A wee change of venue of this grading. Instead of St Joe's in Kilmarnock this was at Kilmarnock Academy games hall. Never having been there before (and having been warned by Mr Chahal not to be late!) we left home at 8:15am and got there at...... 8:35am.... at least we weren't late sir! Oh, and before anyone asks... no I wasn't nervous or anything. I've learned a lot about myself in the past year, and one thing is to trust in my abilities so if I can do it anyone can! Part of my new found confidence I'm blaming on all of you Phoenix instructors and students, nothing to do with me :)
Theory seems to be the bugbear of a lot of people (remember the previous post folks!! I'm not writing these for the good of my health you know!) but like the practical its all a matter of preparation. Mr McRoberts was doing the green belts questions this time... I knew something was going on when he and Mrs Harley had wry smiles on their faces as I was called up. "Name all the main body parts, footparts and handparts in Korean" he asked.. I was about to launch into this when he said he as joking and what was the meaning of Won Hyo. <whew>... I know footparts and handparts and head so maybe next time Sir? :)
One thing that's interesting is that none of the kids seem nervous, they all seem chilled and out to enjoy themselves, and they do! Its great to see them "do their thing" no matter what grade they are. Its just us adults that seem to fret and worry over things like "is my linework double punch right"??? Not looking at anyone in particular... Heather... Gill... :)
Practical part of the grading is the part we've all spent 3 months (sometimes 6 months) training for. Linework, patterns, 3 step and 2 step sparring and for some, a free spar as well. Its great to watch the beginners throwing themselves (not literally mind) into this part with their linework and patterns. My son was grading this time for his green belt, apart from a wee error with one of his patterns the rest looked pretty good. My own practical grading went reasonably well too, even my 3 step sparring worked out well.. number 10 has been my own person demon for weeks but this time I nailed it!
Its good to watch everyone grading after you. For one it gives you an idea of what work is involved for your next grading but its also good manners as they've had to wait and watch while you finished your grading so remember you 1st tenant, "Courtesy".
Everyone did fantastic and I mean EVERYBODY! It can be a stressful event, I've seen someone so deep in concentration that another student finishing their pattern first and kiaping shocked them out of their focus, put them off and made a mistake.. so it happens. Remember you're putting yourself and what you can do out there for the examiners and spectators to see so sometimes these things happen.
So another grading on a beautiful sunny Sunday, great to catch up with everyone again and look forward to seeing you all in another 3 months time.... as a quick parting shot, Mr Sawyer and Mrs Harley were pleased to report that my rising block was so much better than it had been previous gradings but my L-Stance is now so short that they said that one of the 6 year old yellow tags stance was longer! There ain't no pleasing some people!!
For those of you doing the World Championships, the best of luck to you! I won't be able to join you but never fear, Sara MacKellar has offered to do a report on this competition for the blog.
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