Pneumatised!

MM,

I went to the do jang a little later yesterday. I went after the class was over, so I could use the do jang space to practice my patterns and one-step sparring. I practiced some kicks and then went home. I decided no more running until the test or I might be too tired. Need to let the legs rest a bit.

I studied some terminology last night. Tonight, I think I will just go over things briefly and study some more history and terminology.

Last night, I also burned a CD with some trance/dance music for the run. We are running on a track – very boring! – so I decided to bring some music to listen to so I don’t get too bored. Usually when I run, it’s on the street so I have things to look at and it makes the running easier. On the track, we’ll see the same thing for 25 laps. (The track is 400 m – 400×25=10km.) Anyway, I’m hoping I can run most of the 10k. The longest distance I’ve run so far is 5.7 km.

After the run, we have our black belt test where we’ll do our patterns, one-steps, some kicks, breaking techniques, and full-contact sparring – and did I mention we have to 1000 skips after the run? Eek! Long day ahead tomorrow. I can’t eat much with all the activity, so I bought tons of juice mixes and some protein stuff to drink (soy milk). Tonight (around 6-ish), I’m going to have a bowl of pasta – that should give me the carbs for tomorrow. I have to be in bed by 10 p.m. the latest, and I’m such a night owl.

I’m washing my do boks, so they’re all fresh and clean for tomorrow and Sunday’s demo. 😀

Okay, got to go get some more stuff done.

I’ll be back next week with full recap of the 10k run, test, and the demo. I can’t wait until it’s all over.

Official countdown: 14 hours left and counting…

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local black belt (2nd dan candidate)
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

I decided to work on some conditioning today.

First, I went for a two-mile run. My time for the first mile was 8 minutes 40 seconds, and my time for the second mile was 8 minutes 56 seconds. The total time for the run was 17 minutes 36 seconds. It was good run. The weather was a little cooler.

After the run, Nathan and I went to the gym.

Leg lifts
Pull-ups (aka chin-ups, military and parallel)
Dips
Leg press
Hamstring flexor (called seated leg curls)
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Seated row
Bar pulls (I think this is called the lateral pull-downs; it works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Seated chest press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift (this is called the shoulder press)
Back extensor

Free weights:
Situps (on a incline bench; worked out the obliques as well by doing double punches during the situp)
Bicep curls
Pectoral fly
Weighted squats
Shoulder strengthening

Then I did 10 minutes on the bicycle to work out my knee. Afterwards, Nathan and I did some stretching to help the muscles relax. I’m so proud of Nathan – his stretches are getting much better. He says he wants to be able to do a side kick like Van Damme – hehe… fast, strong, and high. I have to admit Van Damme has some pretty smooth moves for some French dude.

After the gym, we headed home for some food and rest.

Official countdown: 51 hours left

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local black belt
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

I decided to stay home on Tuesday instead of going to the do jang. I kind of jolted awake from a strange dream, the kind where you get a message of some sort. So, I ended up staying home figuring out what my dream was about. Weird, just weird.

I did go over the stuff I needed to do for the test on Saturday and Sunday though. I’m not worried about my techniques as I know my techniques are good, but I just needed to refresh my mind. I went over the patterns and the one-step sparring we need to do. Basically, I went over the curriculum.

Last night, I studied the history of taekwondo. I think I studied enough, but I will need to refresh my mind. I still need to go over the terminology.

Tomorrow, I’ll either go for a run or the do jang. I plan on going to the gym for some conditioning. My knee needs the weight training.

I’m getting antsy about the test on Saturday now. I just want to get it over with. I have so much to do after the test and demo is over. I’ll need a nice little break too, even though I have other work to get done. I’m still planning on getting my reiki classes started for autumn, but still so much writing to do for that.

Pre-test jitters… I feel like I can’t do anything else but think about taekwondo.

Official countdown: 75 hours remaining.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local black belt
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

I went for a two-mile run. It was a little hot still, but the humidity dropped – it wasn’t too bad out for me. The time for my run was 17 minutes 53 seconds. A little slower than my best time, but I felt like I could run faster or more.

I’m planning on getting two more runs in this week. I’m thinking another two-mile run on Wednesday and maybe a shorter run on Thursday or Friday.

Friday, I should be in bed by 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 the latest. To be fully awake for the 10k and the test, I need to be up at least two hours before the run. That means I’ll be up with the sun at around 4:44 a.m.

Official countdown: 106 hours left

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local martial artist
Brigid’s Flame

My horoscope for this week (courtesy of astrocenter.com).

“The Right Perspective

You are gradually finding the courage to overcome some of the fears that you have been battling with, C. J., and this is due to the presence of Mars in your sign. However, don’t allow your fantasies to get the better of you on Wednesday when Mars will be opposing Neptune. You may find it more difficult to understand what your partner wants from you, or how you can cooperate with their plans. Don’t jump in regardless, especially as you may lose out rather than gain from this. You need to have the facts at your fingertips before you agree to anything. Mercury will also turn retrograde in your sign on Tuesday – which is not the best of times to make agreements or sign anything, whether of a personal or business nature. If you are thinking of getting more involved with anyone then leave the commitment out of it until after July 29, by which time you will have a much better idea of any problems that could arise. Thursday looks as though it could be a very interesting day socially. Plenty of chemistry – have fun! Jupiter will also turn direct in your home, so you may find that your hopes and dreams now begin to materialize.”

So, I suppose I’ll pass my test on Saturday with flying colours and perform a great demo…

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

I went to the do jang on Wednesday. I ended up helping to teach poomse class and then took the regular class after. We worked on technique kicking and practiced our patterns. After the do jang, I went to the gym for some conditioning.

Leg lifts
Pull-ups (aka chin-ups, military and parallel)
Dips
Leg press
Hamstring flexor (called seated leg curls)
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Seated row
Bar pulls (I think this is called the lateral pull-downs; it works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Seated chest press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift (this is called the shoulder press)
Back extensor

Free weights:
Situps (on a incline bench; worked out the obliques as well by doing double punches during the situp)
Bicep curls
Pectoral fly
Weighted squats
Shoulder strengthening

Saturday, July 1, 2006

Happy Canada Day! I spent my afternoon at the do jang training. We had our test preparation class. It was the second last class to help prepare for the test and my twelfth class. We needed to take ten out of sixteen available classes. After the two-hour class, I went home to rest. I still need to do some studying – history of taekwondo and terminology. I have no clue how well written the test questions are. I just hope they aren’t trivial questions.

My knee has been acting up again lately. A little bit of swelling. So, I skipped taekwondo on Thursday. Friday, there is only gumdo class. I didn’t go because I wanted to keep my focus on taekwondo and not get too distracted by something else. In any case, I wanted to give myself not only the physical break, but a mental break.

Sunday, July 2, 2006

I needed to rest and decided to skip the last test preparation class. It’s all good though, because the last class was time for working on our demonstrations and I have my demonstration idea already. I plan on practicing later this week during the day-time open training time when there isn’t much people around to distract me.

I still need to keep up with the running. In fact, I hope to get a few more good runs in. Two more mile-and-a-half runs would be good. I think I will be taking time off the regular taekwondo evening classes so I can work on conditioning and get myself focused on the test.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your resident martial artist
Brigid’s Flame