Testing Day

Tonight at 6:30 I'll be testing for my green belt for an hour. This is my third Tae Kwon Do test. Last night I went to class and generally did okay. The first half was spent reviewing kicks and forms. I knew I was shaky on kicks so I was glad for the review. I only messed up 2 kicks: outside crescent kick (my hips have trouble rotating that way) and slide up front kick (I was just a flailing mess with a kick at the end).

When we went onto forms, I was good on basic and Il Jang. My Il Jang skills completely surprised me. Ee Jang was another story. I had to do it 3 times because at first my forward stance stunk and then I got so flustered I mixed up my feet at the end. Sabunim said two things the first that completely upset me and the second that made me feel a lot better. He told me that my forward stance is completely unacceptable for upper levels and a while later he told me that I'm getting flustered because I'm trying to keep pace with everyone else and I should focus on "Anna's pace". In the end I felt okay.

The second half of class was spent doing speed kicks against the wavemaster. This is when my ankle started screaming at me. It was fine through kicks and forms but kicking against a surface meant pain throughout my ankle. After class, my right leg wasn't too happy.

Tonight will not be fun and I will go through the whole range of emotions in one hour. Today, I'll have a knot of dread sitting in my stomach which will expand into nervous butterflies. I just really hope I get my green belt.