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Published On: Aug 05, 2007 08:38 AM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Aug 05, 2007 08:38 AM
William's Yellow Belt Test
Testing, testing...
William took his test to be promoted from orange
belt to yellow belt today. Given the level of concentration and seriousness
that he brings to Tae Kwon Do, we've been pretty sure he'd pass, though I spent
last evening drilling him on his forms, focusing on perfecting his stances and
trying to get him not to rush his moves. I even got him to practice his flying
side kicks (standard board breaking technique for little kids) by kicking some
cardboard boxes, trying to get him to practice snapping his
kicks.
The day began with a regular Saturday morning class, which was crowded with maybe twice the usual number of kids, half of whom would be taking their tests today. Master P. began the class with a pretty long lecture on patience and perseverance, including how it takes at least five years of intense training to achieve a black belt, plus a story about a Shaolin monk who taught his fellow monks a lesson on patience when he died.
The test followed immediately after the class. William did very well during his test. He was also surprised to be required to break two boards, one with a flying side kick and one with a hand technique (hammer fist). I had forgotten that orange belts had to break with their hands as well. William broke both boards on the first try -- in fact, he broke his second board before Master P. was expecting it.
Afterward, Master P. said that he was very good, very strong, and his only caution was that William should try not to rush through his forms, something we've been trying to work on. In reviewing the tape, I can see how his pacing was a little irregular -- rushed sometimes, not rushed at others.
I brought both the camcorder and the the PowerShot A700 digital camera this time. While I now have better video than the last test, my still photos aren't nearly as good, because I couldn't use both simultaneously and well. (Hsuan was at the school, but she was taking care of James.)
Master P. signs William's broken boards after the test.
We won't know if William passed his test until Monday, but overall, we believe he did very well.
-----
Work continues. I am pretty near the end of modifying the STEREO LET matrices; I can't imagine anyone wanting anything else done to them.
On another note, I think I'll end up skipping the International Cosmic Ray Conference this year, which will be held in Merida, Mexico. Disappointing. Unfortunately, most of my work this past year has been on STEREO, and STEREO has no travel budget (at least not at Caltech). Those in my lab going to the ICRC will likely present work from other experiments and maybe tack on STEREO data as a bonus, so they can travel on other grants.
Oh, well...
-----
Update 2/25/07: I posted a movie and a photo album from William's test.
The day began with a regular Saturday morning class, which was crowded with maybe twice the usual number of kids, half of whom would be taking their tests today. Master P. began the class with a pretty long lecture on patience and perseverance, including how it takes at least five years of intense training to achieve a black belt, plus a story about a Shaolin monk who taught his fellow monks a lesson on patience when he died.
The test followed immediately after the class. William did very well during his test. He was also surprised to be required to break two boards, one with a flying side kick and one with a hand technique (hammer fist). I had forgotten that orange belts had to break with their hands as well. William broke both boards on the first try -- in fact, he broke his second board before Master P. was expecting it.
Afterward, Master P. said that he was very good, very strong, and his only caution was that William should try not to rush through his forms, something we've been trying to work on. In reviewing the tape, I can see how his pacing was a little irregular -- rushed sometimes, not rushed at others.
I brought both the camcorder and the the PowerShot A700 digital camera this time. While I now have better video than the last test, my still photos aren't nearly as good, because I couldn't use both simultaneously and well. (Hsuan was at the school, but she was taking care of James.)
Master P. signs William's broken boards after the test.
We won't know if William passed his test until Monday, but overall, we believe he did very well.
-----
Work continues. I am pretty near the end of modifying the STEREO LET matrices; I can't imagine anyone wanting anything else done to them.
On another note, I think I'll end up skipping the International Cosmic Ray Conference this year, which will be held in Merida, Mexico. Disappointing. Unfortunately, most of my work this past year has been on STEREO, and STEREO has no travel budget (at least not at Caltech). Those in my lab going to the ICRC will likely present work from other experiments and maybe tack on STEREO data as a bonus, so they can travel on other grants.
Oh, well...
-----
Update 2/25/07: I posted a movie and a photo album from William's test.
Posted: Sat - February 24, 2007 at 11:01 PM