pegasi

I just took my red belt test, it consisted of multiple forms including the one for my level, basic techniques, advanced techniques, terminology, self defense, advanced one step sparring. My school doesn't have a heavy sparring focus, so that's not always in the testing, that's optional. Have to be prepared for it, but may not be asked to do so.

It doesn't make sense to quit all the sudden just short of the BB goal. I imagine that there must be some underlying reason behind them quitting all the sudden. Perhaps they had financial issues and couldn't afford to test, but couldn't admit it? I presume you have testing fees, like most schools do. Pride can make people do strange things. I figure that unless word "gets around" that you may never know the real reason behind their sudden decision. Tough choice, but in the end, no real loss to your dojo from the sound of it.

Saturday I had my testing for red belt. I was nervous, didn't really know what to expect, other than that it would be a cut above the "regular" grading procedure. Sure enough, it was. Had to do my form, plus two previously learned forms, demonstrate the basic techniques, some advanced techniques, plus self defense and one step sparring. I was wore out when it was over. My classmate and I had the room full of kids going "ooohhh" like there were fireworks or something, with us doing the advanced onesteps that include various takedowns, which they don't see in the kids classes. It was fun, although a challenge. There were only the 2 of us adults testing for red belt, so ours were the hardest tests being given that day.

In my class, the children line up in front by rank, then by age (within the same rank), and the adults do the same behind them. If the class is very small, then we line up soley by rank, then age, so that no matter the rank, the oldest is "first" of that rank group. Making how you line up arbitrary like that eliminates the competition to be "first".

One drill that we do in class is to teach control. We line up into two lines, with about 2 feet of space between each person front to back and side to side (just enough room to go between the two lines walking normally). We then take turns doing kicks down the center of the two lines, starting from the back and working forward. The point is to perform your kicks without telegraphing. If you telegraph, you're going to kick someone standing in one of the lines. So, you are made very aware of how you're executing your kicks, especially roundhouse or crescent/sweep kicks. If you tend to swing your leg way out to the side when you kick, this is one drill that can cure it, since you have to pay attention to what you're doing.

Well, I can honestly say that I'm one of a very few ladies that work where I do, building satellite trucks. I can build power centers, wire data, audio or video patch panels, put connectors on all kinds of wires/cables, hook up equipment, etc. I can even do basic metal fab work. I find that there's always a ratio of at least 15 guys for 1 gal (not counting office staff) everywhere I've worked in the last decade.

I just got confirmation that testing will take place in March. Don't have an exact date yet, but do know that it will be happening. I'm kinda nervous, even now, just getting the confirmation that it will happen soon. I've been ready for a while now, according to my instructor, and he thinks I'll do fine. Me of course, am one bundle of nerves, which should settle by the time the day gets here. This is a big step for me, its the farthest I've gotten in my training in any style. I achieved 6th Kyu (purple) in Shotokan, but this is 4th Gup in TKD. A lot of feelings run through me, proud to have gotten so far, some fear about doing well on the test, which, given my instructor, is going to cover EVERYTHING we've learned. I've been warned that he's gonna make us work for it. So, Time to really review it all....7 forms, 9 self defense drills with variations, about 12-15 one step routines, all the "basic and advanced techniques, plus whatever else they think of, probably including sparring too. Ordinary tests are single board breaks, I think we're either going to get speed breaks, multiple breaks or some of both. As soon as I've a date, I'll pass it along.

I would seek the advice of your lung specialist and see if using a respriatory medication may help you to be able to handle physical exertion better. (I know of some meds, but can't say any names as I'm not a physician, ask your dr or do research) Talk to your sensei, perhaps you can be given special accomodations, such as breaking up the required activities with several short breaks. If there are others testing, perhaps they can have you do forms, have someone else test, then have you do self defense, then have someone else test, etc. Unusual way to do testing, but it would allow you time to recover in between sections of the testing, and testing in sections in between others would also avoid something like doing part of the test one time, and finishing it another, which seems even more unlikely than allowing you more rest periods than normal. I know that my instructor is accomodating of my physical disability, in that there are some techniques which I can understand how to do them, but I cannot physically accomplish them without harming myself. I also have heard of martial arts programs for the wheelchair bound, so I dont think it would be that difficult for your sensei to make some reasonable accomodation for you to test, given the infrequent opportunities to do so. Good luck, hope you get to take the test!

In the U.S., most states have a law that translates as "castle doctrine" which means that you can defend yourself within your home from an intruder, you do not have to retreat, and can use whatever level of force you have available. If you're in your home and someone breaks in, and you shoot and kill them, then you don't get charged because you were in your home and defending it and your family from an intruder. There's a new law in Florida which does away with the old rule that you are required to retreat from a confrontation in a public place. The new rule is that if you are in a place where you have a right to be there, and you are attacked, you do not have to make retreat the first option. You can defend yourself with appropriate force and not face charges. An example would be that if you have a concealed weapons permit, and are carrying a gun, and someone approaches you and attempts a robbery, you can use that gun in your own defense. You don't have to make retreat the first thing you must do. Some people don't like this law, but to me it's a good thing in that it helps to take away control of the public places from the criminal element. The bad guy now assumes more risk for what he does, since the victim can fight back without being required by law to retreat when in a public place. A person who defends themself from an attacker in public is a lot less likely to get battery or other charges against them for acting in self defense, because of the change in law. To me this is fair, since one should be able to defend oneself without being forced to run away (by the laws written). I'm not saying that a person would never get charged, if you went beyond self defense and turned from victim to aggressor, then crossing that line has its own consequences. Hopefully anyone in MA would be taught about the difference between being a defender and crossing the line to agressor.

Hope you're feeling better soon. My brother's b-day was the 9th as well. Rest up, feel better, and now you've got an excuse to eat a bit extra, I guess, losing all that weight so fast. Don't eat it all back in one place!

My desktop is a tower I built myself from parts I bought, with periodic upgrades as circumstances have allowed. It's in the ghz range, so it's good enough for the forseeable future. My laptop is an old compaq armada. 400mhz but functions fine for what I do.

I think that a lot of the "nitty gritty" sort of training does happen in classes that are age sorted, so that there are no kids under about 13 in an "adult" class. Sure, a teacher may make an exception for a mature 11 or 12 yr old, but that should be the exception rather than the rule. Classes labeled "adult" should have a minimum age (or at least rank, for younger students) to attend. Then the class can be harder physically, and you don't have to worry about the instructor slowing down the class for younger kids. The class I attend is like that, if you can't keep up, its suggested that the kids go to the kids class, not the class slow down for the kids who shouldn't be there. There's also a lot less tolerance for "kidly" behavior.

Like the others say, I wouldn't suggest trying to fight someone that much more physically imposing, just get away. If you haven't been taught them, ask your instructor about the breakaways you can use if someone grabs you by the arm, shirt, etc, or pushes you. We regularly train how to get away from someone who's grabbed you by the arm, clothing, hair etc. The focus is on getting away, and if you happen to be able to incapacitate your attacker in some way in the process, that's great, but not essential. The trick to making breakaways work is to react the moment you feel contact. If you let the aggressor get a firm grip, it gets harder to get loose. My regular partner in class is a guy a lot bigger than me, he's like 5'10"-6', where I'm only 5'4". He makes me work to get away, and sometimes I come away from class sore and sometimes a bruise or two. I'd rather that, than not know how to get someone to let go of me.

I've not done anything recently,but since I bought my house, I redid part of the kitchen to replace the stove, that took about 2 weeks working on it in 2 hr blocks, since my knee would revolt after about 2 hrs. I managed to overlay my front sidewalk from the house to the street with 48 16"x16"x2" concrete pavers laid on top of leveling sand spread over the old cracked up and sunk walkway. This took 3 weekends. I tore up the old vinyl rolled flooring in my bathroom and replaced it with the self stick squares. It took 3 days to scrape the old vinyl off the floor, prep the wood subfloor and lay in the new squares. It's been 3 yrs, and the stuff hasn't tried to peel up, so I must've done it right. That's been my major projects. I've also done things like replace wall switches with slide switches, to give more variable lighting, since I sometimes can't stand bright light with my migraines.

My 1st job was Little Caesar's pizza. Worked like 4 hr shifts, and we used to argue over who had to put the anchovies on the pizzas, since the oil left your hands smelling like fishy stuff forever. This was in the days before food service workers had to wear gloves.

Today just happens to be my 35th birthday, and I feel fortunate to have had a few "freebies" come my way. I'd like to thank Baskin Robbins for the free scoop of ice cream, and Hollywood Video for the movie to watch, as well as Firehouse Subs for the coupon for a free sub. Money's been tight, I'm forgoing a cake this year, but would like to share that I'm thankful for the things I did get for free. Has anyone else had the fortune to have some birthday freebies come their way?

I've used Outlook Express, Outlook, as well as web based email.

Are you talking about doing forms? I tend to think about body mechanics, about how it feels to be in certain stances, etc, so that I can become comfortable with how the flow of the form feels. I don't need this level of concentration once I've gotten comfortable with a form, which allows me to later on focus on the small issues, versus the form in general.

I can agree on the baked potato with cheese, maybe add some chopped bacon. I also love a good steak. I'll even eat sushi if the shrimp, crab or other fish is cooked. I make a pretty good homemade broccoli-cheese soup. I guess I'm somewhat of a "see-food" eater...... I see food, and I eat it. Now, I don't do really odd stuff like raw fish or octopus or squid. YUK!!

I think I'll just rely on my hogu (tkd chest protector), thanks. I can't possibly fit in any of those! They just don't come in sizes anywhere close to large enough for me.

Sorry you had the grief over the wallet. I would definitely report the name of the person who told you can claimed to not have the wallet, and any other names you have of those in that group to the police. You might be generous, and suggest that the offenders be given 24 hrs to cough up the wallet before the police come knocking. I don't know if I'd be that kind, but thought you might stand a small chance of recovery of some items if the suspects were given a chance to cough up your wallet before being confronted with the law.

Biofreeze is a topical "counter irritant" product along the lines of mineral ice, etc. It provides a sensation of cooling, without being actually cold to the touch. It provides some relief from soreness etc, just like a lot of products like absorbine, aspercreme, etc. Different products may have different modes of acting, like cooling or heating sensation, or just topical painkiller, etc.

I'm a veteran of knee issues too, although mine was not caused by MA. One thing that's plain to me is that any twisting motion with the body, without having the foot follow, will cause damage to the knees. My instructor calls this not pivoting. If you pivot the supporting foot as you kick, to keep the knee aligned, it makes the knee less prone to injury. My instructor tore his ACL because his foot stuck to a mat when he went to kick, twisting the knee. A lateral release is typically done for patellar tilt issues, some surgeons also do it because of lateral tracking issues with the patella. Failure to follow a good exercise regimen to strengthen the VMO muscle in the medial thigh,(along with the rest of the muscles supporting the knee) can contribute to lateral tracking issues. I won't go into my issues, of which there are several components, let's just say that my knee is permanently damaged and that a replacement is in my future.

I'm kind of mixed too. I like Diet Coke (or regular) but don't care for Pepsi or diet Pepsi that much (but will drink it if that's all that's avalable). I do however like Mountain Dew, particularly the Diet Code Red.

I've had a couple CD's before, the way they work is that you give them $500.00, for a set period of time, say 1 year, at a set interest rate say 4%. At the end of the year, you can either take your $520.00, or roll it over into another CD, where you then earn the current rate of interest on the $520.00. As to online banking, I do use it to pay my bills.