3rd Day- Black Belt Test (Official Test)

Day 3... The Test! Wow!!! What a journey it has been leading to this moment. Everybody, and I mean everybody has sore hamstrings, and back muscles from drilling for absolute perfection. The standard that was set for us was so amazingly high. I watched some of the officials basically tell some of the Black Belt candidates that there was no need for them to test. At least that was what was implied.

I must say that I have some new heroes in my life. One of them is Grandmaster Park Jeong-Beom (pictured), as well as those group of participants testing for 7th Degree. Last night, approaching midnight, there were only a handfull of people still drilling. No surprise, but the ones left in the room were the best out of about 300 people, and most of them were Korean. Their discipline, their focus, their conviction, and their confidence was absolutely amazing. Never in my entire life have I ever seen such a large collection of devoted martial artists. I've seen many martial artists who were outstanding fighters or excellent technicians, but these individuals were on a whole new level. And, the best part about it is... I was a part of it!

This morning, despite the fact that we were all sore, we warmed up, drilled, stretched, rested... warmed up, drilled, stretched, rested, etc. Unfortunately, we were all unsure of our exact moment we would go. Many of us had flexibility that was comprised by tight muscles, so it was important to remain very warm and loose. It would have been detrimental to allow the body to cool down.

We drilled our techniques and poomse over and over again. We critiqued each other and never settled for anything less than perfect. It was stressed to us that we should not hesitate or pause. If we do, our test will be comprimised. The panel of judges were the official Kukkiwon instructors, and didn't want to see anything that was less than perfect.

Waiting for my turn felt like an eternity. I quit watching the people before me since some were cracking under the pressure. The room was filled with high ranking officials from Kukkiwon, as well as The World Taekwondo Federation, let only a few hundred spectators. Some people testing completely froze and couldn't even begin their poomse.

I decided to spend the next 30 minutes visualizing every possible poomse I could do. In practice, I was not always happy with my techniques, but I decided that I must do my best at this point. Every other poomse I would do, in practice, had some small error. Over the next 30 minutes, I visualized myself executing perfect techniques. I self-talked and commanded nothing but excellence, power, and conviction from my subconscious.

My number was called... and I couldn't wait to take the floor. I face the judges with confidence and poise.

Charyut!
Kyung-nae!
Koryo Joonbi!

"Adapt, adapt, adapt...!!!", was what went through my head. The last 32 people started with Taegeuk Pal Jang! Those of you who are martial artists must be thinking, what's the big deal? The big deal is that these judges what to see a poomse beyond what you can ever imagine. Beyond anything that I could ever imagine, up until this weekend! Every starting position, ending position, feet position (to the inch), balance, power, fluidity, with the proper combination of slow and fast movements, etc., etc., etc. Even masters testing for 7th Degree took this very seriously.

Hardly anyone arrived to this Black Belt Test with 100% of the knowledge the judges wanted to see. Even within the past year, their have been HUGE changes in poomse! Changes that needed to be mastered in 2 days, and habits that needed to be broken from over 30 years of training. The alternative is to fail the test.

I am proud to say that I nailed every single poomse as perfect as I could possibly make it. It was as flawless as I could presently make it. I could not have been anymore proud of myself for ending such a challenging journey. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, the sparring was a breeze. Funny how things have changed for me. The amount of pefection being demanded by Kukkiwon actually made sparring a walk in the park!

I won't know if I have passed this test for a few weeks. I am not worried one bit, because, if I have failed, I will at least know that I have experienced from this journey. I know that I am strong, both physically and mentally. I know that I am a true master with devotion, and conviction. I know that next time, I will be better.

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson

2nd Update- Black Belt Test

The second day has ended up being a lot longer than the first day. I'm writing this blog post at 2:32 am, 20 minutes after leaving the Tropicana Hotel (site of testing). For the record, the official test is not until tomorrow. What is tomorrow? Is today, tomorrow?? I've been punching, blocking, and kicking for 16 hours straight, minus lunch, dinner, a few snacks, and restroom breaks. I'm a little delirious.

Believe it or not, there are 300 people testing for a different rank of Black Belt. Today, Grandmaster Park informed everyone that 10% of our group would pass the test if the test was right now. Well... I wish he hadn't told me that. I'm accustomed to long hours of teaching and training, and minimal sleep. Therefore, guess who was the last to leave tonight? You guessed it! Nery and I. Nery is my new hardcore training buddy from Los Angeles. I'm not sure what happened to Carston, my buddy from Germany. He called it a night after dinner.

I sure wish I could write more, but I'm thinking I need a few hours of sleep before I take the official test tomorrow.

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson

1st Update- Black Belt Update

As promised, I am making a blog post on my quest for 6th Degree Black Belt.

5:30 am - Wake up (Boise)
6:00 am - Cringe as the taxi driver rings the doorbell (3 sleeping kids!)
7:45 am - Land in Las Vegas. I did travel light. I checked in a bag, but carried my hogu (chest protector) with me. I have traveled to a lot of tournaments with this hogu, and never have I had so many people ask me what it was that I was carrying. Evidently, 3 people had a bet on what it was. Apparently, one gentleman thought it was a ping pong paddle case.
8:10 am - Picked up by the Hampton Inn shuttle (that I called for, by the way)
8:20 am - Arrive at the wrong Hampton Inn.
8:25 am - Get back on the shuttle I thought I called, but really didn't, and head for the airport. Mine was there waiting.
8:35 am - Get to the right hotel, check in, shower, eat breakfast, and head to the Tropicana hotel for the poomse seminar.

As some of you may know, I wasn't super excited to do 2 days of straight poomse training before the actual test. After spending about 8 hours on poomse, then an additional 2 hours working with some new friends, I'm actually kind of excited. I've been to a lot of seminars, but this one is different. The seminar leader is a 9th Degree Grandmaster. He started his training in the 60's, and has the agility of a cat! He doesn't speak a lick of English, and has a translator relaying his wealth of knowledge to the participants.

Many of the Black Belt participants have their school logo on the back of their dobok (uniform). Not the seminar leader and assistants! The back of their uniform has one word written in big bold letters... KUKKIWON. Let me explain- Kukkiwon is the heart and soul of the Black Belt curriculum. Kukkiwon is the headquarters for the development and processing of Black Belts and their certificates. Having KUKKIWON on the back of your dobok is about the equivalent to a room full of people with their state on their back, and a few people with the words- WHITE HOUSE.

Aside from having some very knowledgable big dogs, it was actually quite exciting to understand the development and changes of the particular techniques in a poomse. I understand that students aren't thrilled about change. It has actually occured to me that our students must simply understand that poomse changes, not because it was being down incorrectly, but because it must evolve. There are vast changes in poomse from just 5 years ago! It's no wonder there is so much controversy over the correct techniques. Let me back up. There is controversy amongst those that don't keep their knowledge updated. Don't misunderstand me, I still have my thoughts on the starting and stopping positions of a poomse:).

Alright, it's time for me to veg out and visualize Pyongwon, Sipjin, and Jitae.

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson
The Academy of World Taekwondo

6th Degree Black Belt

I am excited to announce that I have applied to participate in a historical Black Belt exam. It's the first Black Belt exam, of this nature, in history. So far, there is no other test like this foreseen in the future. The test is being conducted by a panel of high ranking Black Belts, including 9th Degree Grandmasters from the Kukkiwon headquarters in Seoul, Korea.

The test is being hosted by the United States Association of Taekwondo (USAT) at the US Taekwondo Open Championships in Las Vegas this weekend. This historical event can be best described as a make up test. It's for Black Belts who had errors in processing their applications, or for whatever reason, missed their opportunity to test when they were scheduled to.

11 years ago, I participated in a Black Belt test that was supposed to transfer my current rank, and move me up 1 degree as a Kukkiwon Certified Black Belt. Evidently, when my application was processed, I was actually 1 degree lower as a Kukkiwon Certified Black Belt. Four years ago, I opted to take my 4th degree Black Belt test from my sisters instructor in Los Angeles, Ca. No problems with processing there.

When I learned about this special Black Belt test, I contacted the CEO of the USAT, Mr. David Askinas, and we determined that I indeed qualify for a promotion. This year, I am technically up for my 5th degree Black Belt test. I had every intention of testing in Korea this year, until I learned about this historical test. Due to the circumstances 11 years ago, I was adviced to apply for a skip promotion, which would allow me to test for my 6th degree Black Belt. I prepared all the necessary documents, including a 10 page thesis on my philosophy of Taekwondo, plus my Taekwondo resume that began in 1978. My application, thesis, and resume was reviewed in Korea, and... ACCEPTED!

Although I am thrilled that I have this opportunity to test for my 6th degree Black Belt, I am more excited that I made contact with my original instructor from 1978 because of this event. I was documenting him in my resume and wanted to confirm that I was spelling his name correctly, so I Googled him. Surprisingly, I found him! I had actually sought him out a few times over the past 15 years with no luck, therefore, I assumed he was no longer involved in martial arts. His name is Master Steve Bettencourt, and he has 7 schools in his organization. http://www.worldmusadofederation.com. He is still very much involved with martial arts!

I sent him an email explaining who I was. I was hoping that he would at least remember my father, who was a Black Belt at the time. He responded within 12 hours and remembers exactly who I am, as well as my entire family, even affter 31 years! We've been in touch since I made contact with him, and I hope to visit him and his schools this year.

See you in class!

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson