Friday, April 06, 2007

Well, it's about that time again.

What time, you ask?

Testing time. Only this time it's not a test, it's a midterm - you have three midterms before you test for second degree - and it's coming up on April 27.

So, everything seems pretty good. My form is coming, my self defense is coming, and my memorization is coming.

However, that leaves us with board breaks. I found out today that I have to do two two inch breaks, not just one this time. Which scares the crap out of me. I tried two today - a palmheel and a hammerfist. I suceeded in smashing through the palmheel like it was nothing, and bruising my hand on the other. So I broke one out of two.

Tonight, I'm getting mentally prepared for this midterm. There's no way I'm going to let breaks be the reason that I can't midterm. These ones I will break. Two inches, I will do it.

I've kept one piece of wood from every testing since blue belt (the first testing that you break wood at). Every piece I get Mr. Hanger to sign and date. I pulled them out to look at tonight, just for some inspiration. Sometimes he writes little things - "congratulations", "great break", that kind of thing. But every so often he wrote something a little bit more personal. The first time I broke wood it didn't go well. It took me what felt like a million tries. On that piece he wrote "1/2 a piece of many". On another he wrote "perseverence, determination, indomitable spirit".

My form felt overwhelming at first. It was really difficult. The improvement I've made on that within the last six months has been amazing. I need to look at breaks the way I did my form. This is not an insurmountable obstacle, even though it may feel that way.

It is not the critic who counts - not the person who points out how the strong man stumbled, nor how the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the person in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcomings, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the high achievement of triumph and who at worst, if he fails at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

|