Catching Up

Okay, recuperation time is over. Let me quickly deal with a couple of items: first, the procedure which I underwent ten days ago that was supposed to fix my heart arrhythmia - unfortunately it didn't work, but at least I am no worse off than I was before. I expect to resume training next week.

Second, in talking to several people about the tournament at Old Saybrook which I described in my last post, I have discovered that some of my comments may have seemed offensive to the hard-working, well-meaning people who participated in the event. I just hope that they will take into account the depth of my ignorance about these things, accept the heart-felt compliments, and shrug off the criticism.

Now on to new stuff. Last Saturday was a gorgeous spring day, sunny and mild - just perfect for the local St. Patrick's Day parade. This is always a big deal by small-town standards; there are maybe fifty groups marching through village streets lined with thousands of cheering green-clad spectators. Our school made its usual appearance, only with a bigger turnout than usual - about seventy kids signed up to participate. Many of the smaller ones rode in the back of pickup trucks decorated with shamrocks as well as signage from the karate school, and the older ones, including most of the adults, marched alongside the trucks handing out flyers. The school's demo team, in full regalia, entertained the crowd with cartwheels, handstands, and fancy kicks as well as a few board-breaks along the way. At the halfway point and again at the reviewing stand, they put on a short exhibition, which brought cheers and applause from the the spectators and judges alike. It was fun!

Then a couple of days ago our school was graced with a visit from two distinguished Tang Soo Do Masters who conducted clinics for our students. Since I am still on the disabled list, I couldn't participate, but I watched the children's clinic - it was terrific! There were nineteen students, ranging from brand-new White Belts to Red Belts who will be testing for Cho Dan next month. The Masters took them through some basic Tang Soo Do techniques to warm up, and then moved into an introduction to Escrima stick techniques. Master Sgro took considerable pains to convince the kids that the stick did not require much force to do a lot of damage - hence the need to be careful. He taught them several techniques, including forehand, backhand, "florete," roof block and a "watik" strike. The kids thought the names were pretty funny, and some of the older ones got very giggly when he made them call out the name of the technique as they executed it.

Later Master Voelker taught them a new self-defense move against a lapel grab. That would have been cool enough, but then he tied it in to the first two moves of Gi Cho Hyun Il Bu (Basic Form Number One). This was a revelation to everyone, and gave a new perspective on the value of studying Tang Soo Do forms.

I can't wait to get back on the mat next week. I'm sure I'll pay for my two weeks of inactivity, but it will be worth it. Let's see what new insight I can gain this time!