Not everything in our household has revolved around Hanna's pregnancy. On Sunday, I finally got down to Santa Cruz to visit Dr. Brummell, longtime friend and fellow Taekwon-Do student. He is one of the highest ranking students in Boulder TKD, coached me at Nationals in 2005, led Sunday practice every week, and has always set a high standard for other in class. He had moved from Boulder to California a couple of years ago, and I'd been looking forward to reconnecting with him and seeing if I could still survive one of his workouts.
Sunday practices at Boulder TKD have always had a reputation for being intensive, thanks in large measure to Dr. B; those who are Sunday regulars wear it as a badge of pride. I credit his high standards for making me a better student and martial artist. In fact, Dr. B has given me the best compliment I think I have ever received in my many years of training. When I first moved to Boulder and started working with the class, I was quite rusty and out of practice. I started going to Sunday class every week to push myself back into shape. For weeks and weeks, Dr. Brummell would harp on my stances. "Lower!" "Where's your back knee, Mr. Sizemore?" "Sir, do you really think that's what an L stance looks like?" This kind of thing went on for months, it seemed. Of course, every correction he made was valid, but despite knowing that, I couldn't help but start to feel a bit frustrated; couldn't I ever do a stance this man wouldn't find fault in? Finally, one day, Dr. B looks over at me during kicking drills one Sunday and says, with mock surprise in his voice, "Mr. Sizemore! Your stance doesn't completely suck!" I've won my share of competitions, but I don't think I've ever felt so good about my abilities as on that day.
Dr. B and I held "Sunday Services" out in a local park, complete with "some" sit-ups ("some" traditionally being defined on Sunday as greater than or equal to 100), kicking drills, all patterns from white belt through 2nd dan, half of the first 3rd dan pattern, sparring, and ho sin sul. I was not surprised to find that my skill, to say nothing of my flexibility and endurance, had atrophied quite a bit in the two months since I left Boulder. Despite this, it felt great to be outside doing Taekwon-Do again; I felt back in my element.
After our workout, we grabbed lunch at a local pub, and had a chance to catch up on work, family, and life in general. His responsibilities at the University, combined with the demands on my time, mean that we probably can't start doing regular classes, but we agreed to keep in touch and try to meet at least a couple of times a month to train. We may even be able to bring some other people in that Dr. B knows in the area. While it is certainly possible to practice Taekwon-Do alone, there are many benefits to having other people push you to become better. I look forward to once again having that motivation, not to mention benefiting from the knowledge and experience of senior students.
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