Slow Down
| One of the problems my wife and I have identified is a lack of practice facilities. Our instructor is trying to get us to compete in the regional tournament in August as white belts. The concept of competing as a white belt seems strange to me, and we're not too crazy about the idea, but we're entering the monkies into the tourney so we'll be there. After we discussed how we could practice our forms I approached our school owner and asked if there was ever a time that the school was open without classes going on so that we could practice. His response deflated me completely. He not only said that there wasn't any designated "open time," but he told me to slow down and not be so eager. Ok, those weren't his exact words, but that's essentially what he said. I understand what he's doing, he doesn;t want us to get burnt out, but my mindset is that if we're in this for the long haul, then there are going to be plenty of times that we're not motivated. Right now we are, and I want to take advantage of the energy/motivation surge for as long as we can. I mean, if it was up to me, I'd be going every night I'm having so much fun. It was just demoralizing to have that guy say that--especially after we had just signed a contract giving them vast VAST amounts of money for us to be able to do this. It kind of made me want to say "fine, then--I won't practice." I saw a video of Songahm #2 in its entirety the other day. It was pretty overwhelming. We've only learned the first five moves. The breakdown I downloaded from here has a couple of dozen more moves. And he thinks we'll be ready to compete in 3 weeks? I don't think so... |
posted by Chris at 12:12 PM
Comments on "Slow Down"
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Chris said ... (12:18 PM) :
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Chris said ... (1:58 PM) :
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Chris said ... (2:29 PM) :
post a commentI know how you feel! I actually had to schedule a private lesson to smooth out my form before my first regional in order to get extra time, as I have limited space in my home too. I might add a class this week just so I can get more practice time in (that's make it 5 hours this week if I do that!). It's actually a great idea to compete as a white belt. I didn't do it until I was a green belt, although I think I would've been ready at camo belt. If you look at that same reference page for forms, see Chuhng-Jung #1. That's what I have to do. And I'm only halfways through, and I DO have less than 3 weeks to learn the rest of it! :-S Actually, Songham #2 isn't too bad. You CAN get it in 3 weeks, believe me. You will realize that when you get about halfway through it, to complete it, you just reverse what you did. Read it carefully and watch again, as there are actually a lot of repeats. But it's good to compete early like that. It's good experience, and you'll learn MUCH earlier on what is expected at a tournament. There really isn't any pressure at the white belt level. The only people you'd be competing against would be white, orange or yellow at most. Once you hit camo belt, then you compete against everyone who is camo through BB-recommended! Just be persistent, but yes, don't burn out! Work on getting your hand-foot timing and stances, and put out some good ki-haps, and you'll be ahead of the game vs. just memorizing the steps. Really! I originally tied for 3rd in forms my first time out, but lost the tiebreaker due to nerves. I know I just dropped the basics. Go for it! :-)
Hey--how do you figure ranking among colored belts? The only place I can find any type of ranking is under black belts...
If you go onto the ATAonline.com site under the Tournament and Tournament Rules, there is an explanation of how it works. I think it works the same for the color belts as it does for black belts, insofar as you only get points if you actually place, and depending on how many people compete, etc. I still don't have it completely figured out. By my estimation, I should be ranked #2 in Women's color belt sparring for 30-39 in NJ, but I'm not. I am #3 in Weapons, and somehow that had to do with my placement at both a regional AND an interschool tournament. Go figure. But I think it's there, and yes, you can rank as a color belt if you try and do well. ;-)
Oh, and look at the state levels, not the national rankings. It could be that nobody in your age and rank has competed in the last year, thus there would be no listing for it. That was part of my incentive to start competing-- not many competitors at my level and age who have won! :-P
GRRR~I looked again, but all I see are the BB rankings.
Found it...