I was an interesting day getting here, but it all worked out for us. The plan was to go to the earlier class at 3pm, but an accident on Browns Bridge Road shut things down, and we despite leaving earlier, we had to turn around and go back home to wait. And that was okay, given that we had nothing else going on today with the schedule. Or, at least we could move things around a bit.
So we got back to the studio around 6pm or so, about fifteen minutes early. I was taking pictures of the previous group while I was there, as I've been an unofficial photographer for them, taking some pictures of the students as they tested for their new belts. I'm sad I missed out on a few of them for the earlier classes, but I got a good bit of photos for two of the later classes.
Mr. and Mrs. Edge were back, of course, and as you can see here, Madison had a lot of pent-up energy about this evening. She was a bit nervous about one thing, which I'll talk about in a bit. Despite all that nervousness, she did so well tonight, and of course we're all super proud of her.
I don't have the pictures here in chronological order, but as you can see here, part of the testing tonight was sparring with the combat sticks. Madison is seen here striking first, which is the goal of the combat sticks. I took several pictures of these battles, and some video as well.
And of course another aspect of the testing is her form. Madison did well with this, having memorized it so well that there were no hesitations or flaws that I could see. By the end of the evening, the students were given points for their testing, each point based on different things done and how well they were done. Madison's score was an eleven out of ten. Meaning, it was perfect. The extra point came when at one point during the evening, Mr. Edge asked if anyone knew the meaning of a certain Korean phrase that was covered in class some time ago. Madison was the only one to raise her hand, as she remembered it.
The testing starts out with the warm-ups as always. You can see Madison here in the midst of a barrage of punches. You can see Mommy in the background, looking on through the visitor window as well. I love the intensity!
During the pandemic, these sorts of sparring sessions have been easier. I love this strike here, as Madison is making contact with the arm holding the weapon for an extra point. The reach is this shot was great - sometimes these things happen so fast too. At one point, I stopped taking pictures and simply filmed her as she sparred. We all watched it later on when we got home.
This was her first time wearing the new material on her uniform, the red, white and blue stripe there and the patch on the shoulder to signify she's in the leadership program. And that belt there is now tonight hanging on the wall of her bedroom along with the others in that display that Ye-Ye and Nana got for her not long ago.
Throughout the evening, the instructors would be personally coming by for last-minute tips during the exercises, as you can see here. You can also see that notebook, where he's jotting down notes and keeping score. Behind him in the windows, the parents are looking on at their kids. Tonight, we had about seven kids in this particular class. It's been divided up for the summer, with the other students doing their testing in the afternoon class, the one that we were going to initially. And then there are other classes too, of course. When school starts again, the classes will consolidate a bit more, but during the pandemic, this division has been necessary, and also pretty beneficial because of more one-on-one time with instructors.
It's paid off. She never wants to miss a class, even if it is because we're going on a quick vacation. She'd rather adjust the vacation in a way where she won't miss anything. The goal is that black belt in the spring, and she wants to make sure she's ready for it.
She was ready for the red belt tonight. The old way of getting that belt had parents coming out to tie the knot and so forth, but given the world situation, we're back to a place where the students come forward when called to receive their belt. You can see Madison here, finally getting that red belt decided from Mr. Edge, as the other instructors look on. Later on, she gave a lot of credit to the other instructors as well, helping her through some of the nervousness.
I love this shot. Sometimes the picture makes things look as though they're not. It looks like she's hitting this other student silly! In fact, he's just trying to get out of the way. But I don't think he did get out of the way in time, as you can see Madison's laser focus. She got him!
In the end, all the students did well, of course. The ones that train over the summer are giving up a lot of that summer free time. Of course, with the world as it is, there's been a lot more free time for these students. So it's great to see them all put their time to good use, training and disciplining themselves to achieve something bigger.
And all this despite the pandemic too. With so many challenges, the students all trained together, and just kept moving forward, overcoming obstacles and getting to practice time after time. I have been there for all of them, sitting in that window watching on, and watching all of them work so hard. The instructors get a lot of credit for making this a fun class, but one with a focus.
While the "form" part of the testing can sometimes be a bit daunting because of all the memorization, this time around, Madison didn't really have any problem at all. She was mentally practicing at home and in the car on the way here, and really didn't hesitate at all throughout the entire portion of the testing. All the students did theirs twice, so it gave us an opportunity to see it again. At one point, Mr. Edge asked the students to be so sharp with their punches and kicks that you can hear their uniforms pop. Madison's routine was a little longer and hers was the only one left still going, and sure enough, you could hear that pop. He called her out on it too, "There it is!"
Look at her, airborne here! I don't know who struck first here, but you can see she's not intimidated, and doesn't spend too much time in the defensive. Her strategy isn't based on tricking out other students so much as trying to get a read on them, and then moving in. She's aggressive, but also patient.
This picture here got a lot of commentary on social media. The one word one person wrote about it was "Fierce." She looks like she's about to spring up for the attack! Afterwards, I sit through and sift through all the pictures, and my favorites are usually these ones, taken as she's demonstrating her form. It's a choreography, not too far off from ballet - only "you don't have to put your hair up in a bun and wear uncomfortable shoes." And of course, there's no music. Although, if you listen carefully, you might hear some distant music playing from the Far East, emanating from some pagoda on a hill.
She did very well, and I was blessed to be able to take so many up-close pictures of not only her, but the other students. I posted them all on the family website this evening, and parents were thrilled to see pictures of their students in testing, and getting those new belts.
Here's Madison during the warm-up portion, just running a few laps. This happens at the beginning, of course, where there's also push-ups, jumping jacks, and lots of punches and kicks in the air. Look at her go.
Let's do a few more pictures of the combat stick sparring, just because they're so fun. Madison has been training with these, and the kamas as well. The new weapons are next week, and we'll have to buy one - a staff. I told her we have some impressive bamboo sticks in the back yard, but of course she'll have to have her own stick now. That's when we have to start praying for the furniture! But she's heard her friends really liked practicing with those, so we'll see how that goes.
You can see Mr. Edge looking on, scoring even during these segments. Madison did well. She got to choose her own partner to begin with, and she didn't choose a few because she said later in the car, "I hit them too much." She wanted someone different, a bit more challenging.
In her earlier class, she does get a bit more of a challenge, and that's one thing about this class that we love seeing. All these kids are learning more than just skills and defense. They're learning to be courageous too. Which brings me to this one last video. At the very end of the testing, it was time for the students to break those boards. They have different color rankings on the boards - the green is where she's been at, and the blue is the next level up, and pretty much the highest level for females, unless you want to go with brown, which is mostly for the guys. So she's been practicing on green, and it's been a process. The last testing, she didn't get it the first time, and had to try again, this time succeeding. For this testing, all the others went first, and Madison was next-to-last (there was an adult testing that was right after her). She watched all the other students make their attempts, and all of them had to try again, not having broken their boards on the first try, this due to slightly off aim or positioning, or not following through, or not hitting it with enough force. Last week, Madison stayed after class, trying to get the hang of the elbow strike, and learning to use her whole body, adding force, and following through. It took her a while, several attempts last week, but she would stay until she got it right. So that sets up her first attempt at the green boards tonight.
She nailed them both! The elbow one in particular was challenging for all the students, because it involves a balance of setting up, using the whole body, strength, and accuracy too. But she did really well with that. The challenge she didn't expect was when Mr. Edge wanted her to try a blue board, the higher level of difficulty. I can't emphasize how nervous she was about this one. It just hit her all at once, and perhaps there was a little fear of failure in there, given that the last time she tried this out during testing, it took a few tries to break through. She just wasn't sure of herself, and that made her even more nervous, especially going there before everyone else. But they were all cheering for her, and so were we. And that adrenaline was really going. Here's what happened:
What a moment! She nailed those too. We were all so proud of her today! Afterwards, she was quite emotional, and looking back, you can see the evidence of that in a few pictures. She was nervous and so driven to do well, and then there was that release and the waterworks all came out afterwards. But she did it, and there's nothing but happy memories of the accomplishment tonight. She did so well.
Tonight I was taking out the trash cans to the curb, and I was thinking about that. And a random thought occurred to me: The skies were clear, and I wondered when the next space station flyover is going to be. And I kid you not: I looked up at that very moment, and sure enough, there it was, emerging over the horizon. I sat and watched it, and just as it reached a point directly overhead, I saw a shooting star as well. It was a special day. I know we've done this sort of thing with the belt rankings and all, but it was just nice to be together, and celebrate together.
We saw Nana today, who came by to visit, and we talked with Ba-Ba, Nana and Uncle George on the computer, getting to see them face-to-face as we spoke. He's just got that cough. We prayed for Ba-Ba tonight, and for my health as well - I've been fighting something for weeks now. We prayed for the health of this nation, and for all those who need God's healing power. He is for us, and we're certainly glad of that.
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