Black Belt Test

Gianni and I were completely dedicated to taekwondo last week. We went every night to practice our forms for our black belt test. We felt really confident about them going into our black belt test on Saturday afternoon. Luckily, we didn't have to wake up as early as Serena did for her test, but we did have to wait for quite some time beforehand. We met at the gym at 12pm on Saturday, but we didn't end up actually doing our test until around 4:30pm. It was a long time to wait and watch, and I definitely started to get nervous as the children were finishing their tests.

Me doing the 8th form at the back, and Gianni doing the 3rd

The way the black belt test is structured is that everyone demonstrates 3 of the 8 forms and does a minute of sparring in groups of 6. The first form is the same for everyone: the 8th and most recently learned form. The second form is, again, the same for everyone, but for this one, the form is chosen at the start of the day. For our test, it was the 3rd form. The last form is completely random, and the judge changes it with each group of 6 testers, so you don't know what exactly it will be until you get in front of the judge. Gianni and I both were asked to do the 5th form. The last step is sparring, and it's pretty simple. You just have to remember to kick with both your legs, do high kicks, and do a variety of different kicks.

Gianni doing the 8th form

Me doing the 8th form

When it was finally time for our test, we were arranged in our groups. I was only in a group of 3 because I guess there weren't enough adults testing to make a full group. I was a little worried because I was supposed to have taken off all my jewelry beforehand, but I don't actually know how to take off my cartilage piercing. It cause a bit of a disturbance among the people checking us in, but Master Hwang got it sorted out. I was in a group with one guy from our gym and another girl who was from another gym. The forms went by really quickly  because I was totally nervous. Still, Gianni and I are both confident about our performances. I don't think I made any mistakes on the forms. My leg did start shaking at the end of the last one, but that was partially because it was really cold once you got to the stadium floor, away from all the heaters. So we moved on to the last part: sparring. I was paired with the girl who was in the forms group with me. Now, it is my understanding that this sparring is meant to be friendly because we both need to make sure we get some kicks in to pass the test. At practice, some of the girls at my gym and I were basically just taking turns doing some kicks, and that was fine. Well apparently this girl didn't get the memo. She started in on me really fast, kicking me really hard. Gianni and his partner in the group before me were actually told to stop kicking so hard by their judge, so I'm not sure why our judge didn't stop us. Anyway, the girl started kicking me hard and made me fall. Then, she proceeded to kick me in the face! After that, I completely forgot the rules of what I was supposed to be doing to pass the test, and I just wanted to go after her. I kicked her as hard as I could and made her fall once. I know I kicked with both my legs, but I'm not sure I did enough variety of kicks. Master Hwang said I did well though.

Gianni sparring (left)

Me sparring (right)

After the test, the girl was very apologetic about kicking me in the face because I don't think she meant to. Still, I now have a cut/bruise on my lip, and it hurts to open my jaw very wide. It's better than it felt on Saturday though, so nothing really damaged. I felt like a baby, but I definitely got teary-eyed afterwards because I was in some degree of pain. I tried not to cry because I was with the other gym members and Master Hwang, but they kept noticing me getting teary and pointing it out, which only made things worse. We all went out for dinner afterwards, but I kind of just wanted to go home and take some motrin. Oh well! Master Hwang called it my "injury of glory!"

Despite the knocks I took during it, I think I did really well on my black belt test overall. Gianni feels good too. I thought we would have to wait a few weeks to find out if we passed, but Master Hwang just called to let me know that Gianni and I both passed! We are officially black belts!!! yay! We do have to still wait for the actual belts with our names on them though, but that's ok. Now, we need a little break for this week.