Orange Belts & Bruises
The last time I posted I was a nervous, bumbling wreck…and I was freaking out for nothing!
Well at first it didn’t seem like it. I was home all day Tuesday, the day of the test. Mario was out having a stressful day himself on his day off. I showered, put my wet hair in a pony tail, picked up the boys from school and got home to blow-dry and straighten my hair. And what happens? The power goes out! The first thing I think is, “OMG! The boys’ test is at 6! The light better come back on by then!”
Mom checks at her apartment: no light either. I call Mary to tell her about the problem and she checks with the city. Sure enough, 1,000 customers in the area don’t have power. GREAT! John was working so I couldn’t even go to his house to do my hair there! I was moping for an hour and FINALLY, the light comes back on! I do my hair and then Mario and I go to McDonald’s to get dinner (nuggets for everyone, bleh now that I remember…). Yadira had agreed to watch Emily while we tested so Mom could go watch us test. So I was still getting ready and still had to drop off Emily. Mary went ahead and took the boys to their test a 6, since I was running late and traffic was awful. Once Emily was dropped off, Mario, Mom, Alaethia and I went to the school.
It was around 6:15 and the test hadn’t started yet. I was rushing for nothing, but I was glad we were there and actually acquired seats. I grew more and more nervous as the boys’ test went on. But I told myself to suck it up and just do it. The sparring would supposedly only go on for about 30 seconds. As long as I slid back and kicked once in a while and just generally kept myself from getting hit my arm and knee would be fine.
The boys did excellently. Jaylen remembered to squat more during the Horse Stance and Eenan kicked high. They did great in sparring and broke all their boards. Eenan broke one with a Chito-chagi (sp?), which is a straight up-and-down kick. It took two tries, but he did it! The little girl (who’s Jaylen’s age) that was a blue-advanced going to red belt couldn’t kick one of her boards with the Hetsu. She wasn’t using the correct technique so she kept hitting the board with her ankle repeatedly. I felt so bad for her :(. At least she can execute the Hetsu for the most part; that’s the kick I fell flat on my back trying to do and I’m terrified of doing it now.
Ernesto gave Eenan all A+ and Jaylen got all A+’s except for his punches. But that’s something he can easily work on.
I ran to the pizza place across the street since the light in the bathroom at the school went out. I was so embarrassed but I HAD to go. I ran back when I was done and bought some shin guards since I didn’t want even more bruises up and down my legs. I was so nervous, and it didn’t help that my whole family was there and the place was FULL of spectators. It was the largest audience I’d seen during one of my tests.
So we’re going through the test. Do the basics: horse stance, side punch, low punch all the kicks. I do fine in the one-step sparring and chagiderio. AND THEN it’s time for the sparring part. I fixed the knee pad I’d put on over my welt and bruise, took a deep breath and began to walk to Mario and my stuff so I can put the shin guards on and Ernesto stops me. He asks how my wrist is doing and I tell him that it still hurts and try and turn it and wince. He’s thoughtful as he looks at my wrist and says, “No. I don’t think you should spar. The last thing we need is for you to get even more hurt.” I’m completely shocked and glance over at Luis, who’s got a smirk on his face and probably thinking, “You got lucky!”
I ask Ernesto, “Are you sure?!” I didn’t want to look like a wimp! “I can…keep my arm close and try not to block with this hand.” He says no, but I owe them sparring twice next test. I didn’t know whether that was a good or bad thing LOL.
When the girls are fighting I can’t help but think, ‘Dammit! I could have taken them!’ Oh well. Next time.
The board-breaking is next and I execute all 3 kicks flawlessly. I broke one with a side-kick, which I’d already done before and did well, too. A chito-chagi (straight up-and-down kick) and the last one was a mula (donkey kick where you spin around and kick under your body). I did the mula really well, thank goodness! That’s the one that I was most nervous about!
We get our usual helpful lecture on what we need to work on before we get our belts and then we got our belts. It’s the best feeling :). We took pictures with the group and we get our stuff together and go. I tell Mario how excited I am that I broke the boards so well and can’t WAIT to see the pictures. He says, “Um. I didn’t take video.” WHAT?! I couldn’t believe it! The screen-caps I could have gotten from them would have been so awesome! Oh well. I tried not to be TOO upset.
The guys promised that by next test in June I’d be ready for sparring. Darnit, I better!!