Adults only

Friday night was a special TKD class, led by Ms. Pryor. She told us about it earlier. She planned to work on 1 and 3-step sparring. "And we'll sweat and sweat and sweat some more."

I decided to do it. I wasn't crazy about the sweat and sweat stuff, but I did want to work on those 1 and 3 steps.

I got there a bit early, and wondered if anyone was there. It was quiet in the dojang, but the lights were on. It wasn't empty, though. Pam and Jim were there with their son Paul, Kevin, Aimee and Heidi, Curt, Justin, and Ms. Pryor. Everyone was warming up quietly and intensely. There was a totally different feel from when the junior belts are there, runing, yelling, teasing each other.

I slipped my leg warmers on under my uniform and stretched out with Sun Salutation.

Ms. Pryor had advertised this class as "solid belts only." The children don't need to learn 1 and 3 step sparring, so they didn't need to be there. It really altered the feeling of the class not to have them there. We were able to focus more easily, move more quickly through the exercises. I did miss the joy and levity they bring to class, though!

Still, it was an awesome class. It's not a Ms. Pryor class without cardio exercises across the floor--we did those, of course. We also worked on some of the lower belt forms, facing different sides of the dojang. Now that's tricky, if you're used to facing the front!

Most of the class, though was devoted to 1 and 3-steps, and some self-defense.

This is what I really needed: to go over those one and 3-steps over and over. I think I now have the white belt 3-steps down. Number one: step back and avoid, step back and avoid, step over, block/punch, block/punch (ki-hap). Etc.!

I worked with Pam when we did throws and other self-defense moves.

"I hate falling," said Pam.
"Me, too," I agreed.
Our tactic: lower the person to the ground so she doesn't fall!

I don't like the throws, mostly because it seems they're not so useful if your opponent is taller than you are (just about everyone for me!). Ms. Pryor doesn't agree with this, though. She showed me how I could use my hip to bump a taller opponent's leg and cause him to fall. I tried this with Jim; he fell, but Ms. Pryor said I needed more practice. "He wouldn't have gone down," she said.

I'm not sure I'll ever need this sort of thing in real life. Probably none of us will. Except maybe Brian, who probably uses self-defense tactics on a regular basis in his line of work. But he wasn't there Friday. (He called me before class started to tell me he'd gotten stuck at work. Too bad!)

We also learned a wrist-lock. I got pretty good at that; still, I'm not sure I'd be able to use it in a pinch.

Justin had to leave early, but before he left, he talked to me about sparring. He'd offered to help me with it sometime; we tried to figure out a time. I think he thinks I should work on NOT watching my opponent's scoring zone. "Look them in the eyes and kick them in the stomach." Yeah. That will take some practice.

At the end of class, Ms. Pryor told us she was hoping to offer these Friday classes on a regular basis. I think I'll take advantage of them. With a small number of hard-working adults, seems like I can learn a lot.

Besides, someone mentioned something about going out for beer and pizza afterwards sometime!