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