#kuhapdo

[zenrayn]

My phone was broken and I was locked out of my Tumblr...thus my absence.  Bah!  However, I am here now.  I’ve been keeping busy teaching & training.  I earned my 2nd Dan in TKD. My Kuhapdo teacher wants me to test in a few months for my 1st Dan..... @_@ I’m pretty nervous. I wasn’t expecting that.  Since I only see him for private lessons, I feel like I’m not doing enough. Of course I continue training on my own, but I feel like I’m not learning enough. I feel like I make too many mistakes. I forget basic things.  I just don’t feel ready. At all. 

[zenrayn]

Thank you ourdaniboy , honor-thyself and kunoichinindo for your replies earlier. :)

I went to Kuhapdo tonight and that definitely made me feel a bit better. I worked hard... my arms feel like noodles haha

My Master says I'm coming along well :)

I worked my first set of short forms, a set of drills called Kibon Yun Sup - a series of forward & backward cuts mixed with standing and kneeling. I worked one of my short forms kneeling.... so much kneeling!!! haha

but I'm in a mostly better mood. I need some sleep though... so exhausted and I got Lil' Dragons to teach in the AM!

Time to crash. Good night!

[zenrayn]

Kuhapdo... I haven't updated in a bit... Last week my Master told me that next class he'll allow me to use a live blade for some SLLLLOOOOOWWWWW drills. He wants me to see the weight difference and how paying close attention when resheathing is important... so you don't lose fingers... and destroy the sheath. I apparently have a bad habit of getting a finger where it's not supposed to be.  Guess I'll learn the hard way XD I don't mean to, I really try to do as I see him do.

Something else I learned... I guess this is an old school system of you're a white belt till you test for black. No colors, no ranks, no testing, until your Master says you're ready for Black Belt. I AM TOTALLY OK WITH THIS!!!! I don't have to worry about testing for at least a year or more. He said I may be ready in a year... I think he's overestimating my ability, but I'm honored all the same. I am currently his only night time student, so it's all 1 on 1 attention. And I do train during the week when I can. I hurt my back working Labor Day and it's been a slow recovery, so my work on sword, or any martial art for that matter, has been very limited. That aside though, I do put in a lot of effort trying to learn everything. Working my footwork, which is a very different animal than Moo Duk Kwan. TKD wants very long stances.... sword is very short stances.

The other thing I have to work on is the grip on the sword when cutting, how the hands have to kind of rotate in, like wringing a rag.

I'll be heading to my dojang soon to work on sword for a bit before class tonight. My back is feeling ok today, not 100% but getting better. I'm gonna find my Tiger Balm and rub that in.... I should learn how to make my own haha!

[zenrayn]

Tonight I was going to have a night off from training. I was going to go with my BF to his Hapkido class and just watch. I took my Kuhapdo notebook with me to review terminology and such. As I got there though, the Master was excited I came down on another night and thus asked me if I had any of my gear with me. I did, most of it is kept in our car. He told me once the hapkido class starts, he'd give me some drills to work. So I had in impromptu kuhapdo class tonight. Learned some new drills and worked some forms.

Damn my arms are tired though!! Haha!

[zenrayn]

Currently sitting here soaking my thigh with my own Dit Da Jow. Kinda went overboard at the gym yesterday. Way to go.... so I'm trying alleviate some of the stiffness and aching before Kuhapdo tonight.

I've been developing this recipe for a couple years now. It seems to do pretty well. My very first batch was a bit excessive in ingredients and I didn't know much about how to balance them and what really goes well with what for herbs. It still worked but wasn't really refined.

Second batch was a bit better on the ingredients but didn't have the strength of the first one. From there I branched into making other things to learn about herbs more and what can be done with them. Also since my batches of Dit Da Jow take around a month and a half to make each, it takes a while to find out results. I made some other liniments, not specifically Dit Da Jow, but based on the same ideas. I just focused more on target areas, such as things for arthritis, bursitis, carpel tunnel, ect.

I've learned a bit more about herbal remedies, so I've got a few ideas for the next batch I make.

The tough part is doing patch testing. I'm not allergic to anything, so I've never had a bad result when used on myself. So I have to actively search out people willing to do patch testing for me. Which is fun.... "Oh hey, you have allergies, can you rub this on yourself and see if you break out in rash, swelling, itching, pain, anaphylaxis... " That really goes over well. But, on the flip side, I've gotten good responses from the testers I've given to people. They've asked me to make things for them when I learn how... I want to try a salve at some point. I've acquired a capsule maker with a huge bag of capsules. I've made up some with ginger and some with scullcap (made for my BF who doesn't take medicines ever, but this helps his headaches).

Well this seems to be helping quite a bit. I'm able to move a bit better. Huzzah!

Hope its enough for sword tonight! I'd skip tonight if there was another day to go, but there isn't. Just fridays. So I'm going. PERSEVERANCE!

[zenrayn]

Wow my everything hurts... Kuhapdo tonight was INTENSE. We went over SO MUCH. In detail. My brain feels over-loaded with new Korean terms. I'm so tired I can't focus or think straight.

I'm having some Pizza then heading to bed. Got my first Lil Dragons class to teach tomorrow.

If I get a chance tomorrow I'll try to post details about class.

No promises though XD

Good night!

[zenrayn]

Mini Kuhapdo update....So my Master emailed me the first 14 pages of the student kuhapdo handbook. A lot of new vocabulary to learn. The over-achiever I am went and bought a binder and some of those plastic page protector things... and bought a printer cause I don't own one. I put my binder together... found a new picture on google for the cover image.... and wow... I feel like such a nerd typing all this out haha! Whatever.

So I was reading the history part and it was pretty enlightening. As it turns out Koreans were the original swordsmiths and their art spread to Japan. They started following Buddhism and Confusianism thus making them a more peaceful people, so the swordsmiths started moving towards Japan. Then the Japanese occupation of Korea which destroyed a lot of their remaining weapons.

A lot of the vocabulary I knew from TKD. The stuff I don't know is all the terms for different sword cuts and the Korean words for the parts of the sword. I had studied an Iaido book before, so I know the Japanese terms, which doesn't quite help me haha.

Guess I have some studying to do!

[zenrayn]

Kuhapdo Class - Night #1

OH MAN! Definitely tired! I learned a lot more tonight. So many drills! My Master started me off with pointing out some etiquette that wasn't covered before. Then straight into drills.

Drills. ... Horse stance, downward overhead cut.

Drills. half step, head strike, full step overhead thru body cut.

Forms.

-Small water break- Talk about some history. Drills. horizontal cut.

Drills.

Forms. Forms. Forms. Kneeling, standing, kneeling, standing. INTENSE.

Drills. OOOOO Bokken on bokken drill. I'm not so good at it... but that's ok.

End class - etiquette and talk about class, drills for homework, reinforce the importance of not cutting off our ears lol

And so much terminology I can't remember. .... Well. I remember some words, but I can't spell them (yet). He said he's getting me a student handbook together for Kuhapdo and will have it for me next class. So I'll be able to spell some of the words at least, and figure out stuff on my own.

He said for now, stick to standard bokken - I have one with sheath-  but he said not to use it for now. Until I drill a bit more on drawing the blade.

I'm still excited. So much work and details and man are my shoulders tired! I can't wait till next class.

I was given 4 drills to work on at home until next weeks class. I think this is the only time I've ever been excited for homework. :P

Master also gave me a compliment and said I had good foot work o_o REALLY?!?!?!  AWESOME! One less thing to worry about. For now, making sure my shoulders are straight, and my grip on the sword is proper - two big things.

I can see why people would give this up quickly, it is a lot of repetition - but I like it. I will learn this and get really good at it. And eventually, when I achieve high enough rank to teach it, I will. I want to bring it to my dojang and teach others.

I never thought I'd find myself saying this, but I really enjoy being a teacher. I enjoy learning new things, betting good and something and being able to pass it on to others.

I'm going to head to bed. My brain in fuzzy and my body tired. Gonna sleep well and tomorrow... DRILLS!! :D