Matthew had taekwondo rank testing on Friday night for his “2nd Degree Recommended” black belt. It kind of an in-between rank, so he didn’t get a new belt. Here he is getting a few last-minute pointers from Mark before things got started.
The first thing they had to do was sparring (I hate that they get them all sweaty right off the bat LOL) and board breaks. All of my photos from this part where Matthew is doing anything at all are a complete blur. I need more practice on what setting to choose for action shots under absolutely horrible lighting conditions. :b
Next up was form. A lot of those were blurry too, but here’s one that sort-of turned out during one of the slow parts. (Notice the sparring helmet hair. LOL)
At well over two hours, it was a long time for the spectators to sit smushed in with all these other people in this really HOT gym. Doesn’t Kaylee look thrilled? We actually gave her the option of skipping this testing and staying home with me, but she wanted to go. I think it was mostly because she didn’t want to miss out on going out to eat afterwards. ;)
And finally, here’s a shot of everyone lined up at the end of the evening. (Actually, it’s three shots stitched together, and I didn’t think to try to correct the distortion; the room isn’t really all wonky curvy like that.) These are the students who were testing for black belt rank from all three of the schools under the same owner. Can you spot the back of Matthew’s head? It’s like a game of Where’s Waldo. ;) (Click on the photo to see it larger and get the full effect.)
Matthew did great with all the parts of testing and is now a “2R”. For financial reasons, he’s probably going to be taking a break from karate after June. After doing this 2-4 days a week for the past three years, it’s going to seem really odd to not have it in our schedule. If/when he goes back to classes, he will formally test for his “2nd Degree Decided” in about a year.
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