Sunday, February 25, 2007

Testing, Stripes, Belts etc.

I finished all my improvements last class, and got a green stripe taped to my yellow belt today. I'll test for a green belt on March 3rd. We'll be tested on only four kicks:

- sliding side kick
- sliding roundhouse
- hook kick
- spin hook kick

so hopefully I'll devote a good bit of practice to each. In sliding kicks, you slide ahead with your support foot while kicking to get a bit of extra distance. I'm best at sliding roundhouse and hook kick. My sliding side kick is passable, but my spinning hook kick is rather miserable at the moment.

I tried back kicks for the first time while sparring today, but I must have been slow, because I got bopped in the face for my efforts. I've tended to stick with roundhouse, side kick and hook kick during sparring so far.

7 comments:

uchi deshi said...

Congrats on the promotion! When it comes to sparring, do what you're good at!

Little Cricket said...

Thanks, uchi deshi! I feel like increasing my repertoire in sparring also. Its definitely a mental exercise to figure out which kicks will be good in what situation.

tomcatuk said...

Wow - your club don't make you take a grading for tags? I have to say, an admirable way to do things. My club has us take a grading to gain tags. Some clubs in the UK even make you take 2 tags between belts, which is completely taking the.....

Well done for moving up - bear in mind most people give up at green, so keep at it and persevere!

Little Cricket said...

Hi tomcatuk,

Thanks, I do hope to continue for a while yet.

Actually, we do have gradings, even for stripes. If the teacher thinks that you still need improvement on the stuff you are tested on, then you don't get the stripe right away. Instead, you take one-on-one help from one of the brown belts or higher, and perfect those techniques before getting the stripe.

Miss Chris said...

Definitely stick to what works best for you in sparring. Hope your face is okay...ouch!

John Vesia said...

Back kicks are powerful, but can be a bit slower to execute than roundhouse or side kicks because of positioning. Stick with what you're good at. Good luck on your green belt test!

Little Cricket said...

Miss Chris,

Face is fine :). It probably looked surprised though.

--

John-sir,

Thanks! We are also having a tournament fighter and her team for a sparring seminar (I think). And we've been warned by our sir to expect to take some hits (!) from her team. A bit scary.