• Mikey Ryu
• May 29, 2024
• 0

Mikey: Eighth Month of Tae Kwon Do

In this blog, I will dive into what has been happening at our Tae Kwon Do Lessons over the last month and give you a quick rundown of what’s to happen, from my flexibility improvement, and black belt gradings all the way to my green stripe grading.

Week One:

Week one of this month was spent largely on preparing the block stripes for their black belt grading. The things we covered in these lessons were largely theory and sparing, with a bit of pattern. The theory was definitely one of the weaker points of everyone’s knowledge which is understandable since people retain around 75% of the information that they practice (according to Edgar Dale’s Learning Pyramid).

Personal Note: While I haven’t been aggressively stretching like my dad, my flexibility and dexterity have largely improved, I can now comfortably sidekick someone to the Ribs with both legs and Comfortably Roundhouse to the shoulder (if I properly warm up).

Week Two – Black Belt Grading (19th):

With the black belt grading happening on the weekend we ran through every form and did the entire lesson as if it was a grading, while this was mainly beneficial to the black belts it also helped me and others prepare for the standard that we were expected to be.

All the Black belts from our club (SDMA) have passed!

Week Three – Colour Belt Grading (25th):

As of the time I’m writing this, we have one more lesson before my and my sister’s grading (we’ll be grading for our green stripe) which is quite exciting. The theory questions we might get asked include:

• The Meaning of Dan Gun (our new highest pattern) – Dan Gun is the legendary founder of Korea in 2333BC
• How many Moves are In Dan Gun – 21 Moves
• What Yellow Belt Signifies – The yellow belt signifies the earth in which the plant’s roots grow, symbolising the growth of your foundational Tae Kwon Do Knowledge
• What L-Stance is in Korean – Niumja Sogi
• What are the 5 Tenents of Tae Kwon Do – Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self Control, and Indomitable Spirit
• What is Forearm In Korean? – Palmok

I’m generally ready for this grading and I plan to continue my A+ Grade streak if possible.

Week Four – No Tae Kwon Do:

Sadly both me and my dad will not be able to attend Tae Kwon Do for an entire week until the 4th of June as we will be in Japan! There will be more on our trip in another blog when we get back.

Lots has happened this month and many more things are to come, my dad is on about teaching me my new form while in Japan which will be cool, and I look forward to writing a blog about our trip. Let’s give all the coloured belts our luck so they can all pass their grades and I’ll catch you in the next blog!