February 8, 2011

• Back in the Dojang Again

  Martial artists are good at kicking butt because they are used to kicking many different items covered with padding. 

  After my last session with Kru Aum I contemplated this simple mystery of the kick. Bruce Lee explained the punch and all that it symbolized, but concluded that for all of its symbolism, a punch is just a punch. While I see a kick as just a kick, filled with its own mystery worthy of contemplation during the performance of a poomsae, in the end a kick is just a kick. And there are many well-padded ends out there worthy of kicking. 

  Leaving Chuncheon, South Korea, meant leaving behind my brothers and sisters in the dojang where I first started learning Taekwondo. It was in that school where I earned my yellow belt, the eighth gup status in the art. There are nine gups before black belt. The white belt is ninth gup, and until I test again, I will wear the symbol of the eighth gup, the yellow belt. I never returned to the dojang after leaving Chuncheon, and prayed that the opportunity would come again. I found one or two TKD schools in Chiang Mai, but money was the only problem I faced while living there. I saw advertisements for a school in Bangkok, but took a job in Ubon Ratchathani instead. It would be seven months before I again found myself learning TKD.

  Around Christmastime at the local mall, I saw a junior student wearing a dobok. The back of the shirt said Taekwondo. With a controlled sense of excitement I asked the boy's father about the school. He asked a security guard to translate, and I found my way to the fourth floor where other kids were dressed in their uniforms, wearing assorted colors of belts. Most were black belts, some were yellow belts. I didn't see many of the other colors represented. I spoke briefly to the instructor after his class. The next week I returned. There was a senior instructor up from Bangkok assisting with testing. We spoke again after classes. The next week was New Year's weekend, and there were no classes. Another week passes. This time after the class was over, the instructor and I spoke briefly and I was given a chance to show him what I remembered from my studies from nearly four years ago. I was accepted as a student. 

  The next Sunday night I arrived and worked with Kru Aum for an hour. As there was not yet a uniform for me, I worked out in street clothes. Black pants and a tee shirt were my uniform that night. As my foot hit the pad over and over again, all I could think was how good it felt to be doing this again. It was good to be corrected as we went through the Taeguk Il Jong. It was good learning some new moves in preparation for the next poomsae required for the next test. 

  Last Sunday I was given my uniform, the dobok. The dobok is patterned after the white clothing of the peasant class of Korean history called hanbok. Kru Aum also gave me a yellow belt that is long enough for me to wear. In South Korea, my instructor took two yellow belts and had them sown together, then cut to the right length. In practice we worked on side kicks, front kicks, and roundhouse kicks, and defensive moves. 

  This past Sunday, we worked out again. I still need more practice for the Taeguk Il Jong, but have much to remember regarding blocks, punches and kicks. I need to work on stretching. Above all I need to get my weight stabilized 260lb range for a little while so I can continue to safely lose the body fat. I am back in the dojang again, and it feels good. I have been away from home for too long.

  • 12:32 am
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