Well, the first post of the year has come a little overdue, but it is here nonetheless. Quite a lot has gone on of late so will have to go back a little, starting with the final weeks of 2010.
Having already submitted my essay about my life in Tang Soo Do, the dreaded day of my physical test arrived on the 4th of December, a day which will be ingrained in my memory for the rest of my days. It was an extremely long and hard day, and I won’t go into detail in case I spoil it for those who have this pleasure to look forward to, but by the end I was a very broken man. And for the record yes, I was sick. The written test was equally as challenging and I was just as nervous for that as I was the physical, but (via some sort of miracle) I was told on Christmas day that all had gone well. It is easily the biggest achievement of my life, although I did had lots of help and support throughout of which I am very grateful for. It’s nice to know that I wont have to face a test of that magnitude for a while, but now my training has shifted up a gear and I have some extremely difficult things to work towards.
I have just about got Jin Do (Chinto) into my head and although it’s not a very long form, it is execptionally tricky and requires a ridiculous amount of balance. I have also been working through Jun Jol which is the second of the Yuk Ro Hyung series and is already one of my favourites. It has a really nice feel to it and blends the soft with fast, explosive movements and is very satisfying to perform. This will hopefully be one of (or possibly my only) tournament form for this year, although it is going to take considerable work to get it up to tournament level. I think my biggest challenge of all though will be Chil Sung Sa Ro. It is the fourth form out of seven and is the longest that I have had to learn so far. Just getting the sequence of moves in my head from start to finish will be challenging enough, let alone the fact that it constantly keeps changing direction throughout and there are two very hard 180 degree jump, spinning, crescent kicks towards the end, and all recent attempts have failed miserabley. So far I can get about half way through the form before I start losing it, so definitley a work in progress!
Next on the calendar is ‘the Martial Arts show’ at the Birminham NEC, but hopes of me attending this are gradually dwindling, so sights are firmly set on our Summer Camp which is due at the end of the month. This will be three very hard days of training hosted mainly on Gwithian beach, covering all aspects of our art with some very sebnior members from the EMTF joining us, and will hopefully include some coverage of the first sword form as I have missed out on this in past events. After that it will be the British Championships in June, which I am looking forward to but a little apprehensive about. It feels like an age since I last competed in a big tournament and I am feeling a little rusty if truth be told. It’s also where I step up into the Dan category so I can expect a very tough time from here on, competing as a red belt was hard enough! As mentioned I am hoping to use Jun Jol as my tournament form here and I believe we have to pick between traditional and Chil Sung/Yuk Ro forms which is a bit gutting, but may allow me to enter a weapons category which I haven’t done before. Out of three categories we can enter I always go for two forms and sparring, so if the forms are condensed into one then I would love to have a go at either of the two dagger forms. We are also working on a ‘Team Hyung’ comprised of myself and three other Dan members, which will merge Chil Sung Sam Ro and Sa Ro together with choreographed fight scenes in between, more on this to come…
Lastly, my flights and accommodation to the World Championships in Florida have all been paid for now, so it’s just a case of earning enough pounds to convert into dollars as I can before August. As we couldn’t get booked with the rest of the team it will just be myself and Tim travelling together, and we are all set to fly from Heathrow on Monday 8th of August at 9:40am, transferring in Miami and then flying on to Orlando, eventually arriving at 17:50pm. As most people will know I have a massive fear of flying (one of my only fears I’ll have you know) so even with a few months to go I am already starting to dread it. I actually had a nightmare about it last night, so you can see how much it affects me! This is going to be a huge test for me and I am under no illusion that taking something from this tournament is highly unlikely, but either way it is something that I must do. This may be my grand finale’ on the tournament scene, which has been discussed at much length but we will see. At the moment the prospect of my £820 seat attached to 85 tonnes of metal being propelled into the air at 30,000 feet is enough for me to deal with right now, so one step at a time.
That’s about it for now I think. I am in fairly good health and my long list of injuries are gradually starting to fade, apart from a split and swollen lip via a full power kick in the mouth during Kickboxing last week (I guess some things will never change). As this is, and always has been a training blog, I have purposely left out everything else, although having a few weeks of well needed sunshine has been an absolute blessing. There is no better way to relax and de-stress than sat on the beach with sand between your toes.
Ahh… Summer
