Sep7

Fiiiiiiiiiiinallly!!!

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Recapping again: I got off track with my Tae Kwon Do belts when I busted my foot, ankle, and (later discovered) tibia at the end of September. Pretty much recovered, I got another belt (then only one behind my daughters) and was going to be fully caught up at the beginning of May except for tearing two ligaments and bruising two bone plates in my knee two days beforehand. (When I texted Sensei from urgent care telling him no belt testing for me, he didn’t believe me until I sent him a pic of my braced-up knee in a wheelchair.)

So, last week, when I finally FINALLY tested for red/black belt, it was kind of a big deal.

Some of you may recall that the pressure of testing tends to get to me a wee bit. For instance, Sensei has said not to do the forms too quickly because I want to show off that I know each move.

Yeah, so much for that. I moved like I was being chased by a ravenous lion and the only way to keep from being eaten was to distract him by my weird, confusing, albeit somewhat impressive he’s thinking, movements.

Another fun part was, though my girls were doing the forms with me, I knew full well I was the only one being watched, as I was the only one being tested. Normally, two people test at a time, and whenever I’ve messed up, I can tell myself, “Sensei was watching the other person at that particular moment.”

I’m not above lying to myself to get through these things.

My starting position was such that I wound up moving to mere feet from Sensei as I made my one and only major flub–probably because I was aware that he was Right. There.

Groan.

I seriously considered

pausing, moving several feet away from him, and continuing, but figured that was probably not okay. I pushed through until the form had me turning the corner and heading away from him again.

Then came the defensive moves. One requires me to drop to my knees. Not only is that challenging with my knee in a brace, but my daughter’s hands got caught in my hair, further messing with the flow.

Though it wasn’t exactly kosher, given the serious nature of testing, I turned to Sensei and said, “Pretend that went much better.” I think he actually smiled.

Next came the board breaks.

Invisible Hammerfist of Fury!!!
The best part of this is my daughter’s face as she braces for impact.
Still a great face on my daughter, and it looks like I’m punching myself. (I didn’t, honest!)

Finally, it was over. As I headed to collect my stuff, it struck me: I did it. I got caught up. After all these months. I was so overjoyed by this sudden realization, I literally jumped up and down, pumping my arms in the air like a little kid and said, “I did it! I actually did it!”

Next came belt ceremony. Normally, my girls and I do the obligatory standing against the wall with our new belts pic. This time it was just me.

Or so I thought.

Note that looming shadow to the right?
Nice job trying to do bunny ears, Sensei.
Here’s how I felt about that.
Sensei: “Now you can injure yourself again.” Me: “Hardee har har.”
You know what? Whatever. I finally got this belt!

Now on to black!

But first! Dave wisely suggested I end each post with a question from my new trivia book. So here goes, chosen at random:

Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel, and this second baseman formed the Yankees’ Murderers’ Row in the 1920s.

Place your guess in the comments! 🙂

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63 responses »

  1. Congratulations on your fine accomplishment! And yeah, my face would have mirrored your daughter’s. I’d have been afraid of falling backward on impact.

    Um, baseball players? Bahahaha! I’m not good with sports trivia.

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    • I didn’t have a clue about the sports question. I’d heard of those first two people, but not the third, nor the answer.

      I doubt my daughter would have fallen backward. I’m not that strong! Haha! She was probably more afraid of me kicking her fingers. No fingers were harmed in the breaking of that board! 🙂 Thanks, Bijoux!

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  8. The first board break photo looks like you’re hammerfisting through a big slice of cheddar cheese. Or maybe it’s stinky cheese because two photos later you look like you’re holding your nose. All kidding aside, way to persevere, Betsy! No doubt the final rung is black, and how far down the road is that test? Trivia question answer: Stan Musial. Okay, probably not but I sure sounded confident, didn’t I? Stan’s the only baseball player of that era I can think of. Trivia me Dodgers and I might have a chance.

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    • “Trivia me Dodgers” Haha. Check the comment from John Howell. He got it right. And, yes, way to sound confident with your wrong answer, at least. 😛
      And thanks on the other thing. Not entirely sure when black belt will be. Originally it would have been the end of this month, but I whined too much on this blog about wanting to finish with my girls, so Sensei slowed everything down for all of us. Maybe a couple more months?

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  10. I’ve got hammers and saws to break boards, doing it with body parts looks painful. I’ve always thought that the key to ultimate success was learning how to effectively lie to yourself – keep up the good work … 😉

    and that’s a baseball question, right? and that’s one I’d have no clue about during trivia night.

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  11. Wow wow wow – that is so impressive. I love the photos – all of them. But especially your daughter’s face. Really so amazing that you stuck with it despite the injuries. And I love, “I’m not above lying to myself to get through these things.” Whatever it takes because you kick a**!!! Nice work, Betsy! Oh, and I’m glad I’m not doing pub trivia with you because I have no idea!

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  13. Congrats and cute pics (sensei is kinda cute!!). Maybe you made your feelings known about this before I started following you, but I just gotta ask, especially with the next season about to be released: thoughts on Cobra Kai?

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    • OMG, TTA, WHY did you say that about Sensei? He might read this comment, and it will go straight to his ginormous head! The picture I like most of him is the first one, where I’m doing the hammerfist. I like to believe, though you can’t see it, that I’m punching him in the face and all my wildest dreams are coming true. 😉 (Now I kind of hope he IS reading this comment.)

      An EXCELLENT query about Cobra Kai and not a subject I have touched on here. In short: I love it. The first season had way too much gratuitous crudity, or gracrudity as a friend called it, but on the whole, really well done and a lot of fun. You?

      Addendum: I could’ve done w/o the incredibly stereotypical Asian bad a** lady in the last season, but, I guess, what else can you do?

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  15. Congratulations!!!!! What a journey to get here, and such an achievement! You certainly are dogged and determined, my friend! That belt rack is looking mighty fine!

    I busted a gut at the series of photos with sensei & you – hilarious!

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  21. Cheryl! I only just found this and two other comments from you in my spam, which I try to remember to check from time to time for this reason. I don’t know why legit comments sometimes end up there. Anyhow, thank you so much, friend. 🙂 ❤

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  22. Hahahaha! Sensei knows you well–but maybe something on your upper body next time. Give your ankles, knees, and legs a break–erm, I mean, let them have an opportunity to be whole for a while 🙂

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  23. Pingback: Where there’s a belt, there’s baking | Motherhood and Martial Arts

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