Mellow Yellow

TKD and Updates

Jen was right - I broke that board with a running side kick. Right before I did it I had this flashback of being 12 years old, getting ready to do a vault. In both cases, in reality and my flashback, I had to visualize what I was going to do, take a deep breath and start running. Different activities to be sure but the focus and concentration required is similar. The exhilaration I felt when I heard that board SNAP! was incredible. So fun.
I am learning something new every day I train. Today I learned that I have to flatten my foot and not allow my toes to curl up when I do a roundhouse kick or else I'll break the nail on my big toe and OW THAT HURTS! I also learned I better be quicker about avoiding Peter's kicks/punches when we spar or else I'll get kicked in the head.
Don't worry - he just grazed me.
I have a line of bruises on my arm like a nice, neat row of airplanes that are ready for takeoff.
I test for my yellow belt on Friday.

The boys are excited for Christmas and ask me every day "How many more days?". Jack finally put it on his calendar so he can keep track himself. We have an appointment with the ENT tomorrow to take a look at Dean and talk about sleep apnea. We videotaped him sleeping last night for 2 hours so hopefully the doctor will find that helpful. I've been getting calls from the school about once per week that Dean has had some minor accident on the playground - almost always it involves hitting his head. One day he ran into a pole and got a huge knot on his head. Another day he and another kid bonked heads and Dean bore the brunt over his eye so he got a nice shiner out of that one. Just yesterday they called and said they don't even know what happened but he was in the office with ice on his head. Poor little bean.

We built a loft for their bed and they love it. We still have a lot of work to do like painting it and getting some kind of ladder or steps but for now, it looks cool and it allowed us to move all their toys out of the living room and into their room. It was an amazing transformation to the living room!

Broken

Get it?

House of pain

Is where I live. Or, more appropriately, house of trembling thighs and cowering abs.

Today was my third class but my first class as an official tae kwon do student. I received my uniform and white belt today. I also earned my first stripes - an orange stripe for demonstrating my forward fall technique and a blue stripe for demonstrating the 2 self defense moves that I was taught last week. I learned the side kick today, which is much harder than it looks, and we did lots of high kicks which is fun but exhausting. I learned a few more self defense moves and if anyone ever tries to grab me by my hair they'll be in for a world of hurt. My friend peter is my partner in these exercises which is fun, inspiring and challenging all at once. He's nearly a foot taller than I am so it adds complexity to an already challenging exercise.

Oh but it's all good. I have bruises and scrapes and sore muscles that I didn't know existed until now. And I'm lovin' it.

Now I'm off to toss down some advil and hit the sack.

TKD

Jen wanted to know how I liked my first class.

I think everyone should start their day with kicking and punching! What a release!
It was overwhelming and I felt kind of stupid for much of the time. There's an amazing amount of technique and terminology to learn but it will all come in time. My gymnastics background definitely helped. I will need to let loose a little bit - I'm not used to yelling SAH! and BAH! We didn't do that in gymnastics! I will also need to check my ego at the door, defer to my master (hard for me!), understand that there is a steep learning curve, and trust in my master and fellow student (my friend Peter). That's the analysis that is swirling in my head.

My gut reaction though was THIS IS AWESOME!

My next class is tomorrow morning and I can't wait!

TKD

Many, many, many, many, moons ago I met a girl when I was waitressing at that Italian place who was taking Tae Kwon Do and I thought, ohhh, I want to do that someday.

Many, many, many moons ago my dear friend Jenny told me that she met the most fabulous guy at her Tae Kwon Do studio and I thought, ohhh, I wish I could take Tae Kwon Do.

Many, many moons ago my friend Peter started taking Tae Kwon Do and I whispered to myself, ohhh, I want to do that.

Many moons ago my friend Peter broke his foot during Tae Kwon Do and I thought, yikes, but I still want to do that.

Just a few moons ago I summoned the courage to tell my friend Peter that I really want to do that and he made it ridiculously easy for me to do so.

Tomorrow is the day of my first Tae Kwon Do lesson.

And the moon, well the moon is grinning from ear to ear.










And if you're keeping track of moons, this dream is about 16 years in the making. Of course moon time-keeping is not very scientific so you'll have to trust me.

And a huge thank you goes out to my sweet man for supporting me in this endeavor.