black belt

I became a black belt in Chun Kuk Do last Saturday.  One guy got sick and threw up – I’m not sure if he just got nervous or it was a combination of nerves and exhaustion.  At one point during the katas, I considered asking for permission to "fix my uniform" because I was thinking I might puke out my guts or pass out…or both.  Fortunately, somebody requested permission to start over on a kata and this gave me enough time to regroup.  We are allowed to ask permission to fix our uniforms because the things aren't really made for all that motion - the pants slide down, the belt comes loose, the jacket (gi) rides up out of the belt, etc.  You would think those Japanese/Korean warriers could have come up with a more functional design.    

Somehow, it isn’t as big a deal as I thought it might be.  I’m a black belt – so what?  If I quit practicing for two weeks, I’ll forget 60% of what I’ve learned.  If I quit for a month – what will I remember?  I wish I’d known this stuff when I was younger…it would have come in handy.  Here is a photo from the test I found on Facebook.  I hate pictures of me but I'm putting this out here anyway..for the same reason I include my mug shot on this blog.  I'm an idiot, don't ask.  This looks like we're all doing (or about to do) a heel kick....one of the random combinations he called out during the test - heel kick, round kick, backfist, punch.   

 

And here is a photo of Erin taken by me during her test for UFAF third-degree black a year ago.  This was in Beckley, West Virginia.  She did very well and those UFAF tests are much more killer than the studio tests.  She has a big smile on her face in this picture because she had already completed the hardest part of her test.  Not only that, this was the test.  She did a pre-test the month before.  The pre-test is much more rigorous than the test.  Very few people fail the test because they have to pass the pre-test first.  She looks so much younger then than now...maybe it's all that metal in her mouth.  

Perhaps I will get excited about being a black belt later.  Right now, I’m bummed out about everything going on in my life…or perhaps I should say everything NOT going on in my life.  Mainly, no dissertation going on.  Just pick something.  Why is this so F’ing hard for me?   I don’t even care what it is anymore – all I want is something I can do.  Stephen King wrote a story called Word Processor of the Gods.  If the story were true and I had his word processor, I could easily fix everything wrong in my life.  For now…it’s back to work.