Report on the belt test

I was a bit apprehensive coming up to the test. A minor toe injury followed by a nasty bug heavily curtailed my training. I debated holding off until the winter, but decided to go and do it. I asked that the test not be made easier for my sake.

The day of the test I took off from work. I slept in, went to the ophthalmologist, then took another nap. I ate fish protein, real whole grain bread, simple nuts and cranberries. Ninety minutes before the test I got on my bike and cycled the four miles to the gym, taking my time except for one brief period of sprinting through traffic. I arrived feeling not my perfect best, but the best I had been in a long time.

I spent about an hour warming up. So by the time the test began my body was loose and limber. I was ready to go.

The first 30-40 minutes was rough. A really fast paced mix of strikes, movement, and forms. I kept my composure and focused on quality technique rather than speed or ferocity. I messed up a couple combination techniques, but at least the messed up techniques were done correctly, right?

We went to aerial kicks. These are a massive endurance drain. Yet all those endless repetitions paid off, and I fell into an easy rhythm. I felt strong and powerful, and I could have done this forever.

Falling drills make me dizzy to begin with because spinning affects me, add in new contact lenses and recovery from illness and I wondered if I was going to pass out. If you saw me jumping up or down at that part of the test that was me trying to clear my brain.

Forms came next. When I did the 3rd dan form by myself I made a couple minor mistakes but the techniques I executed felt crisp, fast, and strong. My 3rd dan co-tester Dave S did one of the better displays of the 2nd dan form I've ever seen - it exuded raw power. Since the English name of the form is 'Diamond Mountain' that he put so much power into it was awesome.

Self-defense followed, and here I was at a disadvantage. For self-defense I rely on a mix of Eskrima and Muay Thai, and the self-defense here was supposed to be different. You couldn't mix in strikes, just use turns, twists, and locks like in Hapkido (or Aikido). I tossed Dave a bit, and got tossed some as well.

In sparring I couldn't get warmed up. I haven't practiced it enough recently, so it took me a bit to get warmed up. Until the end I fought in pure linear fashion. I got scored against more than I like, but near the end I was starting to mix in much better footwork. I used punches as pushes which is a big no-no, but I did manage to land some nice kicks.

For breaking none of the strikes was a challenge except the first one, a round kick ball of foot strike. And turns out that was pretty easy too. I should have insisted on much more impressive breaks, but didn't handle that part of things so well.

And that was the test. I wish I hadn't been sick right before the test but I think I did fine. As for the others, Dave S did smashingly well, Lila was predictably awesome, and everyone else's effort was strong. I am most proud of my student Henry, because even though he was nervous he kept his composure and looked strong.

Did I pass? I don't know yet, and I am patient about finding out. That I could go and do this and do it well is what was important to me. I will be honored if I succeeded and I will work to improve myself regardless of how my performance was judged. That said, receiving the approval of my teachers, who were the ones who graded me, is no small thing.

Thanks to these people for their support on this whole thing: Mom, Dad, Seth, Joseph, Katie, Dave S, Chris, all my other friends, all my students and their families, my trainers Andrew and Samantha, and my teachers, Dave L, Mohammed, and Master Ron.

Taking the test tomorrow!

"Do it" said Andrew Goldfarb. So I am. So there.

Belt test update

First off, I'm getting off being rather sick for nearly a week. My endurance is shot, I've lost some strength, and I didn't get the chance to fine tune some of the techniques. Unlike some places, our high level tests are grueling and hard. So I have serious concerns about testing at this time. Therefore, I reserve the right to not test, and will probably make the call Thursday night.

Second, the time for the start of the test (if I go forward with it) is 6pm. Again, seating is limited so either come a little early or bring your own chair. Senior citizens do get preference, but if there are a lot of senior citizens...

Time: 6:00 pm
Location: 6408 Williamsburg, Blvd, Arlington, VA 22207
Phone: 703-536-9495

update: Oops, corrected title error from 'best' to 'belt'. Ha ha.

Belt test this Friday!

This Friday I'll be testing for my third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The details if you want to come and watch me kick, punch, stomp, and scream in a set of angry white pajamas:

Time: tentatively 4:45pm
Location: 6408 Williamsburg, Blvd, Arlington, VA 22207
Phone: 703-536-9495

Just so you know, there will be a lot of people coming to watch. A number of my students and fellow martial artists will be there to watch and provide support. Others will be testing so their families and friends will be there. So if you want a chair to sit in, I suggest you come early or bring your own.

Also, the test can go on for a long, long time. This test will go on for hours. Feel free to bring a snack and drink. If you need to leave early, that is perfectivly acceptable.

Cameras are allowed and encouraged!

Still sick

I felt bad on July 1, maybe even last day of June. Sore throat, fatigued, a bit of headiness. Nearly a week later and I feel the same. Not good.

Not good especially because of my test on Friday. You know, the one where I try to become a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The test is hard enough, but since I'm a teacher there I will have students coming to watch, so I don't have to just pass, I have to look good doing it. And I've had to scale back my training significantly because of this bug.

Very frustrating to be sick right now. Beautiful summer days, lovely weather, and I'm trying get by with a raspy voice and a quarter of my normal stamina. I did rest saturday and sunday, and yet I'm still feeling this way.

Oh well, today going to Doctor to see about antibiotics or something.

Training Schedule

My plans in January for getting ready were stymied a bit. Not that I haven't worked out, because I have. In fact, I am in phenomenal shape, even if at the moment I am fighting off the summer flu. So how are my goals coming along?

Drop some weight.
Did not manage it. On the other hand, I look like I lost weight. What I did is put on muscle in my legs, core, and torso, and secondarily in my shoulders and arms.

Get faster. Much faster.
I am faster now. When I get a few days off to recover I'm pretty snappy quick.

Increase endurance.
The cycling, extra weights, and extra martial arts paid off. Especially the cycling. I can go a long, long time at full speed.

Improve technique.
Most of my strikes and stances are pretty good. I wish my stances were better, but I'll never be happy there.

Make the test look easy.
I've got the strength, speed, and endurance that I want. My technique is pretty crisp too.

My current training schedule

In June I'm planning to test for my 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I'll quickly discuss my goals, diet, and training regimen.

Goals:
Drop some weight.
If I can lose 10 pounds by June and do it on top of my other goals, then that makes the other goals much more achievable.

Get faster. Much faster.
I used to be a very fast person. My reflexes were really good. My current speed is not bad but it could be so much faster. I aim to achieve my old speed yet again.

Increase endurance.
The cycling has been useful, but I need to supplement it. And come up with alternatives when the weather/work prevents.

Improve technique.
Everyone says I do things well. But I know my own weaknesses. My back kicks are actually turning side kicks. I have trouble delivering power on high round kicks. I do my spin kicks on the balls of my feet. And so much more.

Make the test look easy.
Our school's black belt tests are quite challenging. We are not a belt factory. People sweat gallons, get sick, weep, and that is in just the first hour. I want to make the other testers look like novices.

Diet:
Eat Less.
I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On workout days I'll eat a snack of nuts and dried fruit two hours before the fun begins.

Muscle Replenishment.
I am sore often so I make do with more protein and potassium.

Eat Better.
No more chips. Fruits and vegetables. More fish and less of other kinds of meat.

Training Regimen
Core Fitness.
On Mondays I meet with Ron Boykin for an hour doing weights and various other exercises focusing mostly on upper body and core. He has started to work my legs, which is good because cycling only hits a part of them.

I also do this on my own on Saturday. In addition to following a rough sort of plan, Ron Boykin got me hooked on jumping rope, which I can do forever if there is music.

Martial Arts.
Except for Friday I do at least 2 hours a day. Although the test is on Tae Kwon Do, I am also cross training with my old favorites of Boxing and Muay Thai, plus a bit of weapons work. A quick chart of who I am crediting as being trainers:

• Tae Kwon Do: Mohammed Husseini (Striking), Dave Lutes (Forms and footwork)
  
• Muay Thai: Andrew Goldfarb
  
• Boxing: Ron Boykin, Andrew Goldfarb
• Weapons: Ron Boykin, Scott Muzinski
  

Cycling.
I need a new bike but I am getting in a few miles here and there. My hope is that I'll be ramping this up getting towards June. My plan is to bike to work one day, then bike back home the next day. This will prevent overtraining in this one area.

Recap of 2008

• I went to Chicago for the first time. The architecture was beautiful. The local food was quite good, nearly as good as the Neapolitan fare I had in 2007.

• Cycled through New York City and reconnected with old family relations.
  

• Kept up with the martial arts. Competed twice.
  

• Almost up to 5 years without a broken bone!!!
  

• Worked another year with Python and Plone. Started to work professionally with Django.

• Stayed with NASA. Managed to see my team evolve into a group that doesn't make me want to pull out my non-existent hair.

• Launched our big project at work (http://nasascience.nasa.gov)
  

• Got my son into physical fitness again.
  

• Shaved my head.

• Got our finances more in order.

• Helped shepherd my students forward for the most part. I'm so proud of them.
  

• Didn't lose anyone close to me.

Update:

• Worked with Alex Clark to launch Take Back the Tap.

• Helped support Food and Water Watch.

• Lasted another year (4 years) at NASA.

• Had a painful kidney ailment in the spring that was a combination of bruising and dehydration.
  

2009 Saturday class schedule is formally confirmed!

My proposed class schedule for Saturday morning classes has been approved. It will go onto the web site shortly. I first blogged about it at the start of this month. The specifics class structure will be:

10:00 AM to 11:00 AM Core Fundamentals (open to all students)
This will be the practice of TKD forms and the individual elements which make up movements in the forms. So we'll go over not just the pattern of the form, but also practice proper stances, how to do the hand techniques correctly, as well as interpretation of what the movements of the forms mean.

10:45 AM to Noon Intermediate Class (open to all students)
This will be about striking and footwork. The first fifteen minutes will be a warm-up led by a black belt student for which the participants of the previous class will be exempt. The majority of the class will involve work against heavy bags, kicking shields, and punching targets with footwork and general strength training mixed in.

Training notes

• Fixed my diet. No more junk food or snacks!
  
• Next week I start my weight lifting regimen in earnest.
• Side kicks looking sharper.
• Round kicks at face level with power.
• Really working to launch all kicks from the balls of my feet.
• Need to get light gloves for bag work. Can't afford sore hands during my day job.
• Six months from about right now!
  

My saturday class plans for 2009

After running the same sort of Saturday class for several years I've decided to stir things up. Much as I like the current way of doing things, I have new goals in 2009 for myself and students. New planned schedule:

10:00 AM to 11:00 AM Forms class (open to all students)
This will be the practice of TKD forms and the individual elements which make up movements in the forms. So we'll go over not just the pattern of the form, but also practice proper stances, how to do the hand techniques correctly, as well as interpretation of what the movements of the forms mean.

10:45 AM to Noon Striking class (open to all students)
This will be about heavy contact striking. The first fifteen minutes will be a warm-up led by a teen/adult black belt student for which forms class participants will be exempt. The majority of the class will involve work against heavy bags, kicking shields, and punching targets with footwork and general strength training mixed in.

Second place in my second tournament

So I competed again. The tournament ended up competing with another event 150 miles away so attendance was low. The hosting school had people there, but the ones walking around had no apparent interest in running the event, much less coaching their own kids. I remember haranguing some of them to get involved.

Well, fortunately for them our head coach stepped up to the plate. He got the tournament running, organized it on the fly, and took care of business. Our parents stepped up as well, and thanks to Team OMAA the tournament seemed to end well. Also, our team did well. Some thoughts about our team:

• I was happy to see Bijan vindicate himself in sparring against the kid who got an inappropriate score in forms.
• Taylor did wonderfully in his first sparring match.
• I really thought Leila broke my finger with her jump spin kicks during breaks. The crowd erupted in very loud cheers during her breaks.
  
• Neil was on fire during his breaks.
• It was good to see Kathyrn step up to compete!
• Scott Sawicki FTW!
  

So my effort in competition... the video had problems, and so until I get photos from some of the other folks I've got nothing to show.

I can say that I know I did better, and observations of me by knowing parties seem to back that up. I did make two significant mistakes, and got some advice that will help me in the future. However, the guy who beat me deserved to win, and was a gracious competitor. He did a higher ranked form and did it very well. I'll work harder for next time, and do his form better than he did to boot. So my observations about myself:

• I got my competition uniform hemmed.
  
• My deep stances were deep. I nailed all my stances.
• My first two front stances were solid, which is hard to pull off during that particular combination.
  
• Three of side kicks were good, but one was off.
• My hand techniques were crisp.
• I did not finish where I started (big in Korean and some Japanese forms)
  
• People said my combination sets were good.
  

Why I'm not competing in sparring right now

I keep getting asked this question. I really want to compete in sparring, but various reasons prevent me. Here is the list:

• I work a full time job that goes more than 40 hours a week sometimes.
• I do side consulting.
• I teach martial arts 10+ hours.
• When we do sparring practice, either I'm tasked with coaching or there is no one who is at my level.

On the last bullet, what I worry most about are hand and arm injuries. I can't afford to lose the use of what I type with, since that is what covers our mortgage. On the plus side, with the growing size of our adult class, I should be able to find good opponents.

The first effort I made in a TKD competition

The final result? I tied for second in the over 35 category.

I had managed to catch a flu bug going into this effort, so had serious second thoughts. If my father had not shown, I'm sure I would have just forfeited. However, since my father was coming, I had no choice but to compete. Therefore I'm glad he came, because it was worth the experience.

My fellow competitors in my age group were a nice bunch of guys. We joked about our age and encouraged each other on. I certainly cheered when they did their forms. I hope to see them again in the future.

A few general things first before my form commentary: During the form my vision narrowed down amazingly. I could not hear a thing besides my own thoughts, which were loud.

And now the specific commentary:

• I need to get my uniform pants hemmed.
  
• My deep stances were shallow.
• My first two front stances had bent knees. Brandon Winegarden fixed this but I did not!
  
• My high side kicks at the beginning had poor extension and sucked.
• The high side kicks in the middle looked good, but the landing on one of them was iffy.
  
• My front kicks were good.
• My hand techniques were crisp.
• I leaned too far forward on the knee strikes.
• The last four stances were stepped through incorrectly. Scott Sawicki pointed this out to me 30 minues and while I thought I corrected it in the form, I obviously did not.
  
• I made a big mistake on the last hand technique and I was facing to the side. This might have cost my first place.
  
• In general my form could have used more energy. Watching the video I look like a robot.

Weekend competition information for me

I'm posting this because a couple family members wanted to see me in a demo or competition. Eventually we'll put the videos online (not because we think we rock, but so we can see what we did right and wrong). I'll be doing just one event, will be up for about 3-10 minutes, and since this is my first event, I'll probably do mediocre at best. I like to think I'm good, but I'll probably be a bit nervous and am likely to make some silly mistakes. Of course, besides competing I'll be coaching so I'll be pretty busy and will only have so much time to be social.

So if you want to sit on bleachers by yourself for hours starting at 9:30 am in order to see me give a go for a few minutes then here is the address:

Saturday, November 1, 2008
Driving Directions to the Tournament
University of the District of Columbia
4200 Connecticut Avenue NW
Physical education BLDG 47
Washington, DC

Fitness update

Me

So I started lifting weights again on my birthday after a month-long hiatus. Had to do it because I didn't like my arms feeling rubbery when I did't flex them. I completely changed my routine, focusing mostly on freeweights, starting with as heavy as I can go on something for a full set and then doing secondary and tertiary sets with lighter weights, with the later exercises including auxiliary muscle work. I'm liking the results a lot.

Now that he's started up again, I train in TKD every time the kid trains. Its nice not to be a teacher and just focus on me for a few hours each week. On the plus side, to get a full workout I need to bike from work (12 miles) then train or the class is too easy. This is a good thing especially since...

As of December 2007 I'm eligible to test for my 3rd degree black belt in TKD. I'm not sure I'm going to do it, but I'm thinking about. I plan to make a decision by the end of this month, August 2008.

As for cycling, trying to do it every day except mapbe fridays. My bike has issues, like a seat that won't adjust, so I may have to get a new bike. I've got my eyes open on craiglist for something nearby that is affordable. Next month I do 102 miles in NYC with JSR and my brother.

Kid

He's going to the gym with his mom for treadmill and cycling work. He also rides his bike a lot. And he has decided in TKD he wants to double test in October. He'll have to work hard or that because that he could fail and onl get one belt.

He has a couple pending free personal training sessions he can use. I want him to do these because he ought to be doing weights. But I'm making a point of not pushing him.

Jen

Cycling and treadmilling plus now circuit training. Woot!

Taught my son yesterday

He's been doing a lot more cycling and has started back up with Tae Kwon Do, albeit from the beginning. So far he's gone with me to one of my teacher's classes on monday nights with me. He really enjoys it, although he has trouble with the warm ups, but that will come with time.

So yesterday, on a Tuesday, he came to my teen class. I treated him like any other beginner, which meant a focus for part of the class on falling. My classes have a lot of falling and tumbling, and also get into sparring and a lot of rough contact. It will be months before he will be ready for that stuff in full, but this is the start.

He prefers the other class. That doesn't surprise me, since my class is limited to just 45 minutes and I have to cook in everything I can in that limited amount of time. Also, the falling part is different and a bit uncomfortable for him.

Barack Obama versus John McCain

Lets get down to it, a real comparison between Barack Obama and John McCain. A physical comparison!

Last election year (2004) I called the election by comparing Bush and Kerry, and Bush won out because he was an avid exerciser, lifting weights, running, and cycling. Both lost out to Putin, who because of his Judo and Sambo skills could kick both their butts, and so will remain in charge of Russia forever.

John McCain starts out strong. He served for over 20 years in the US Navy as a combat pilot, being wounded several times and surviving as a prisoner of war. He's got a temper that probably lets him clobber anyone in his path. Unfortunately for this candidate he's 72 years old and therein lies his weakness. So I'll give him the edge in combat experience and willingness to follow through on a proper beatdown, but take him to task on his ability to take punishment and last the distance.

Barack Obama has seen no violence outside that of being a politician from the Chicago area. He does seem fit and trim, and supposedly stays that way through a combination of diet and playing basketball. His lack of combat skills and experience hurt him. So I'll give him the physical edge especially with his youth, but take him to task for his ability to really hurt his opponent.

Again Vladimir Putin of Russia wins on his Judo and Sambo skills, and the plain fact that Vladimir is a cool name. Maybe he should get into American politics?

Hu Jintao of China? Well, he excelled in dancing during high school. He stays trim somehow, but its unclear what his methods might be. He is a completely unknown contender, but his slightly awkward posture suggests no relevant physical skills.

My students take the big test

I teach quite a few teenagers and kids martial arts. Most of it is Tae Kwon Do but I mix in Muay Thai and Kali from time to time. Anyway, seven of my teens are testing this Friday (6/20/2008) for either their apprentice black belt or full black belt. This, for what its worth, is a big deal. Why?

Our school is really rough. It takes 4 - 7 years to get ready to test for black belt here, often leaning to about 6 years. We have high expectations for our students, and at black belt level testing, the students fail about 50% of the time. Compare that to the belt factory schools where you get your black belt in 2 years regardless of your knowledge or skill, but rather based on the fact that you are willing to shell out $750 for a black belt.

Anyway, I'll be there. If you are interested in coming to watch the effort of years of work let me know. Just so you know, this is not a demonstration, and it is not a tournament. This is a grueling test, where for at least the first hour we'll have exhausted the students to see how they perform under duress. So the technique may not look pretty, even if the students can be really impressive when they are fresh.