And I'm back at work this morning.  Since I have about a half hour before I start, here's the rundown.

I left straight from work and got to the dojang at about six.  I've been fighting a cold since Tuesday, so jazzed on dayquil, Sudafed, green tea, and Halls Mentho-Lyptus, and having had a sandwich and a salad at five, I arrived ready to face the challenge.

I took about a half an hour to warm up and stretch before the test (getting injured during the test would be so... Read More

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As many of you must, we had to write an essay for our first dan test.  My test is Thursday, September eighteenth, so I will have to read it aloud before class.  Anyway, the subject we are required to write aboutt is how taekwondo has changed our life.  Here is my essay.

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I have had a lot to say recently about blackbelts, though more in terms of how they're obtained than the nature of them.  So I would like to put out on the table for all to see my definitive thoughts on the the nature of a black belt.

I have seen a lot of different ideas of what a blackbelt should or should not be.  I have seen a lot of comments made that the whole belt system should just go away.  After all, it is a comparatively recent invention in the grand scheme of... Read More

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To earn a blackbelt. The requirements to do so range quite a bit, but what should they be? I guess that depends upon how one defines a blackbelt. I've heard a lot of different definitions from a lot of people over the years, but in my opinion, it breaks down to one of three categories.

1. The end result of showing up for two years and paying tuition and testing fees.

2. The ability to pass a test of the cummulative knowledge and technique from white belt.

... Read More

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For our first dan promotion in kumdo, we each wrote an essay and read it aloud at the test. Here's mine. 
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Martial arts mean a lot of different things to a lot of people. To some, it is a way to simply fight. To others, it is exercise, and to still others, it is no more than a cinematic vision based more upon movies and television than anything else. When I first got i... Read More

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