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Another Night, Another Class
01/30/07
Another Night, Another Class
"Amanda, are you OK? You look down."
I looked at Temp Master. "Really?" I think for a minute. I don't think I'm scowling or anything, but I am fairly quiet. I don't want to explain that every year, February—not April—just seems to go on forever. It's not even February and I'm already feeling like it's dragging on. Instead, I give him a weary smile, "I think I'm just tired."
"Oh," he smiles. He doesn't believe me, but he's not going to push it. Koreans are so good that way. "OK."
We did poomse work. After the first wave of black belts did their forms, TempMaster asked me to work with Purple Belt, to make sure she was using the right blocks and punches. I asked Brown Belt and White Belt if they wanted to join us. We worked on Sa Jang through Pal Jang.
I found it terribly funny to think of how we must look. Four color belts, all in a row. The foreigner, 7 years older than the next oldest one in the group, counting in Korean, telling the white belt the next moves in imperfect Korean, encouraging the easily discouraged Brown Belt to try again. All while the first dan black belts—including two wearing "Instructor Club" uniforms—sit on the floor. And just. Stare.
When I got there, HR caught my eye and bowed to me. I returned the bow. Enough said.
When we did kicking practice with targets, I was paired with Guy Who Doesn't Know I'm a Movie Star. He bowed low to me, used both hands to pass the focus target between us. As a sign of respect, and because I still can't figure out all of the social rules, I almost always use both hands when passing anything to anyone other than my students. Though he is a higher belt, I am his elder, so it makes sense that he is using both hands. Still, I am always surprised when the more formal aspects of Korean culture are applied to me.
(I am also surprised with the -sumnida form is used with me. At the corner store I frequent, the husband uses -sumnida and -yo with me, his wife almost always uses banmal. I loosely know how to make banmal, but understanding it when it's combined with verbs I don't know, vocabulary I don't know, and her high-speed talking, is another matter. I often end up repeating what she's saying, using the -yo form. When they're both there, my mind is working in overdrive.)
Guy was favoring one leg. "다리가 아파요?"
"애?"
"다리가," I touch my leg, "아파요?"
"네, ouchie!"
TempMaster yells for me to move the target higher. I do, but as soon as he turns around, I drop it down a few inches. Guy smiles.
4 comments
A couple of questions.
when I was in Korea it seemed that White, Yellow, Green, Blue, Red and Black belts were used.(also what our schools use)Are Purple and Brown used in most gyms?
Will you have to board break (Kyupka) for your testing? The Kukkiwon did not used to require it, but I think they do now.
thanks!
gw
I don't know what belts are used in most gyms. I've seen white, blue, purple, brown, red, and black at this temp studio, but I don't think those are all of the belts, just the ones I've seen. Did your gym "tip" or "stripe" those non-black belts to make it ten gups? My studio runs as follows with no tipping or stripes.
white
yellow
orange
blue
blue with a brown stripe (what I came in as)
purple
green
brown
brown with a red stripe
red
black
Where did you hear that striking was including? Last I heard, that wasn't included in 1st dan tests. (I don't mind if it is, I like striking, but I haven't done it once since I've been here. Furthermore, I have never used these rebreakable boards, so I'd want to get some practice in.)
Master told me what the test would be, but he said something is going to be left off. I think it's only poomse (Pal and one random one) and sparring? I asked about kicking, and he said no. (Or, he said yes to kicking and no to sparring, I don't remember.) I'll double check on Monday.
I know that my American Master (he left Korea about 40 years ago) is sorely disappointed that the testing requirements here are so easy. In fact, I've been downplaying the importance of the whole thing to my mother. She pointed out a) I can't help the Kukkiwon standards and b) I can't help that if you test in Korea it MUST be in a Kukkiwon-sanctioned setting.
My mother also says that the psychological stresses of training (and more importantly living!) as a foreigner in Korea should be taken into consideration. ^^
When I was at Yonsei, my friends testings at the Kukkiwon were all 2 poomse picked at random, and about 30 - 45 seconds of sparring.
my Instructor (who lives in Korea) said that the Kukkiwon has started to do breaking,(striking) but I didnt get any details.
yes, our belt system in my school is 10 gups, and we use stripes, White, White/yellow, Yellow, Yellow/green and continues with Green, Blue Red and black.
Take care!
gw
Still, there is a lot I don't understand, especially in unfamiliar environments. Being given commands or told what to do by people I don't know, who will speak God-only-knows how fast, when I don't know what to expect...that's more what freaks me out.
My friend Heidi was going to come to my test, and she speaks English very well, so if we really needed her we could have used her, but she'll still be in Hong Kong then!
Master wanted me to watch a test in December, so I had an idea of what to expect, but I was extremely sick that day and couldn't go. I'm sure he'll try to explain as much to me beforehand. He's good about that.
I could really improve my Korean if I went to a hogwan 3-5 nights during the working week. While I really would like to be fluent in this language, ultimately I'm not willing to give up taekwondo or even cut down to two days!
I'll check on the striking next week and get back to you.
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