You will do great, don't worry about it! As a teenager I worked my way up in TKD to a 1st gup(blue belt in our system) and then quit(Dumb kid, I know!). You will be there testing with severals others as well, just do your best.

One question I have always had.......why do different Taw Kwon Do organizations use different belt colors? Why can't there be one standard?

Also curious as to how your tests for the next belt go? Ours were pretty much as follows.......you demonstrated some forms, you free sparred for a little bit, you had to break a board(for first test it was with a sidekick), and then you had some "terminology" questions.

Good luck on your test!

Glassgirl
A person can do anything they set their mind to kinda like this.My styles teach us to kiah on every strike.Kiahs serve a couple of purposes for us tho.I have lost 15 lbs on this attempt and my sensei actually noticed last nite i was moving faster LOL. Good luck on your test


Ray

Reading all these post makes me want to start TKD training again. I trained for for about 10 years. I got married and just for some strange reason quite going and then came 5lbs of excess weight every year. I think TKD is great. In my opinion it is a fun way to get into shape and make friends. I was in pretty good shape way back then. (8 years ago) I loved to compete. Boy.... maybe I need to check back into a school. I dont think i could jump 3 inches from the ground now..
Tasha

TashaT
GO FOR IT!!!!

Try a few free classes, check out the places near you, and jump in.
Glad to have started a thread that connects people with likeminded interest in martial arts.

I am grading in a few days and found some info about the different groups. There are a few big associations governing TKD and the philosophy, grading systems, and comptetions.
Your belts and their designations will generally align themselves with the systems approved by one of the big associations. ( ITF and the WTF are two of the big ones)
At the studio I train at belts go like this
white
white with yellow stripe
yellow
etc until black belt, then 1sr dan, 2nd dan etc

My grading will go something like a regular class in that it includes a warm up and some drills.
Then the younger kids grade by belt level, demonstrating their forms, combinations and self defense skills specific to that belt. They also talk a bit about the S.T.A.R. program they participate in.
STOP THINK ACT REVIEW

Success
Through
Accepting
Responsibility

Adults and teens go seperately, performing the in the same manner. Everyone cheers and supports the group that is demonstrating their skills. There may be some question and answer type questions regarding terminolgy and philosophy, and perhaps some personal questions regarding our grading sheets we filled out last week, where we were asked to respond in writing to several questions about our goals, accomplishments and random acts of kindness

I understand many of the dojos develop their own curriculum, often aligning themselves with ITF or WTF.

I'm looking forward to grading, although I have had to take it easy this week, after landing a bit funny after (an attempt at) a flying side kick.
I'm resting my knee and taking it easy.
Friday will be fun.
glassgirl

Glassgirl
How much self defense do you guys learn ??


Ray

I did martial arts for about 3 years. Unfortunately my arthritic knee really didn't like it at all so I eventually stopped. But yes, it is a wonderful workout. Probably the only exercise program I really stuck to simply because I wasn't exercising simply to exercise.

Mailman / Ray

I learned a lot of self defense in the first class I took at the martial arts studio I train at, but it was a specific self-defense class for women. Since I started training in tae kwon do, there is less 'self defense' in terms of how to remove oneself from this or that type of attack, and much more emphasis on an entire set of skills. It is not street fighting, and I don't anticipate using these skills to extricate myself from a physical attack, but I am developing the confidence and training in order to do just that.
I would imagine that different disciplines focus to a greater or lesser degree on street safety.

glassgirl

Confidence
That is what i see as one of the great attributes of the martial arts.The fact that it helps give you the ability to do what you set your mind to and i think that plays especially well when it comes to weight reduction.It also gives you a way to see some of the benefits of the weight lost. Because if you start out being able to just kick low or something and then as you loose more weight and you start kicking higher at least to me that shows a physical gain. Even more than having your clothes fit better.

Ray

Glassgirl, good luck on the test. Wish I checked back here last week, because I just took a test and passed (jumped 1 and a half ranks) on Friday.

JSunstar,
Congrats on your grading, and on the new belt.
I had my test today, and yes, I stumbled and felt like throwing up for part of it, but I also did what I needed to do and (others say) looked confident while doing it!!!
I was the only white belt grading, so not only had I not done this before, but I was the only one up there doing my forms and combinations during that part of the testing. I was skipped a belt today, so I know what a nice feeling of accomplishment you must be experiencing right now.
I wasn't as quick or as sharp as I'd have liked to be, but I'm nursing a sore knee and haven't even been to class much this week. I'm going to forgive myself. I bought some LC sugar free ice cream sandwiches to celebrate.
Yay, next lesson...

glassgirl

Still purple belt. Shotokan has 2 ranks of purple and 3 of brown.

Good job on skipping the belt, I did it before, all it requires is that you learn the kata associated with the belt. Otherwise the kihon is essentially the same.

Hell all fellow martial arts enthusiasts.

I'm still going to TKD, have moved up to orange belt quite recently and I have a question for any philly folks out there.
I'm moving to the north end of Philadelphia in the fall (got a fellowship to attend grad school, woo hoo!!!) and I need to find a new dojo to study at. Any suggestions?
Ideally, I'd like to stay with ITF Tae Kwon Do, for the sake of consistency...
cheers,
Glassgirl