9/17/05 - Testing; A NIGHT TO REMEMBER!

We left the house at around 9:30. We got there, I set up. 10:00 - Little Dragons Beginners. Judges: Dad, Katie, Sa Bom Nim, Kwan Jang Nim, and Dave. So cute! Patrick was so funny. Erica didn't test. They were so funny when they were doing forward rolls on the mats! Jordan was there. 11:30 - Little Dragons Advanced; I remember Michael, Migi, Jason, Kyle, and Joey. I don't remember who else was there. Judges: same as the previous test, plus Amy and Paula, minus Kwan Jang Nim. We were saying how Jason was going to be a second Master Todd when he got older; his jump front kicks are so high! LOL 1:00 - Juniors. Same judges as the before, plus Paula. Andy pre-tested. Justin and Chris weren't there. They're doing a make-up. Juniors was good; I didn't get to see much of it because I spent most of my time hanging outside with Aaron and Sarah and Michael. Hey, I only see them twice a month! 2:30 - US!!! aaaarghhh! lol. No, it was good. Judges: Dad, Paula, Sa Bom Nim, Katie, Amy, and when Kenny showed up, he joined them. Warmed up, then did kicking drills to the targets. Kenny showed up as we were stretching out. 3 lines; me, Sarah, Jo Ann, Leonard, Lyndon, and Aaron in my line. Worked round kicks, jump front kicks, side kicks, spinning back hook kicks(for green belt and above; orange and below did step up hook kick), and flying jump side kicks. Katie held for our line, I think Amy and Kenny held for the other two. (Got...uhhh...punished?... for not bouncing, so we had to do 20 pushups, poor Sean, only one arm...arrgh) Allowed a quick water break. Then forms. Then sparring; I sparred Sean(THANK YOU! for a great sparring match!) which was a lot of fun! Paco was recording. CONGRATULATIONS MEGAN!!!! Megan had to spar Katie(whoa, sister vs sister. yikes.), and after a bit, Sa Bom Nim threw Kenny in there. Poor Megan, she couldn't breathe. But she's a Cho Dan Bo now, and she'll be going for Black Belt in March. Way to go, Megan, indomitable spirit! Got my stripe; 5th gup green belt. Congrats to everyone in my group! You guys all did fantastic! And especially to those who got new belts; Sherry, Angel, and Paul, RED BELTS!!! and Shawna, and Christine, GREEN BELTS!!!! But the highlight of the day was definitely the 4:00 testing. WHOA! Sean, Aaron, Sarah, Cristhian, Marc, Shawna, and I all stayed for that(I managed to convince Sarah and Aaron to at least stay until sparring, but lol after they saw that, they didn't want to leave!). Wow, Sa Bom Nim worked them hard. Saw them do combinations up and down the floor. Oh, right, it was John Mike, Doc, Katie, Paula, and Paco. They were doing forms, so Aaron and Sarah and I took a walk outside. It was a good thing, because I think they were a little bored; they've never seen a black belt test. I sort of regret it though, because I missed John Mike's break! AAAARGHHH! JUMP SPLIT KICK, JUMP SPINNING BACK HOOK KICK, AND A HEAD BREAK! AND I MISSED IT!!!!! Oh well. Too late. Anyway, got back from our walk. They did their one-steps, then self defense. Sean was saying how he like watching Katie, because she was so creative. I agree! It was great! Obviously John Mike had to defend against a gun; they put Kenny to it, so he got taken down a few times. Doc had to defend against escrima and knife attacks. Paula and Katie also had to go against knife attacks. Paco! had to defend against a couple grabs and punches...and his partner was...da da da da....KENNY! And OMG! Paco took him down! MY BROTHER TOOK HIM DOWN!!! I'm sorry, I was going nuts, cuz I mean, Paco's a good two feet shorter than him! Ok, 1 1/2 feet... but still! It was so COOL! lol, yeah I mean. But hey, Kenny was laughing later :-) Sparring...John Mike...wow. I can't find a word that expresses everything that went on. It was horrible...horribly amazing! John Mike had to spar Paula, then Sa Bom Nim had Katie and Kenny go in. And you know, it was 2nd degree testing, so John Mike had to go for a good 5, 10 minutes? Then...round two. Against Sa Bom Nim. I can't describe it. I couldn't stop screaming for him, he was so tired and he just wanted a drink. He must've felt like his mouth guard was choking him. He got so beat up, he fell a couple times. But he didn't give up, and we were so proud of him. I can't describe the feeling that we all get when we're watching black belt sparring. And I felt even more intensely than I've ever felt it before. I was in a group with Sean, Sarah, Aaron, Dawn, Cristhian, and Brian. We just couldn't stop screaming for him, cheering him on. What else could we do? I can't describe how horrible it is, and then how wonderful it feels when it's all over. John Mike was so overwhelmed when he got his belt and his certificate. He was crying, he couldn't stop, and I heard him say, "I never thought I'd make it this far." None of us have ever seen him like that. It was such an amazing night. I think this was one of my favorite black belt tests. Out of all the ones I've been to, this was definitely one of the best. Got quite a few pics; Amy, Kenny, John Mike, Sean, Paco, me, Aaron, and Sarah; Sean, me, and Lyndon; Nicki, Sarah, Aaron, me, and Katie. I'll upload those some other time. And John Mike's gonna give me a copy of this pic that his dad took of us. So I'll get that on here, too. I think Amy drove home, and I think she gave Kenny a ride. Sarah rode with Aaron; they did stay for the whole test, lol. Right now, I'm jc, waiting for tita Mina, tita Aleli, and unc to get back from Mass. So, c~yaz next week. Congrats to everyone who tested, ESPECIALLY to Megan and John Mike. You guys rock! ALL OF YOU! Thanx for the memories... -ais:P

9/15/05

7:00 - Costas, Paula, Kelly, Paul, Angel, Sherry, Marc, and me. Worked up and down the floor techniques and, whoa, that was cuhrazyy! Worked on defensive and offensive hip turns, breathing, moving forward, and just technique in general. Then worked forms. 8:00 - Cristhian, Sean, me, Leonard, Shawna, Jo Ann, and Dave. Ran 10 laps, then back and forth between the cones, techniques down and run it back. It was me and Sean and Cristhian in one line, we actually did more than we were supposed to, and we were ahead. So while we were waiting for the other line to finish up, we were dancing! ROTFLWTIME that was great:-) C U GUYS @ TESTING!!! and I'm gonna be there the whole day. (EEEEKKK! well, s all good:-)

9/13/05

7:00 - Kristy, Dave, Katie, Costas, Paula, Megan, Bob, Paul(!!! now...where was Andy? and Max?? and Justin???), Angel, Sherry, and me. Worked forms, one-steps, and I asked to break again at the end of class. I got it on the first try!!! lol going nuts:-) 8:00 - Paula, Kelly, Cristhian, Sean, Lyndon, Leonard, me, Shawna, Jo Ann, Christine, Dave, and someone I don't know; she was taking a trial class. We did circuit(aaarrghh my arms hurt so bad after that! well, poor Sean, he couldn't even switch arms! and he has to test with it, too...), forms, and techniques. C~yas Thursday!