by PandorasVise » Sun Jun 28, 2009 6:35 am
OUS! I had my first belt test yesturday, I am now an orange belt. I did 17 knuckle push-ups and then finished on my hands. But all 30 were on my toes. So many, especially women, were on their knees. Lucky they didn't tell me that that was an option. I don't think I would have worked so hard. LOL When I got to the dojo 2 months ago, I could only do 5 push-ups on my hands and only because I had started weight training two months before that (I could only do 10 on my knees then). I have come so far. I did all 30 sit-ups with a short break for air at number 25 and did them way under a minute. When I first got there, it took my 2 minutes to do 30 with a lot of breaks and my stomach hurt for days after.
I borrowed sparring gear from that woman whose wrist was broke (she is so nice), and Shihan (the teacher) let me spar, even though I had never sparred before, because of the lack of equipment. Sam said that Shihan wasn't going to let me spar because of the no experience, but not only did he let me, I got to fight Senpai (another teacher) in her 2nd stripe test, a 20 man kumate. A kumate is when you fight one person at a time for 60 seconds, with no breaks. You bow in, you fight, you bow out, NEXT. I was the only girl picked to fight her and I got her 4th, while she was still relatively fresh. I was on the offensive most of the time. I figured if I gave her time to think I would get my butt kicked so I just started fighting. Really hard to remember not to kick to the knees or hit to the head after you get hit hard. I didn't hit her there but had to pull a couple of punches.
I did pretty well although I am battered and bruised this morning. Mostly my shin and forearm. I scored really high on everything with all kinds of praises from my judge. Like he said I am taking the right classes and that I surprised him in sparring. He said with more training, I'll be a monster.
So funny that I expected low numbers in kicks and a few other things because I could see all my problems. Like when kicking in place, I have a hard time pivoting, but moving I have no problem.
Have a great week everyone!!