If there is one thing that preparations for our Taekwondo black belt test has taught Mr E and me, it’s that there is pure magic in practising slowly. We wanted to combine studying the Korean terms for movements with cleaning up our technique and basic stances, so we practised by naming each movement, transition and… Read More The Magic of Slow
Last weekend we had our second belt test for HaiDong GumDo (Korean Sword Art) in Bedburg, Germany It was preceded by an exhilarating and fun HDGD technique and conditioning seminar by Senior Grandmaster Seung-Eun Chae. A list of the disciplines we were tested on for our 9th to 8th kup (yellow to yellow-green belt) test:… Read More HaiDong GumDo Yellow-Green Belt Test
An update on my Martial Arts goals for 2019: Continue going to HDGD and TKD class 2 times a week if possible A self defense workshop is in the charts for May, as well as practising what we‘ve learned. Flexibility work has reduced the past few weeks. Will get back ‘on it’ (and update the… Read More Spring Recalibration – Martial Arts
During the past few weeks I’ve been working on our first (in benefit of Dance4Children) self-produced mini-kickboxing workout. It is now available! (in downloadable and streaming format) at https://gum.co/kbcombos And we’re really excited about it. It was great to see ‘our’ D4C coaches at work together, and very interesting for me to do the filming/editing… Read More Online Kickboxing
This is what happens when 3 martial artists, who happen to also be dancers, meet at a bellydance/martial arts fusion festival – and a free photoshoot is offered. It was an honour to ‘duke it out’ virtually with my amazing dance colleagues Daniela (Aikido Master) and Senta (Karate Master) from the Netherlands. Representing here (as… Read More All is One
One of the most interesting (and unexpectedly fun!) things we got to practice during this weekend’s MartialArts4Children workshop day was ‘ground work’ techniques for MMA. In other words, I survived my very first jujitsu-esque experience. I found it incredibly intriguing. Playing with gravity, using the flow of movement (or at least trying to!) and awareness… Read More Gravity and Flow
As they say in Taekwondo: Achieving your first grade black belt means you are finally ready to start your ‘real’ training. You have survived the basics. And now the actual work begins. I love that. Let’s do dis. I am looking forward already enormously to continuing our training. The lessons will go even deeper, and… Read More The Journey Begins
Every Monday and Thursday, before leaving for Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo class, I fold our doboks. It calms me, and it helps me get into the ‘learning zone’. What about you? What are your favourite pre-practise (or performance!) habits/rituals? Bonus geekery: The way of the Fold, by Marie Kondo
This week’s TaeKwonDo epiphany is brought to you by quantum mechanics. Not kicking quantums – that is something that intrinsically happens. We’re always kicking quantums. Anyway. Recently, as I was struggling with a turning kick in Taekwondo, our Teacher made the remark that I will have to let go of trying to check what my… Read More Quantum Kicking
After an amazing adventurous and dance-filled weekend, it’s back to martial arts practise today. As our 1st grade black test is coming up in just a few weeks (eek!) and Taekwondo training (practise and classes) will be the main focus for a while. It feels a bit strange to ‘flip the switch’ – from deep… Read More Flipping the Switch