Taekwondo

I'm not the sporty type.....at all.

 

Nevertheless, when Stephanie and Helen found a Taekwondo place I went "Ooh, me too."

 

Here we are a few weeks into our white belt.  My dobok makes me look fat(ter). :C

Master Yu, our main teacher is in the middle. Master Kim, beside Helen, took on a lot of our basic training.

 

Poor guys, putting up with us.





 

Despite all of the muscle pain (watching me climb stairs must have been prime entertainment material) it was a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed it. When you nail a kick on the target it can be oddly satisfying.

 

I learned a lot about the philosophy, manners and the masters were always particular about correcting our technique.

We're pretty sure they went easy on us because we're weak little foreigners. (Me in particular. Helen, however, must have some Glaswegian brawler in her.)
"Aoife! Why you so tired?"
"I'm old and weak."

So I explain to Master Kim whois only about 18 and can do pretty amazing flying spin kicks in the air.

I do admittedly lack a certain fighting spirit. When we started to learn sparring or break boards I was wimpy and sissy about it. Basically Scooby Doo.

My yellow streak aside, let me say "Do it, do it, do it"
Taekwondo is great! A large portion of it is simply fitness (Needs work) and balance.

Some of the stances I found difficult because I have no muscle strength At. All. My mantra is always "Needs more training. Needs lots more training."

Despite all that I did manage to get a belt.

Why am I in the middle? The test is super formal and intimidating. I mixed up all my blocks and I took this test with a chesty cough, which I managed to surpress but I was still very short of breath. Boo my luck.

On the plus side I broke this with my kick. Not very impressive by comparative standards but pretty damn good for me.

Unfortunately, the girls were leaving then. First Stephanie left, then Helen did leaving me alone at training. Bwaaaaaaahh. TT_TT.

It's a lot more fun training with others. But not long before I ended my classes for my return home I got my next belt! :)
Personally I don't think I should have gotten it since I messed up a good few times but I did so yayss. (Behold how articulate I am.)

Green belt ahoy. This calls for more training. You don't get that black belt by standing still.