class, and their class was before his. Two of them were clearly autistic tweens, but they are somewhat responsive. Another kid, an Indian boy whom I can't guess his age but he's at least a teenager, has a lot more going on. Even today, I'm not sure, but after class he may have been having a mild seizure. :-S His mom said he hadn't been connecting much all day, and his limbs are very bent and such. The other two guys there are probably older teens. One is Micah, who is clearly MR ,whose parents are black belts I've met in graduation and in class. Micah usually is yelling all sorts of stuff, but it's enthusiastic stuff because he loves TKD. He's a pip and very good natured, so I like talking to him. And then came in the other teenager, Tim-- about 6'1", very cute that you'd not realize he was autistic until you tried to talk to him. He never said a word, and talk about the disconnect. I had to work with him. It was fine, but man, it's a little intimidating. With the Downs Syndrome kids whom I usually pair up with in class during the week, they are fine in comparison, as at least they make the mental and social connection. It just takes them a little longer to do it. I can deal with them much more easily that this crowd today. I admit, it scared me a little, but I did my best, and since I was only assisting, I just cheered a lot and help them.

I know it sounds awful that I wasn't comfortable with these kids. I think that's probably normal for someone who isn't used to dealing with people who have some truly serious neurological disabilities. But it definitely puts things in perspective. Drew has disabilities, but nothing like these kids. NOTHING. Yes, he has big time speech issues, and he might have some reading issues, it's hard to tell at this stage (at least for me), and he does have the sensory issues, but in comparison to these kids, he was NORMAL. Sometimes you need a reminder like this to make you remember how lucky and blessed you truly are.

If I can help it, I think I'm better off with the adults and Tiny Tigers from now on. Unless is Michael and Matthew (the two boys with Downs) that I've worked with before are around, I'm just too uncomfortable with those kids. I know I sound like an awful person for saying so, but at the same time, I think it's good to know your limits sometimes.

Just a kick in the mouth

Drew and I had our Interschool tournament tonight. Drew, of course being younger and lower ranked, went earlier in the evening. I have photographic proof!


This Drew sitting patiently (GASP!) for his turn.

This is Drew doing a happy punch for the camera.

Here's Drew receiving his medal for best "ki-haps" of the tournament. Here, he's doing a "GRRRR!" for Miss Chunko. I think that's because it's Miss Chunko's favorite (and she's seen to the right of the photo).

And finally, Drew showing off his new medal with that sneer of being the badass that he is. Word.

Well, after the tournament, I forget what happened, but Drew turned into Mr. Badass for the rest of the night, just having a sour attitude, etc. I was trying to get him changed and out the door, because my turn was in less than an hour and we had to go and eat between now and then. I had also tried to ask Ma'am what time I should be back, if it was still 6-ish, and she said, "I guess...". Well, that doesn't help me. We made it to Friendly's, scarfed down our dinner, and made it back in time for me to go and change. Fortunately, my event hadn't started yet, so I was in good shape. I went to change, and was about as ready as I could be to go. I knew that JC and Drew would spend part of the time outside, but with the exception of 2 minutes, that's all they did. They didn't come to watch me at all. There were only 3 of us, so it would've moved quickly, but no. Not even for the medal distribution at the end. They couldn't be bothered to get out of the car except to get a cheap ice cream at the convenience store next door. Believe me, I was not happy about this.

But I had other things to deal with while the guys sat in the car. I had a competition! And it figures that again, being the only adult color belt to show up, I have to be paired with a group. Last time, I was paired with older kids who were the same rank, and got all the golds because I was the only adult going. I thought that since again, I was the only adult color belt, and the only adult color belt in my age range to boot, I'd get all the golds again by default. But no. Ma'am decided to put me with the other two adult women who were competing. And they were both 2nd degree black belts. Crap. Now, unlike at the regional competition, I knew both of these women personally, and so I couldn't feel too much animosity against them. I still didn't like that Ma'am pitted me against them-- it's not a fair competition if that's the case-- but you can't go against it. Just go in and do what you can.

So let me put this in perspective even further-- I was up again Jeri S. and Karla W. According to the statistics posted as of tonight (which doesn't include the tournament last week yet), Jeri is 1st in weapons and sparring and 2nd in forms for 2nd degree black belts in the 40-49 year range IN THE STATE, and Karla is 1st in sparring, 2nd in form, and 3rd in weapons for 2nd degree in the 30-39 range IN THE STATE. And Ma'am is putting me up against these women? Geez. I mean, in class it's one thing, but competition? That's not exactly fair. But then again, the worst I could do in any of these categories was 3rd, since there was only 3 of us.

Sure enough, forms I got 3rd. The had a tiebreaker between Jeri and Karla on that one. In weapons, I got 3rd again. Then in sparring, Karla opted out for some reason, and it was just Jeri and me. I asked Jeri to go easy on me, as I suck at sparring, and she claimed she did too. (And this was before I saw her stats! She fibbed big time, or else she meant that this was her weak spot vs. the other disciplines.) So, there we were. It was the first time I actually sparred a woman who was about the same size as me, so in a sense, it was actually easier to not worry about punching in the wrong spots as much, since most of my competition is usually a lot shorter than me. I decided to just adopt the same attitude as I did before at regionals, which was just keep going until they say stop. I was surprised that I was actually racking up some points against Jeri. But at one point, BAM, just what I didn't need. Jeri kicked me in the jaw. I supposed it would've been worse had I not worn my mouthguard and helmet, but at this writing, 3 hours later, it still smarts like hell. Jeri apologized profusely, and made sure I was okay. Since I'm not about to be the crybaby and have a bad habit of being tough in the face of adversity, I proclaimed I was okay and kept going. In the end, it was very close. We were tied at 4 pts. a piece, and you need 5 to win. Sure enough, she got it. So, I got 2nd place for that one, but knowing that Jeri was a 2nd degree and I was able to keep up with her, that was pretty good. Upon later seeing that she's sparring champ for her age group and rank in the state, that made me feel a little better.

Thus concluded the tournament, and we got our medals-- my 2 bronze and 1 silver. At the end, Miss Chunko called us back, as she wanted to give one more prize out, which I didn't think they gave the adults. She gave me a pin for ATA spirit. I was happy that I got that over the 2 other ladies, considering they are much higher ranked and have been in the leadership program for a while. I thought I might have overheard something about giving it to me not so much for giving good loud yels and ki-haps (it runs in the family), but rather because of the fact that I showed up and battled it out with two people who were significantly higher ranked than me, just to get the experience and practice, and held my own. For that endeavor alone, I earned it. That was rather satisfying in itself, but somewhat lost in the fact that my family was outside and had no clue because they hadn't bothered to come in to support me.

So I guess tonight was a bit of a hollow victory. I think I just have to have the confidence that I have nothing to lose by trying. I still have a lot to learn, and hopefully by the next regional tournament, I'll be more of a force to be reckoned with.

Now, to get this jaw fixed...OUCH. I can't close my jaw without it hurting like hell. I can move my jaw directly up and down, but the slightest bit off in any other direction (such as for chewing or a few other things you wouldn't think that you move your jaw that much), OUCH. I can still talk, but I think that's due to my elastic tongue and the fact that my lips still work. So I can still be perfectly understood. I took two Motrin for it and it isn't working, and I've tried icing the joint, and that doesn't help either. I said I'd help with the Special Abilities class tomorrow, and I will, but I'm not sure if I'll go to my own class tomorrow. I'm tired, and Drew's been instructed to stay in bed later if he can, and I know I can't spar with this jaw. We'll see if I make it. I think I've put in my quota for the last two weeks and then some, so we'll see.