Testing went from 6:00 - 7:30 pm.

This was a nice sized testing; not huge, but eight total testing:  a white belt, a low orange belt, a high orange belt, three high green belts, a low blue belt, and a middle brown belt.  Testing went from 6:00 pm to about 7:30 pm.

Before testing, I made the case with the CI, who is also a 5^th dan to let the 3^rd dan co-owner to sit on the testing panel as well.  After all, he is a 3^rd dan, the co-owner of the school, and deserves a seat at the table.  Besides that, we have plenty of 2^nd dan black belts that can lead the testing, so we had one of them do it.  He’s a 16- or 17-year-old 2^nd dan, and it was his first go at something like this, and it was a surprise to him.  He’s still learning to give the proper commands and learning how to control everything.  It’s mainly about building confidence.  He led the group through some abbreviated basics to get everyone warmed up.

White Belt

Our young gal.  She had a great form.  Maybe one of the stances was a little off, and she had a few small targeting issues with some of the techniques, but otherwise, she did great.  Her one steps looked good, too; she just had some white belt issues with things, like stances slipping a little because she’s focusing on targets and the like.  Overall, though, a great testing for a white belt.

Low Orange Belt

This guy was with us some time ago, and after a long Taekwondo hiatus, he’s back.  He also has an Aikido base, so he’s an experienced martial artist.  His Aikido background shows up in his forms and one-steps, too, which is cool to see.  I believe he told me he got to 1^st kyu in Aikido.  His form looks good, and you can tell he’d done it in the past.  I think he got to high blue or low brown belt his previous time through Taekwondo.  He ran a few techniques together, and he seemed to shorten a few front stances early in the form.  I’d talked with him about it during classes, and it’s a feeling thing on the stances.  He doesn’t feel comfortable if the stance gets too stretched out, and for me, the main thing is being able to move and transition.

He and the high orange belt that tested were asked to do their form a second time, and the Isaac told them to put more “you” in the form.  Their second efforts were better.

His one-steps were good, and so was his sparring.  He had pretty good control and good movement.  He’s tall, and can cover a lot of ground.

High Orange Belt

She’s another of our young kids.  Her form was looking pretty good.  She was running a few techniques together and her early stances were a little short.  Her second effort was better.  But overall, I’m pretty happy with her performance; she just needs to be in class more consistently.  Part of that is mom getting her there.  She shows promise and go as far as she’s willing to go.

One-steps were pretty good.  She needs to define her kicks better, tightening up the chambers, and use the ball of the foot on the round kicks in one-steps.  Sparring was pretty good, and she was trying different combinations.

High Green Belt

Three of them here, all pre-teen or teenage girls (a set of twins).  We had 4 of them, and I thought all 4 were going to test, but one was held back this time around, to work on flexibility I learned later.   I don’t think I’d have held him back for that, as it can be worked on along the way.  But it has apparently lit a fire under him.

All three of them need more “emotional content” in their forms.  They know the form, and they go through the form, but they aren’t really expressing themselves in the form.  The initial combo is a pretty intricate section, and completion of each technique can be tricky if rushed.  They need to work a bit more on this completion.  And their back stances, keeping the front foot pointed forward.

Hands were dangling during one-steps.  Thinking about targets and techniques but forgetting about where their hands are.  A few of the girls are pretty timid and it shows up in technique performance.  They are at the rank now where they need to start closing the distance more so the techniques are closer to their intended targets.

One of the twins smiles during sparring.  She was just having a good time, and it caused the other girl to start giggling.  It relaxed them, but they kept their focus.  The other twin shortens her kicks by not letting her body extend them.  Both could use a little more footwork.

Low Blue Belt

One of our little guys.  High energy, 110% all the time.  So much so that he was always off-balance and his movements seemed erratic.  So we introduced one of those “martial arts paradoxes,” and we made him “slow down to speed up.”  Slowing down solidified his techniques and helped his balance, and now his techniques look sharper, more under control, and they look faster.  I tell my defensive tactics students all the time that “slow is smooth, smooth is faster;” basically the same concept.  In his form he had great control with good speed.  Lacked a little target focus on some hand techniques, but by and large he has improved greatly.

In one-steps, his hands were dangling, too.  Tighten up the techniques a little bit.  In sparring, he tends to hop when he throws kicks, and sometimes he gets caught in the air and floored, so we have to work that out of him.

Middle Brown Belt

She did several forms as part of her testing requirements.  Hwa Rang was very good.  Toi Gye was good, with a few things to clean up.  Good power.  Do San, she forgot.  She was really nervous for this test, and the nerves caught up here.  She started out ok, but then ran it into Won Hyo and couldn’t find her way back.  Then she did Chon Ji and that was fine, and she was given a break.  When she came back up, she did Do San just fine.

One-steps were good, although I felt like I may have been showing her wrong on one of them.  Later on she said she knew them, but she was getting dizzy during the test and was losing focus.  Distance and targets.  She likes to cram people when she spars, which takes away some kicking, but she needs to learn to space herself when needed.

For board breaking she did an elbow strike and a side kick.  I do believe we need to practice actual breaking more often so students get the feel for the distance and set-up needed so she doesn’t cram herself.  Tight chambers and proper distancing on the side kick.

This was an overall good testing.  Aside from some small fixes here and there, technique is solid across the board, and I keep seeing improvements from one testing to the next.  One thing I’ve tried to emphasize in forms is not “standing up” when transitioning from one stance to another.  I would rather they keep themselves gathered at the same height and draw power from the floor and the hips.  I see more of this in the lower ranks, and it’s starting to get better in the higher ranks.  I’m proud of how this group has performed and look forward to seeing how they continue to progress.

Excellent outcome across the board!! You’ve every reason to be proud of your Student Body…and yourself!!