Workout! I went to class today, having dragged myself out of bed while the guys were still sleeping. But I got there in plenty of time, and had time to settle into the place mentally, so that helped. Talked to Ma'am about Drew, and she pointed out that for the very reason of holding off on the gloves and mouthpiece for Drew might be the very reason to get them. She is not out to get sales, by her own admission, but she noted that Drew is a smart kid, and that more than likely he's bored, and so he'd have something to look forward to if he had them. I discussed it later with JC, and his comment was, "Well, how much is that going to cost?". I can understand his point. But I think the fact that we are not going for the whole shebang right off with Drew is fine. So, next time I'm in, I'll ask Ma'am how much it costs, and I'll debate whether to get these for Drew. I think she may be right, as she even noted that he doesn't really start to act up until they separate the class into different categories, and he sees the other kids he started with progressing, and he's bored at the bottom. I have to admit, it IS a good idea .

But then I had my class, which was run mostly by Mr. Anderson. With the color belt club, there was one boy who was an orange belt who had to work on his own stuff, and then there was me with 3 tweens, Alejandro (I think that's the kid's name), and the geek sisters. The geek sisters really are sweet, don't get me wrong. I was saying to JC later that I suspect that maybe their parents put them in this class so they wouldn't be wallflowers and could come out of their shell a little more. Once you start talking to them, they are quite social, but you can see how awkward they still are. I guess maybe I was like them as a kid, I don't know. Anyhow, after doing a total class warmup that MORE than got my cardio going (think asthma attack), we split into the group of color belts and black belts, and I was with the group I just mentioned. We worked on our form, which I think I generally have it, but I do have to practice it, for sure. From what I can see from the cheat sheet, we've learned 10 of the 44 moves to the form. That's fine. It's all new for me, and a little bit of a challenge. Then we did an exercise to practice our crescent kicks, which is in the form. Younger geek sister wanted to pair up with me, which was fine. I guess she's taken a liking to me that I'm not threatening or intimidating to be with. I got her to improve her kicks when I said to imagine it was her sister instead. Even Mr. Anderson laughed and saw the immediate improvement. When we had to do weapons, we got our bahng-mah-ees out, and worked on "creative", which is different from freeform as creative is like having a form, but with a weapon. It turns out that the freeform that Ma'am had taught me WAS the creative, and I could make up stuff at the end. I also asked Mr. Anderson if there would be any penalty in doing one extra move in the creative that was part of my routine before, and he said no, in fact the move I did would be a good one to add if any. So that was easy, and it was nice to know I was already ahead of the game that way. We also did a few good warmup exercises to get our wrists warmed up for using the bahng-mah-ee, so I'll have to practice those. Breaking boards time was still "hand" week, so I'm still working on that elbow break. Damn if I can't still get it coordinated together. I have to say, though, Ma'am really knows her stuff with this part. She can say, "OK, you need to do X and Y" that's specific to you to make you get it, and then BAM, you break it. Among the things I have to work on is keeping my wrist up with my hitting arm, as Ma'am said that I can break a wrist doing it the way I do it. Yikes! I'll have to learn to get out of that habit. Lastly, it was sparring time, which I always dislike. I first sparred younger geek sister, as she picked me out again. I told her, like I tell everyone, "Go easy on me," and she walloped a punch! But it wasn't too bad, not like the black belt kids like Lindsey, which I said today, "I'm not going with Lindsey 'cause she always beats me up!". I next went with Older Geek sister, and she was pretty good and kept me on my toes too. It's really obvious that I suck, so Mr. Anderson was giving me some pointers. Lastly, I finally went with someone who understood my pace, and that was my dear pal Winnie. I also got another pointer that I should relax until I actually throw a punch or kick, otherwise I'll tired myself out. New dynamic to try, but Winnie, even as a black belt, was more my pace, so it wasn't as bad.

I was so hot and tired after class that a refreshing shower when I got home was VERY welcome. Not a bad day. Just have to work on the new stuff, and figure out how to improve the board break so that I actually do everything I'm supposed to and it comes more naturally, like my side kick break is coming along, and I have to figure out how to better spar. No one can say that I don't try offensively with that, but I swear my defense sucks eggs. And if I want to compete, I know that I will do better with the weapons and form than sparring, but the better I do in all formats, the better I will do with points. It makes a big difference. I've got my work cut out for me in the next few months.

Maybe Drew's just not cut out for TKD. I'm not sure. Today was his first time back in a while, and while overall he wasn't too bad, he still had his issues. He still was jumping around and not paying attention half the time. He got upset when other kids were putting on their punches and mouthpieces or getting weapons, and he didn't have them. Now, bear in mind, he's not the only one in this position, but he still got upset, because I know he really would like to have punches and mouthpiece. However, at the same time, he doesn't always seem to be so interested in class, and we are paid up for another month. JC thinks that maybe Drew just isn't cut out for TKD, and not interested, and it would be better to put him in something else. I'm not sure. Part of me says (and JC agrees) that Drew doesn't know what he wants as he's only 4 going on 5, and we should make him go. But maybe he also genuinely doesn't like going and we shouldn't force him. It's a real conundrum. I'm not sure what to do. Other kids his age are able to keep up and behave better and pay attention better. I'm not sure if him not paying attention is his sensory issues acting up or not. It's a hard call to make. I don't know what to do. Maybe I'll ask my mom her advice on the subject, since she's had her kids either stick with something or quit stuff. I'm a little disappointed in Drew. Maybe he's just not mature enough for this yet. I mean, if he quit and decided to go back in a few years, I wouldn't object. Or if he quit and picked up something else and stuck with it, that'd be okay too. I just really felt like TKD would be the answer for him. Maybe in time it will be...it's so hard to say. TKD confusion ensues....

OK, so I'm confused. Things have not been going well at home, so I was looking forward to going to class to try to perhaps rejuvenate a little. It's the first week of a new form, so I was looking forward to learning the new form. My buddy Laura was there for a change. She's been gone for a little while, so it was good to see her. Ms. Plummer was teaching us, and she seemed a little out of it, but seemed to manage. She introduced a form to us tonight, that was the same for the brown and red belts in the group as well as the camo (me) and the green (Laura). It doesn't seem too bad so far, it's a matter of getting the timing down. I should've gotten the DVD when I graduated last, but I forgot. But at least I have my cheat sheet book. So anyway, we get through the form, learn some Bahng-mah-ee stuff/exercises, do board breaks (still having trouble with the elbow break) and sparring (that knocked the wind out of me, and I still need to learn how to protect myself although I think I've improved on the offense side of things. It was not particularly an eventful evening. However, when I got home, I discovered that we did not learn the green belt form, as I had expected (I REALLY should be doing camo belt, but everything I've done so far has been out of order, but I thought I figured out the pattern), but rather we were working on the purple belt form. What the heck was that about? That totally didn't make sense that people ranking from red down to camo belt were learning purple. No sense whatsoever. Oh well. I won't question it for now. I'll just study and do my best. I already miss my Tuesday class where I got more attention individually, and Ma'am taught herself. Oh, and then to confuse things, someone else mentioned tournaments, and I know the one on 3/11 is coming up, and I said to her, I know I'm not ready for the 11th, but there's another in April-- would I be ready for that? She said yes, and that I could still do the 11th and do my last form, but I'd have to spar. I had misunderstood her when she said I'd have to do camo belt. She only meant that since I would be ranking as a camo belt, I'd have to spar instead of doing one steps. NOW she tells me. Well, I'm not sure now. It's only 2 weeks away, and I'd have to clarify if I was doing that white belt form I did or something else like the yellow belt form, which I haven't done in a while. I'm thinking now that I'll skip it, and do the next interschool tournament and the next regional in April instead. I think that would be better. I wish I had understood that! Oh well. I don't need anymore confusion in my life, thank you.

Next phase: It's hard being an intermediate. Well, so far it is. And it's not what you think. I normally don't go to class on a Friday night, but there are no classes tomorrow and I figured since the school was open tonight and we weren't doing anything in particular, it wouldn't hurt to do a makeup class. So, I went. It was a small class, and that was fine. The problem was two fold, however. First, I was the highest ranking adult woman, thus the only other adult woman taking class was a white belt. Nothing wrong with that, but when I was starting out, I was paired up with someone who was only 1 rank above me. I was 3 ranks above this woman. And she didn't seem particularly coordinated. Maybe it's because when I started, I had watched Drew for almsot 6 months that I understood what needed to be done much more clearly. This woman didn't have a clue. But I tried to be supportive and encouraging, as I should be. It was difficult being paired up with her. I think it was better when I could be challenged by someone closer to my own rank or higher. I also think that Ma'am knows that my capabilities are pretty good, as I usually pick up stuff fairly quickly and can kind of keep up with the "big kids" (or adults, as I should say). The second problem was after the white and orange belts left. I was with a bunch of tweens and teenagers who were somewhat clueless, save one. That one was a kid who is a brown belt, and he's pretty good. Alex V. was helping me with my board break, and I was working on the elbow break. It came a lot more easily this time, between Alex's and Mr. Anderson's coaching. I'm feeling a little more confident about board breaking as time goes on, and considering I hadn't done that one for, oh, at least a month, I thought I did pretty well. Instead of sparring, we did some lame ass exercises which were overly basic for me, I felt. Then we did some weapons stuff, but I did it with these two girls who just seem like total geek nerds. They were sweet girls, but just seemed awfully clumsy and awkward. I mean, I'm a geek nerd, but I could always at least keep up athletically fairly well-- I wasn't a clumsy geek. So that seemed like a waste of time to a certian degree.

Well, at least I got a workout, and I also got my hands on something that was almost worth its weight in gold. I finally got my hands on a copy of the Black Belt curriculum book. It has all the "cheat sheets" in them, so you know what's expected to graduate and also outlines what the forms and one-steps and sparring combinations are. It was cool when I came home to look at what's ahead. While I'm a camo blet, because of the cycle I started in, I will be dong green belt form while in Camo belt. That's fine. There are definitely things that I have to learn, and I'm anxious to be taught them. Since it's only 3 weeks until the regional tournament, I don't think I'll be ready for that, unfortunately. I'm hoping that perhaps I can go to another one later in the spring when I'm not in between or just learning a new form, like now. Like, if the regional was at the same time as the interschool one, that would've worked out well, but it wasn't, which is stinky for me. Oh well. It's the sort of thing that I need to talk to Ma'am about.

I still, of course, have to figure out a schedule too when to go to class during the week now. Losing that Tuesday afternoon class still has a sting to it. I wish I could go to that 11 AM class so badly, but it just doesn't work for my schedule. Not until Drew is in school full-time, and by that time, I might be working full-time. It's frustrating. This Friday class, if this is typical, was pretty empty, but it's not usually a good night as many of my clients for my business choose Friday nights often, so I can't commit to that on a regular basis. I'll figure it out.