Thursday, February 4, 2010

All Awash in Yellow

It's done. I've destroyed a square piece of a tree with my bare foot, demonstrated my proficiency at the refined set of movements called Poomsae, and passed the physical test. I've graduated from white belt to yellow in TaeKownDo. I'm pretty happy with the journey too.

All along the way my English speaking instructor Brendan passed on solid information to me that he had learned while attaining almost 3 black belts so far. Some points really standout in my experiences with Yonsai Universtiy TKD. I am so impressed that they never lost sight of my advancing age or the physical shortcomings I have accumilated along the way. The goal has been to see me advance without causing harm and that's what has happened. Actually, I feel better every day after 10+ years of pain. Another impressive point is that nobody felt slighted when I respectfully agreed to simply bow to the Korean flag rather than salute or place my hand over my heart. I'm no nationalist, but hey, I have to pay respect to what my flag means to me. They bought me my very own flag. I was moved deeply by this.

I'm going to continue with this location and my instructors as this is one more great experience for me in Korea and in Songdo, Incheon specifically.