this is the end of our poomsae training sessions before saturday’s bc championship. this is one of the largest killarney team we’ll have at a provincial competition. through the past several weeks of training, they’ve work really hard and improved a lot. i want to keep growing killarney’s competition team and create the comradery that we’ve never had before. hopefully this will lead to something good like taking some of them to bigger stages
my flips were feeling strong in class and post class training. my back tucks have been coming back to me and lately i’ve been able to get solid landings on blue mat by myself. i was curious about the wall flips so i asked to learn it to which one of the coach graciously took me through the steps. they were really cool once i started going through the whole motion with a spot. although in the end i hurt my knee on one of the awkward landing, i don’t regret having asked to learn it. since i didn’t know the extent of my injury, i did have to pull out of my hockey game later that night
for my first semi private session, i revisited everything that i did from my first session, checked on front squats, then jumped into some power cleans. since it looked fairly good after a few minor adjustments, i got the green light to go heavier. made it all the way from the fake whites to the yellow plates. the coach was very happy with the progress given the amount of time and instruction i had today. my first official olympic lifting session since my days with jae and i had forgotten how much fun this stuff is; the only type of cleaning i like to do
i finally did something that has been on my list for the longest time – get serious with olympic lifting. i acquired the skill three years ago, but slowly drifted away because time was a big restraining factor. i would still do cleans here and there, but never touching snatches since the drop. it only further dampened my hopes of returning to olympic lifting when my shoulder fell apart six months ago. i knew i had to do something if i truly wanted it back. the first step to getting serious was to reach out to a coach who would correct and refine my techniques. today’s first session was very good on working through regaining the fundamentals and correcting any bad habits
i was really close to landing one on last class but i wronged myself for not giving it a villiant effort and i was super hard on myself after the fact. i didn’t think i’d land one today based on the condition of my body. one after another, the coach pushed me harder and harder to land it. i really couldn’t stand the disappointment again. i had to push through the pain one after the other. it wasn’t the cleanest of aerials, but a first is a first. i went home with my sore body, but happy and grateful he had pushed for it. i would have regrets if disappointed myself again
it’s showtime for my students who’s going to compete in this year’s master cup. to all those stepping on the mat at provincial stage, i’m proud of all of them to have the courage to compete. to all my competitors, i’m happy to see the improvements in each and every one of you. this is the first time friends outside of taekwondo world came out and it was quite fun. the freestyle poomsaes is what i had to stay for, even if it meant i would be late for teaching. i’m super exhausted after the long day of coaching and teaching. i cleaned up to pass out before ten thirty
one of my long term past time is training for poomsae competitions. though it’s over a year since i stepped on the big stage, i still spend a great deal of time coaching competition. there were times when thought i was done with taekwondo, but every time i try to step away i somehow get pulled back in. the debate is do i still have one last one in me. after my mentor and friends departed, i no longer have as much drive as a competitor to shoulder all the responsibilities
