Taxes

It’s the middle of April already.  Are your taxes filed?  Due to a holiday in Washington, DC, you are not late.  Yet.  Congratulations-you have until Monday.

I took a look back over some recent posts, and noticed that the post frequency has declined.  Also, the content has changed.  I think these both are a result of me finally adjusting to the training (after almost two years).  I don’t complain about strange tube drills, jumps, and how they make me see dead relatives.  Although, we did have a couple of really hard training classes this past week, and I still have a hard time with some of the drills.  Just not as bad as before.  And, I recover a lot faster.

I still have problems with my feet and left ankle.  The foot problem isn’t on the bottom any more-it hurts on top.  Both feet.  They are the worst when I’ve been still-sitting-for a while.  Once I get up and start moving, I’m a lot better.  Kicking drills where I have to make contact make them hurt too.  Nothing is broken, just irritated.  I think it’s still the faciitis, so I have started doing some of the stretches again.  They worked for the heel pain, hopefully they’ll work for the insteps too.  All in all, though, it;s not so bad that it keeps me away from training.

I feel like I’m making some progress in Hoijeon Moosool too.  I’m a yellow belt now, and I think I can most of the time figure out my right foot from my left.  This is slow going, and it’s not being helped by my attendance.  I didn’t make it at all this past week, and probably won’t make it to any classes next week either.  I can practice some of the techniques on my own, but I still need instructor help to make sure I’m not practicing the wrong things.  My son doesn’t really like it when I practice the wrist grabs and releases on him.

Quick Update

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks.  I’ve been traveling for work, we’ve had family functions take us out of town, and our kids have had activities of their own that we’ve been attending.  Needless to say, training has suffered.  My wife has been doing a great job of getting my son to his classes while I was away, so he’s not as bad off as I am.

During my travels, I had the opportunity to watch a black belt test at another club, and also a kids’ sparring class at a second club.  I returned in time for our own black belt test, so in the last two weeks I’ve been able to observe three different approaches to training.  When I first started writing this blog, I commented many times on how the training has changed since my earlier years.  Well, seeing these three approaches, or at least their results, has really emphasized that, while what we do may seem strange to me, there is no doubt that it works.  And, truth be told, it doesn’t seem so strange any more.

Welcome Back Sir!

It’s great to have you back!

Catching Up

I’ve been negligent lately in keeping up to date with these posts.  I could summarize by saying that I am the oldest, slowest, fattest guy in class still.  However, to be fair, there has been more going on than just age and slowness.  My grandmother passed away last Friday, February 26.  She had been slowly sliding downhill over the past few years with a series of strokes.  While she was still together mentally, she was having increasing difficulty getting around and taking care of herself.  About 5 weeks before, she went into a care facility.  She moved to another care facility, had a great day, and then a massive stroke.  She hung on for a few more days after that, which gave time for her immediate family to gather and be with her.

I am very thankful that I had her in my life for as long as I did.  We paid her a visit last September, and she got to meet her youngest great granddaughter.  We named our youngest daughter Margaret, after my grandmother’s mother.  My great grandmother’s nickname was “Mimi”, and my grandmother always referred to my daughter as “Little Mimi”.  I smile when I think of Gram playing with Little Mimi that afternoon.

My son tested for his blue belt (5th gup) on Saturday.  All of the testers did a great job.  I pointed out after the test that this was the first test of his that Gram got to watch.

We went to Pittsburgh on Sunday, and the funeral was Monday.  We came home after that, and I had Tuesday and Wednesday off.  On Wednesday, I was trying to move a motorcycle engine in my garage, and succeeded in hurting my back.  I eventually got the engine where I wanted it, but was very tender for a few days.  No training in anything-I didn’t miss any work, but training was out of the question.  I credit my training for minimizing the impact of the injury.  In times past, my back problems have kept me flat on the floor for days.  I hurt, but I was functional.  Today, Monday, I was able to train again with no ill effects.  I’ll tell you this-I missed it.  Can’t wait to get back at it tomorrow!

Forecast

The groundhog saw his shadow, or didn’t, and predicted a quick arrival of spring this year.  Sure enough, the temperatures have been in the 40′s, and the snow is rapidly disappearing.  This makes it much more pleasant to train, although I know that the summer heat is right around the corner too.

My Taekwondo training has been hit or miss.  I trained last night (Thursday), but hadn’t been in class since last Thursday.  Once a week is a fast way to falling apart.  I’m expecting a good week next week coming, though, and I should be able to attend every class through next Saturday.

There are some advantages to not training at every opportunity.  My feet are doing a lot better.  My left ankle is still sore, especially after sparring last night, but I’m not waking up at night because they hurt.  That’s a big relief.  I’m working hard when I am there, and seeing progress, and it’s not hurting.  I’m still tired, and sore, but not like before.

The Hoijeon Moosool training is going good too.  I’m having fun, but it’s hurting my brain.  I have so much to learn and it’s coming fast.  I’m trying to write down the techniques and make some pictures to reinforce what I’m learning.  I practice at work, but have to make sure I’m practicing the right things.  Fortunately two of the Hoijeon Moosool black belts train in Taekwondo, and I can get a little help outside of the formal classes.

Brrrrr

Somehow we survived the six inches of snow without resorting to cannibalism.  Snow isn’t the problem now-instead, it’s just cold.  Temperatures are below zero at night, with highs in the teens.  The weather is great incentive to make it to class, where I can work up a good sweat.  I do have to make sure I warm up and stretch, though, because I feel like I’ll snap like a twig otherwise.

Our master instructor is away this month.  I am the next highest ranking person, but rather than teach the classes myself I’ve been able to turn them over to some of our younger instructors.  They have been doing a phenomenal job, in both the kids’ and adult classes.  It’s great to see that the standards can be maintained.

Personally, I’ve been having a blast.  I’m learning a new art, Hoejeon Moosool, and having a lot of fun in Taekwondo.  I still don’t understand why I like this stuff, but I do.  Even with all of the aches and pains, I came out of class every night this week pumped up and excited to go back for more.  It’s a testament to the quality of our training, certainly, but also to the people-both instructors and students-that are part of this club.  Thank you Grandmaster Johnson for making the great club that I remember even better than it was.

Now to be a Debbie Downer.  My beloved Steelers lost their second Super Bowl.  The last time this happened, it took them nearly fifteen years to make it back to that game and win it.  I was lucky enough to attend that game in Detroit, and I hope I don’t have to wait another fifteen years for them to win another one.

Snowmageddon

The end times are upon us, at least according to the local tv weather reports.  Disaster sells.  Schools closed yesterday at 5:30 pm, even before the snow started.  The roads did get exciting last night, but by this morning the main arteries were plowed.  Our neighborhood won’t see a plow truck until late this week.  So far though, no looting, riots, or cannibalism to report.

Between family visits late last week, the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby on Saturday, and a Cub Scout Pack meeting on Monday, we haven’t trained since last Wednesday.  Weather permitting, we’ll go to class tonight and Thursday, but then miss Saturday and Monday again.  It’s hard to build training momentum when attendance is spotty.

I made it to class on Tuesday night for my first ever Hoijeon Moosool (HJMS) training session.  When I first got my second dan in Taekwondo, I wanted to train in HJMS and possibly pick up a black belt in it between my 2nd and 3rd TKD dan testing.  This was back in 1997.  I successfully failed then.  Now I have another almost 3 years before I can test for my 4th TKD dan, and my family is on board.  All I can say after my first class is that it’s different.  I think I’ll be ok once I get going.  I think it’ll help my TKD footwork a lot.  I think it’ll take some practice to compartmentalize the TKD muscle memory.

Today at work, during my lunchtime, I plan on practicing our standard TKD forms, the forms I’ve been trying to relearn (I just about have those down), and a few of the moves I learned last night.  Should be very entertaining.

Deep Thoughts

I attended the memorial for Grand Master Beghtol this past weekend.  As much as memorial services can be nice, this one was.  I barely knew him, but there were a lot of people there that knew him pretty well, and were shaped by training with him.  The whole thing made me reflect on a couple of memorial services for people from NATA that I missed.  While I don’t view my relationship with Grand Master Marshall Johnson the same way that  Grand Master Beghtol’s students of 40 years view their relationship with him, there is no doubt that I am the person, and martial artist, that I am now because of his influence on me.

I talk to my brother almost every day.  Often, the conversations compare training injuries, aches, and pains.  His style is different than mine.  Heck, my style now is different than the style when I started Taekwondo.   Other than giving us something to talk about, what do these differences mean?  Not much.  During the memorial service, people commented that they started Taekwondo because they wanted to be able to defend themselves.  One person said that he figured he would train for two weeks, and be all set.  In fact, these people stuck with it for 20 or 30 years, and are master instructors themselves.

This is what is important about Taekwondo.  Nobody trains for 30 years because they’re afraid of getting hit.  That may be why people start, but it’s not why people stick.  Why do they stick?  Because Taekwondo makes better people.  The training is just a way to get there.

I started my training over 20 years ago.  I took a long layoff, and am now back at it with a vengeance.  Hopefully I’ll have a positive impact along the way to some up and coming students.

Grand Master Monte Beghtol Obituary

I knew Grand Master Beghtol through my brother’s training at the Western Michigan Tae Kwon Do Assocation.  GM Beghtol was the founder of the association.

An excerpt: Mr. Monte Beghtol, age 77, passed away Tuesday morning, January 11, 2011. He was born January 21, 1933 in Muskegon to Harold and Lillian (Barrett) Beghtol. Mr. Beghtol was a U.S. Air Force Veteran serving stateside during the Korean War. He worked 32 years as a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service before retiring in 1988. He was also a karate and billiards teacher for Muskegon Community College. In July of 1995, he was inducted into the U.S. Karate Hall of Fame.  Read the full obituary here.

There’s a memorial service on Saturday at noon in Spring Lake for Grand Master Beghtol’s Tae Kwon Do family.  Facebook has more information here.

Happy New Year

Here we are at the beginning of a new year.  Christmas and New Years parties are all done, but their effects linger on.  For me, this means that my pants are too tight.  They were too tight before, but they’re even tooer tighter now.  My son and I didn’t train at all from mid-December through the new year.  It was a nice break, but now we’re back.  My son and I both commented that we missed the training, missed the people, but dreaded our return.

I thought the break would be a good opportunity to heal up a little bit.  I’ve adapted pretty well to the training, but it’s taken me a long time.  I’ve had a few bruises along the way.  The worst has been the problems with my feet.  I’ve written about this already, and the worst problems have gone away.  Towards the end of the year I was having problems with the tops of my feet.  It hurt to kick pads, heavy bags, and people.  Not good in a sport built around kicking.

In the last days of the break, my right foot improved dramatically.  My left foot, however, was another story.  I injured the left ankle a long time ago, and it never healed properly.  It’s weaker, and hurts from time to time.  While we were away on break, I went ice skating, and that really made my ankle act up.  But, it’s not just my ankle.  Sometimes it’s my ankle.  Sometimes it’s the side of my foot below the ankle.  Sometimes it’s the side of the foot in front of the ankle.  Very strange.  I don’t think the problem is structural-nothing is broken.  But it does hurt a lot, to the point where it woke me up at night a few times.  This didn’t get much better over the break.

When we came back on Monday night (no Cub Scouts) the workout was mostly stretching.  It’s funny (to me, at least) how an easy workout like stretching can end up hurting so much the next day.  This entire week has been mid, but with weird exercises.  Some of the stretches were pretty strange.  Today we sat backwards on folding chairs to do abs and back work (I didn’t fit in the chair one way, and fell out the other).  Through this I had   been wearing a brace on my ankle, and it didn’t feel great, but it worked.  Today  I forgot the brace, and limped around a lot.

This coming week promises to be more energetic.  I’ve gotta remember to put that brace back in my bag, or I’m going to be in real trouble.  But, my son and I both agree that it’s great to be back!