Well, as you saw in my last post, a milestone has been made. I got to change my break for my black belt testing, which is not done often, and so far, it seems to be the better choice. But first, a slight rewind...
Okay, I think I mostly already talked about the morning class from yesterday, so I'll continue with the rest of the day. It's a lot when you are at the school for the majority of the day, and you are not even an instructor! After returning later after work, I was here for 3 classes-- one for Drew, and 2 for myself. I forgot my knitting so that I had something to do, so I ended up watching most of his class. He did have two small meltdowns which I was able to handle. The first was where SW wanted some more orderly conduct of all the students, whereby she didn't want anyone running on or off the mats to enter or exit class. She wanted her last class to exit the mats completely before Drew's class could walk on, and that's WALK, not run. Drew was closest to her, and she got a little stern with him, but it wasn't anything major, and it didn't apply ONLY to him. Well, he took it personally, and I had to get him back in, explaining that she was telling everyone, and only happened to stop him because he was closest to her, etc. He went back in, and was fine for a while until they were doing "suicide drills", which is where the kids have to run to another kid holding a pad, and they have to kick up their knees for 30 seconds, then run to the other side of the room, where yet another kid would be holding a pad to do 30 seconds of punches, then they'd have to go to the center of the room and do pushups and mountain climbers, and keep going until the instructor told the kids to switch. It's really exhausting, but I think Drew got out of the pattern and started to meltdown because he didn't want to do a part that he was told to do again. So, I had him come over, and gave him the option of a) going right back into class, or b) taking a 2 minute break, but then had to go right back in. He sighed and said, "Okay," and went right back in, and was fine for the rest of class as far as I knew. I had to start my 2nd class of the day while he was sparring, and his dad brought him home afterwards. But I did hear SW throw out two compliments to Drew while sparring, so I think he was fine after that. He really does like sparring, and he is pretty good at it for his age. He's not afraid to get in there. In the last 24 hours, he's also rediscovered the Power Rangers, so some of that is coming back into play, for better or worse. :-S
My second class generally went okay. It's nice when there's another adult (and a tall guy, at that) to do drills with, as he's about as limber (or lack thereof) as I am, even though he's a higher rank. Working with the kids is hard sometimes, because unless they are teenagers the same size as me, they can't handle the power that I put behind a kick or punch. Anyhow, when we broke up into groups for practicing forms, I was put with a green belt, since we are doing the same form. This would normally not be a problem, but I had to teach a segment. Actually, that wasn't the problem either, although I cannot attest to my teaching abilities. The student was exceptional, as in she was more the exception than the rule. The reason? I believe JJ has been diagnosed with Asperger's or she's somewhere on the autistic spectrum. I know she's been in special abilities classes as it is. Well, I usually don't have a problem with working with an SA kid. I've always loved working with the Downs kids who were in class because they are just so cute and willing to learn, and somehow I am able to connect with them. But the ones who can't always make the connection as fully are much harder. I did my best to slow things down, and give her examples, and do the steps with her. Every person, abled or differently abled, has a different way of learning. My problem was that I really didn't understand her way of learning, and SW had to step in to correct me once or twice in how to work with JJ. For example, in trying to show her how to do a back horizontal elbow, I started using the example of elbowing someone like her brother as if to say, "Back off, bro!". Well, she didn't like that, and her mom (thank goodness) explained that JJ doesn't like to think of hitting her brother. Okay, let's think of another way...okay, the door is stuck, and you have to bang it open with your elbow. Her mom seemed to think that was a better example. SW stepped in and just counted the steps out. :-S Oh well. Like I'd know that's what's best for JJ? Exactly. Any other kid, I think they would've understood the analogies. At least another one I did use to teach JJ the segment we had for last night was showing the platter of cookies or serving the pizza. When teaching what was supposed to be a reverse hook kick (the one I struggle with in the form a bit due to my own balancing issues), I just taught her a reverse side instead. She doesn't do a lot of stuff perfectly anyway, and the concept behind the reverse sidekick is the same as the hook, just more simplified. SW was okay with that. I apologized to SW for not doing as well as probably either of us liked, but she said it was fine, and that's how you learn, and with JJ, it is a little different, so I felt a little better. When we all did board breaks, since it's technically hand week, and I'm working on two kicks for testing, I just pulled out my plastic board, and decided, okay, let me practice another break I haven't done in a while. So AS held the board on his own (successfully I might add), and I did a knifehand break. Did it on the first try. :-) I've still got it! Sparring was exhausting, but I had some good partners, including JJ, EL and WU, which were all good matches for me for the night.
Instructor class was fine. I was the only regular employee there, so there was no meeting afterwards, but there was a good review of S#2 and the one-steps, and drills with those, then we worked on our own material. As you can imagine, working on my own on my form again was a little better since I could go at my own pace, but still tiring. I also working on my BME drills, which I have down pretty well. KC, one of "my girls" (the twins), helped me review my BME blocks to make sure I was doing them correctly if there was an actual opponents vs. just doing them in the air like in drills, to ensure I was doing them right, which helped. When it came to board breaking, I got the chance to work on this new board break combination again. We set up for the round kick, and no problem-- it broke on the first try. The reverse side break took two tries this time, but that's okay. Considering I had just learned it that morning, I thought that was pretty darn good. I also examined my boards. Both were as close down the middle as you could probably get, so I was happy. As I said yesterday, my confidence is surely restored, and I feel like NOW I can go to testing and not feel like there's a chance to fail. I was really quite fearful of this, to the point that I didn't know if I wanted my family to come and watch. If I broke, then great, but if I didn't, humiliation all the way around. That won't happen now. We get three chances to break the boards, so if I can easily break the roundkick one in one try, and do the reverse side one in less than 3 tries as I did yesterday, I'm going to be FINE.
The pattern of failure and misery is broken. Now I can more confidently work on getting that reverse sidekick down to getting in one shot, and the rest is fine.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Confidence restored
Just a short post, as I'm bored at work (did my "to-do" list), but do want to share. I'd normally wait until later, since Drew has another class, and today is triple class day. (Yes, I take 3 classes in one day. I know, glutton for punishment.)
Today, feeling better then last week, I was able to get more accomplished. My knees are still bothering me something fierce, but I think it will be okay, since I've officially changed my board break. Now, normally, you wouldn't do that, but after yesterday's discussion with SW, I was glad she approved, and was ready to help me get into the swing of it in class today.
It turns out, as I described how I predicted my break would be, that THIS will work! My roundkick break with my left is much stronger now that when I had to use it to break for rank before (thankfully!), and with a slight foot adjustment on my foot positioning when I land, I can spin around and make that reverse side kick. So, I practiced on wood, naturally, since I want to test on that (and I'm allowed to choose), and worked on the round kick first. No problem. Still have that, which is good considering I haven't done it in quite a while. Then there was the setup for the reverse sidekick. SW is incredibly skilled in giving directions on what to do and how to tweak what you are doing. First try, missed the board entirely! I knew as I did it that I didn't pivot enough around and didn't kick straight back. Second try, I made contact, but it was off center too much. Third time was the charm. POP! It broke about as close as you can get down the middle on a first try. SW was pleased too, as she pointed out that considering that this was the first time doing this break, to break it on the 3rd try was pretty good. And so with that, my confidence is restored in myself, and I have a new board break combo to work on that I'm sure will be ready for testing in a month. SW did point out too that I think too much when I break, so she was directing me to just keep moving.
More later...but YAY!
Today, feeling better then last week, I was able to get more accomplished. My knees are still bothering me something fierce, but I think it will be okay, since I've officially changed my board break. Now, normally, you wouldn't do that, but after yesterday's discussion with SW, I was glad she approved, and was ready to help me get into the swing of it in class today.
It turns out, as I described how I predicted my break would be, that THIS will work! My roundkick break with my left is much stronger now that when I had to use it to break for rank before (thankfully!), and with a slight foot adjustment on my foot positioning when I land, I can spin around and make that reverse side kick. So, I practiced on wood, naturally, since I want to test on that (and I'm allowed to choose), and worked on the round kick first. No problem. Still have that, which is good considering I haven't done it in quite a while. Then there was the setup for the reverse sidekick. SW is incredibly skilled in giving directions on what to do and how to tweak what you are doing. First try, missed the board entirely! I knew as I did it that I didn't pivot enough around and didn't kick straight back. Second try, I made contact, but it was off center too much. Third time was the charm. POP! It broke about as close as you can get down the middle on a first try. SW was pleased too, as she pointed out that considering that this was the first time doing this break, to break it on the 3rd try was pretty good. And so with that, my confidence is restored in myself, and I have a new board break combo to work on that I'm sure will be ready for testing in a month. SW did point out too that I think too much when I break, so she was directing me to just keep moving.
More later...but YAY!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Almost exactly one month and counting....
Testing days are on October 23rd and 24th, and naturally, I'm going for the 24th. Prolong the agony as long as possible, and I usually have class at that same time, and with the busy week we usually have, it's better to just stick to routine as much as possible. Anyway...
Drew finally had his first Monday class. We got there on time and everything. SW was teaching, and well, she was a lot tougher than usual. I don't know if it's because things have become too lax for her liking over the past year that, as she said, she's being the "mean teacher/instructor" again, or if she was trying to impress this tough couple from South Africa that were checking out her style. Nonetheless, I was really afraid that Drew might crack at some point, that she was being too strict. Since I had to leave early to attend Cub Scout leader training (4 hours long with only 1-10 minute break! Yikes!), I actually watched class, which I normally don't do. She had them start out with an exercise which she's done with us older kids,;-), which is do a jab-cross with a kihap to her count, switch sides, reverse it, then do the same thing adding a front kick after the punch combo, and reversing. Much to my surprise, although it shouldn't have been, Drew did great! He didn't get carried away and silly, and his punches and kicks were strong. When he glanced my way, I gave him an approving smile and a thumbs up. He was happy. She also tried working with them doing the hook kick, then the reverse hook. Now, I understand the breakdown of how to do it, and in drills, I can do it. However, the reason she was teaching it was that it's in CJ#2. Sure enough, I have a hard time putting it into motion and making it look good. I've worked on it for 3 cycles over the past year, and it's never looked "pretty", or at least it never felt like it looked pretty. Anyway, Drew needed a bathroom break, and was allowed to go, and I had to help him because he had 3 layers on-- undies, jock strap (to put cup in later), and of course, his uniform pants. So I went with him just to help. Yeah, I'm that kind of mom. Soon after he joined back in class, and I had to leave. I asked SW if he was okay for the rest of class, and she said yeah, he was fine. Was concerned about not remembering where his gear bag was, but otherwise was fine. WHEW! He seems to be listening and holding up okay in class so far. He complains about going, but I remind him that he promised he would go in 1st grade, and once he's there, he's fine. I think also that having those weeks at fun camp where it was a battle of the wills and SW won, so he knows not to cross her because he won't win. That's part of what I suspect. I think they are also keeping him interested and moving, and that always helps. He seems a little more enthusiastic about doing it once he's there, and he likes to show off his skills. I wish he was more mature and that I could put him in Leadership, because if we didn't have the scheduling conflict with Scouts, I'd take him to do XMA, I mean ATA Xtreme. Maybe by the time we get to the point that he's ready for that, there won't be a scheduling conflict.
In the meantime, today I finally asked SW that dreaded question about the back elbow break, and the possibility of changing my board break for testing. She explained that the horizontal break was not a back elbow break at all, and that's why she enforced the one she does, and she doesn't understand why other schools allow that. It was at that point that SHE suggested trying out a different breaking combo. I was relieved! As I told her, I was afraid that she'd say that it was too late in the process to do that. She felt that it would be prudent, as she wants me to feel confident about my breaks and succeed. She felt that someone with my height and body shape/weight distribution, that the round kick/reverse side kick combo would work out better. It's a fairly common black belt rank testing break, but I hate to admit it, but she's right (she usually is about these things, and that's why she's the 4th degree and I'm not). Now, what makes things interesting is that most people break with the same foot on both of those. Not me. I break with my left foot for my round kick, but usually do side kick breaks with my right. While I will be working with her on how to do it properly, I was figuring out the timing and positioning of doing these, knowing how to do a reverse side kick, at least, and I think that alternate foot combination will work well. If I kick with my left foot, I naturally land with my foot in front, from which I would immediately be in the right stance to make that reverse body spin, to set up to kick behind me with the right. I really think it'll work, but we'll see when I try it out in class tomorrow.
Tonight, I talked with JC about the testing, and the breaks and all that. I told him that originally I had wanted to have him, Drew, my parents, etc. come to my testing, but now I'm not so sure because of this lack of confidence. Until I feel like I can do this break, I'm afraid of failing in front of all these people. If I fail, I have to wait until December before I can test again, and mentally and emotionally I'm not up to that either. I'm bored out of my skull with the stuff I'm working on. I have worked long and hard to have a mere board break hold me back. It sucks. He said he'd still like to come if he can, and I said I'll wing it. It's one thing to have Pen and Sandy come, as they've seen me during the trip up, so to speak, and they are classmates, so they know what it's like. But to perform for your husband, and your parents? Different story. And I hadn't told him this yet (but will as soon as I finish typing this), Drew has expressed to me that he's not happy that I'm getting my black belt. I don't know if it's jealousy or what it is, but he said it makes him unhappy that I'm so far ahead. Granted, I originally did start out behind him,but between SW changing her rules about when kids advance, and him taking breaks, well, he IS behind, and part of that is him. If he hadn't taken such long breaks, he'd probably be a blue belt by now, about halfway through the system or so. Instead, the next testing, he's going to be going for his full camo belt. He still has 6 more belts after that. Things will speed up a little more once he turns 7 next year (and bigger expectations), as he still only has to do half of the form now, but at 7 he'll have to do the whole form. That's if he continues to stick with this, which I hope he does. I'm not sure about how to deal with that. Part of my thinking is that I shouldn't have him come to my testing, and just go alone because it's been a trip all on my own for the most part anyway. Just do it under the radar, so to speak, without drawing a lot of attention to it for him. I don't know. I'm going to have to think about it.
So, tomorrow I will have to really limber up again, and work hard for this. I want this to work too badly. I don't want to be stuck as a 1BR any longer than I have to be. I want that 1BD designation too badly. I still have some of that cold, but I'm not as weak and feeling like a dead fish like I was a week ago. I need to push myself a little more. I guess that's what being a black belt is about.
Drew finally had his first Monday class. We got there on time and everything. SW was teaching, and well, she was a lot tougher than usual. I don't know if it's because things have become too lax for her liking over the past year that, as she said, she's being the "mean teacher/instructor" again, or if she was trying to impress this tough couple from South Africa that were checking out her style. Nonetheless, I was really afraid that Drew might crack at some point, that she was being too strict. Since I had to leave early to attend Cub Scout leader training (4 hours long with only 1-10 minute break! Yikes!), I actually watched class, which I normally don't do. She had them start out with an exercise which she's done with us older kids,;-), which is do a jab-cross with a kihap to her count, switch sides, reverse it, then do the same thing adding a front kick after the punch combo, and reversing. Much to my surprise, although it shouldn't have been, Drew did great! He didn't get carried away and silly, and his punches and kicks were strong. When he glanced my way, I gave him an approving smile and a thumbs up. He was happy. She also tried working with them doing the hook kick, then the reverse hook. Now, I understand the breakdown of how to do it, and in drills, I can do it. However, the reason she was teaching it was that it's in CJ#2. Sure enough, I have a hard time putting it into motion and making it look good. I've worked on it for 3 cycles over the past year, and it's never looked "pretty", or at least it never felt like it looked pretty. Anyway, Drew needed a bathroom break, and was allowed to go, and I had to help him because he had 3 layers on-- undies, jock strap (to put cup in later), and of course, his uniform pants. So I went with him just to help. Yeah, I'm that kind of mom. Soon after he joined back in class, and I had to leave. I asked SW if he was okay for the rest of class, and she said yeah, he was fine. Was concerned about not remembering where his gear bag was, but otherwise was fine. WHEW! He seems to be listening and holding up okay in class so far. He complains about going, but I remind him that he promised he would go in 1st grade, and once he's there, he's fine. I think also that having those weeks at fun camp where it was a battle of the wills and SW won, so he knows not to cross her because he won't win. That's part of what I suspect. I think they are also keeping him interested and moving, and that always helps. He seems a little more enthusiastic about doing it once he's there, and he likes to show off his skills. I wish he was more mature and that I could put him in Leadership, because if we didn't have the scheduling conflict with Scouts, I'd take him to do XMA, I mean ATA Xtreme. Maybe by the time we get to the point that he's ready for that, there won't be a scheduling conflict.
In the meantime, today I finally asked SW that dreaded question about the back elbow break, and the possibility of changing my board break for testing. She explained that the horizontal break was not a back elbow break at all, and that's why she enforced the one she does, and she doesn't understand why other schools allow that. It was at that point that SHE suggested trying out a different breaking combo. I was relieved! As I told her, I was afraid that she'd say that it was too late in the process to do that. She felt that it would be prudent, as she wants me to feel confident about my breaks and succeed. She felt that someone with my height and body shape/weight distribution, that the round kick/reverse side kick combo would work out better. It's a fairly common black belt rank testing break, but I hate to admit it, but she's right (she usually is about these things, and that's why she's the 4th degree and I'm not). Now, what makes things interesting is that most people break with the same foot on both of those. Not me. I break with my left foot for my round kick, but usually do side kick breaks with my right. While I will be working with her on how to do it properly, I was figuring out the timing and positioning of doing these, knowing how to do a reverse side kick, at least, and I think that alternate foot combination will work well. If I kick with my left foot, I naturally land with my foot in front, from which I would immediately be in the right stance to make that reverse body spin, to set up to kick behind me with the right. I really think it'll work, but we'll see when I try it out in class tomorrow.
Tonight, I talked with JC about the testing, and the breaks and all that. I told him that originally I had wanted to have him, Drew, my parents, etc. come to my testing, but now I'm not so sure because of this lack of confidence. Until I feel like I can do this break, I'm afraid of failing in front of all these people. If I fail, I have to wait until December before I can test again, and mentally and emotionally I'm not up to that either. I'm bored out of my skull with the stuff I'm working on. I have worked long and hard to have a mere board break hold me back. It sucks. He said he'd still like to come if he can, and I said I'll wing it. It's one thing to have Pen and Sandy come, as they've seen me during the trip up, so to speak, and they are classmates, so they know what it's like. But to perform for your husband, and your parents? Different story. And I hadn't told him this yet (but will as soon as I finish typing this), Drew has expressed to me that he's not happy that I'm getting my black belt. I don't know if it's jealousy or what it is, but he said it makes him unhappy that I'm so far ahead. Granted, I originally did start out behind him,but between SW changing her rules about when kids advance, and him taking breaks, well, he IS behind, and part of that is him. If he hadn't taken such long breaks, he'd probably be a blue belt by now, about halfway through the system or so. Instead, the next testing, he's going to be going for his full camo belt. He still has 6 more belts after that. Things will speed up a little more once he turns 7 next year (and bigger expectations), as he still only has to do half of the form now, but at 7 he'll have to do the whole form. That's if he continues to stick with this, which I hope he does. I'm not sure about how to deal with that. Part of my thinking is that I shouldn't have him come to my testing, and just go alone because it's been a trip all on my own for the most part anyway. Just do it under the radar, so to speak, without drawing a lot of attention to it for him. I don't know. I'm going to have to think about it.
So, tomorrow I will have to really limber up again, and work hard for this. I want this to work too badly. I don't want to be stuck as a 1BR any longer than I have to be. I want that 1BD designation too badly. I still have some of that cold, but I'm not as weak and feeling like a dead fish like I was a week ago. I need to push myself a little more. I guess that's what being a black belt is about.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Highs and Lows
While I write this the day after we took classes, I must warn that I think I'm getting sick. I'm not sure if it's a cold or allergies or both, but instead of getting better, I'm getting worse. That fun runny nose thing and coughing, thus not being able to breathe.
Yesterday, I was feeling more run-down, and my chest hurt from the congestion, but the runny nose and coughing hadn't kicked in yet in earnest. I only took one class yesterday, since I had Back to School night for Drew, and well, that's more important than instructor class anytime.
Remember the two boys I said I couldn't stand, and the one who gave me the bad bruise the other day? Well, guess whose mother just started as a white belt in our classes? Yes, you guessed. Oh man. She seems like a nice enough person, but man, I've noticed that she's one of those moms who drops off the kids, then leaves, and picks them up after class, so she's never had any idea of what they do (and both kids are 1st degree black belts, and worse, just joined leadership, but they don't act or do things like black belts). So, she was paired up with the other white belt mom, who "outranked" her by a stripe already, SV, but SV has a better clue about things because she's stayed for classes more often with her son, who's still a color belt. Sandy and I were paired up, which is a good pairing always. And WS was on her own with SW, which was fine. We generally went over some drills, and then Sandy and I worked on our forms together, and then I worked on my weapons drills while she worked on her competition routines since she's competing in DE on Saturday. She's going to be fine, as she's very good. Then, we worked on board breaking. I got two pieces of wood out, as it was review week, as I feel I still don't have a handle on spacing between boards, etc. So, SW held the board for the kick, and WS and Sandy held the board for the back elbow break.
Now, I wasn't feeling good anyway, so I just wanted to get things over with. But then it started. WS wouldn't shut her freaking trap. She's telling me how to set up the elbow board, and I know perfectly well how to do it. SHE was setting it up wrong, at least as far as where the grain would go. She also kept holding it up too high. I'm tall, but I'm not THAT tall. She's not a usual board holder, so I didn't like her telling me what to do, especially after I was having problems. I would tell her to let me set it up where I want, and let me learn from my mistakes if the case warranted. There was even a point where SW firmly reminded her that there should only be one person correcting her, and implied that it was herself, which is absolutely true, and I knew that. WS doesn't seem to remember that more often than not, and it's maddening. Now, when it comes to holding boards, I definitely trust Sandy implicitly. I KNOW she knows what she is doing. Now, it was bad enough that the break just weren't happening, and I'm sure a good portion of it was that I just physically wasn't up to it. But the worst happened, and I'm pretty sure it's WS's fault, but not Sandy's in the least. WS kept raising her board, and I kept lowering. On my last try, I put a lot of power into it. Now, I might not have done the break right (the board didn't break anyway), but it was set so high that in hitting it, the bottom of the board bruised the part of my arm above my elbow, and then I have a brush-burn type scrape on my elbow itself. It's quite visible, believe me, and it's right where you would lean on your arm to rest it or prop yourself up with it. It smarts like hell! While there is a good possibility that I messed up in setting up the board, I swear that WS moved it at the last moment. I really do, because I'm sure I set it lower. I stopped after that, because it hurt too much, and I was tired. NOW...when it was WS's turn to break, she was complaining that *I* moved the board for her hammerfist. Being much more practiced than her in holding boards, I know I didn't. And I never said anything out loud about her moving MY boards. But I thought she had some nerve. I really hope that one of these days, SW will sit down with her, and despite WS being one of her higher ranked students in the school, will finally put WS in her place about the fact that she has no authority, no matter what rank she is, over SW or any instructor since WS is not an instructor herself. In that respect, I outrank her, even though I'm still a color belt, and I'm the one who's been taking instructor classes for a year and a half, not her. While she means well, she doesn't know what she's doing, and thus an injury, like mine, can occur. She constantly is also like, "Well, XYZ teacher has us do this...". My dear, this is ABC teacher, and who cares what XYZ teacher does. You do it ABC's way in ABC's class, and that's that. She really is getting on too many people's nerves.
So those were the lows. I'm fine with forms and weapons, it's this damn board break. I'm tempted, yes, even this late in the game, to switch breaks since I'm having this much of a problem. I don't want to wait another whole cycle if I don't get the breaks. That would mean December. No, I need to get it done in October's testing. I'm just too mentally and emotionally ready to move on to new material.
The highs are better. Not as "dramatic", but better. While we missed the Monday class for Drew, I did get him there on time for the Wednesday class. Again, I stayed out of the way. NK did pull me aside, and asked me if she did the right thing last week with him when he did have that moment when he pulled out. I assured her that everything was fine, and she was perfectly fine with what she did, and filled her in on some things that we are working on with Drew's communication to help her help him. She was relieved, and Drew started in class. There was one moment when I did pipe up, because he was supposed to be working on something on his own, and he was scraping the mirror with his JB, and he kept doing it. I was afraid of him doing damage, so I just piped up for a moment, but otherwise, I stayed out of things. JC came to pick him up when sparring started, as I had to go to the Back to School night at school. JC said that towards the end, Drew was pretty tired, and started to pull out of class without melting down. SW tried to get him just to keep going for 30 more seconds, but he just wanted to sit, and so he did. He almost forgot to bow out and made a slight fuss, but nothing too bad. So, again, I see that as progress. He tried to fight me about going in the first place, but I reminded him that he promised that in 1st grade he'd start going again, and he didn't argue the point after that. And once he was in there, I didn't hear him getting in trouble or anything like that, so I think he's starting to adapt again. At least he can't say it's totally boring, because a lot of it is new stuff for him. The only thing I did remind NK as well was that it's only his 2nd week back after a 6 month absence, and he's doing the hardest color belt form (figures, huh?), and he's probably the lowest ranked one in the class, so remember to give him some slack, and she was fine with that, and understood to talk to him if he showed signs of feeling stressed about it. He's off to a better start, I think, and that's good. He was also so proud that he did his palm heel break in one shot that night, which was a first, and the joy and pride in his eyes were priceless. I was proud of him too, and made sure he knew it.
So, we'll have to see what happens on Saturday, and which class I take. I should take board breaking only, as that's my main weakness, and sparring to help with the battle of the bulge, but I don't know what's going on with JC's schedule, and my elbow is NOT going to be ready by then, I'm sure. :-S
Good luck to Sandy at the DE Regional Tournament on Saturday! Kick some butt and take names, baby!
Yesterday, I was feeling more run-down, and my chest hurt from the congestion, but the runny nose and coughing hadn't kicked in yet in earnest. I only took one class yesterday, since I had Back to School night for Drew, and well, that's more important than instructor class anytime.
Remember the two boys I said I couldn't stand, and the one who gave me the bad bruise the other day? Well, guess whose mother just started as a white belt in our classes? Yes, you guessed. Oh man. She seems like a nice enough person, but man, I've noticed that she's one of those moms who drops off the kids, then leaves, and picks them up after class, so she's never had any idea of what they do (and both kids are 1st degree black belts, and worse, just joined leadership, but they don't act or do things like black belts). So, she was paired up with the other white belt mom, who "outranked" her by a stripe already, SV, but SV has a better clue about things because she's stayed for classes more often with her son, who's still a color belt. Sandy and I were paired up, which is a good pairing always. And WS was on her own with SW, which was fine. We generally went over some drills, and then Sandy and I worked on our forms together, and then I worked on my weapons drills while she worked on her competition routines since she's competing in DE on Saturday. She's going to be fine, as she's very good. Then, we worked on board breaking. I got two pieces of wood out, as it was review week, as I feel I still don't have a handle on spacing between boards, etc. So, SW held the board for the kick, and WS and Sandy held the board for the back elbow break.
Now, I wasn't feeling good anyway, so I just wanted to get things over with. But then it started. WS wouldn't shut her freaking trap. She's telling me how to set up the elbow board, and I know perfectly well how to do it. SHE was setting it up wrong, at least as far as where the grain would go. She also kept holding it up too high. I'm tall, but I'm not THAT tall. She's not a usual board holder, so I didn't like her telling me what to do, especially after I was having problems. I would tell her to let me set it up where I want, and let me learn from my mistakes if the case warranted. There was even a point where SW firmly reminded her that there should only be one person correcting her, and implied that it was herself, which is absolutely true, and I knew that. WS doesn't seem to remember that more often than not, and it's maddening. Now, when it comes to holding boards, I definitely trust Sandy implicitly. I KNOW she knows what she is doing. Now, it was bad enough that the break just weren't happening, and I'm sure a good portion of it was that I just physically wasn't up to it. But the worst happened, and I'm pretty sure it's WS's fault, but not Sandy's in the least. WS kept raising her board, and I kept lowering. On my last try, I put a lot of power into it. Now, I might not have done the break right (the board didn't break anyway), but it was set so high that in hitting it, the bottom of the board bruised the part of my arm above my elbow, and then I have a brush-burn type scrape on my elbow itself. It's quite visible, believe me, and it's right where you would lean on your arm to rest it or prop yourself up with it. It smarts like hell! While there is a good possibility that I messed up in setting up the board, I swear that WS moved it at the last moment. I really do, because I'm sure I set it lower. I stopped after that, because it hurt too much, and I was tired. NOW...when it was WS's turn to break, she was complaining that *I* moved the board for her hammerfist. Being much more practiced than her in holding boards, I know I didn't. And I never said anything out loud about her moving MY boards. But I thought she had some nerve. I really hope that one of these days, SW will sit down with her, and despite WS being one of her higher ranked students in the school, will finally put WS in her place about the fact that she has no authority, no matter what rank she is, over SW or any instructor since WS is not an instructor herself. In that respect, I outrank her, even though I'm still a color belt, and I'm the one who's been taking instructor classes for a year and a half, not her. While she means well, she doesn't know what she's doing, and thus an injury, like mine, can occur. She constantly is also like, "Well, XYZ teacher has us do this...". My dear, this is ABC teacher, and who cares what XYZ teacher does. You do it ABC's way in ABC's class, and that's that. She really is getting on too many people's nerves.
So those were the lows. I'm fine with forms and weapons, it's this damn board break. I'm tempted, yes, even this late in the game, to switch breaks since I'm having this much of a problem. I don't want to wait another whole cycle if I don't get the breaks. That would mean December. No, I need to get it done in October's testing. I'm just too mentally and emotionally ready to move on to new material.
The highs are better. Not as "dramatic", but better. While we missed the Monday class for Drew, I did get him there on time for the Wednesday class. Again, I stayed out of the way. NK did pull me aside, and asked me if she did the right thing last week with him when he did have that moment when he pulled out. I assured her that everything was fine, and she was perfectly fine with what she did, and filled her in on some things that we are working on with Drew's communication to help her help him. She was relieved, and Drew started in class. There was one moment when I did pipe up, because he was supposed to be working on something on his own, and he was scraping the mirror with his JB, and he kept doing it. I was afraid of him doing damage, so I just piped up for a moment, but otherwise, I stayed out of things. JC came to pick him up when sparring started, as I had to go to the Back to School night at school. JC said that towards the end, Drew was pretty tired, and started to pull out of class without melting down. SW tried to get him just to keep going for 30 more seconds, but he just wanted to sit, and so he did. He almost forgot to bow out and made a slight fuss, but nothing too bad. So, again, I see that as progress. He tried to fight me about going in the first place, but I reminded him that he promised that in 1st grade he'd start going again, and he didn't argue the point after that. And once he was in there, I didn't hear him getting in trouble or anything like that, so I think he's starting to adapt again. At least he can't say it's totally boring, because a lot of it is new stuff for him. The only thing I did remind NK as well was that it's only his 2nd week back after a 6 month absence, and he's doing the hardest color belt form (figures, huh?), and he's probably the lowest ranked one in the class, so remember to give him some slack, and she was fine with that, and understood to talk to him if he showed signs of feeling stressed about it. He's off to a better start, I think, and that's good. He was also so proud that he did his palm heel break in one shot that night, which was a first, and the joy and pride in his eyes were priceless. I was proud of him too, and made sure he knew it.
So, we'll have to see what happens on Saturday, and which class I take. I should take board breaking only, as that's my main weakness, and sparring to help with the battle of the bulge, but I don't know what's going on with JC's schedule, and my elbow is NOT going to be ready by then, I'm sure. :-S
Good luck to Sandy at the DE Regional Tournament on Saturday! Kick some butt and take names, baby!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
