Letter to Grandmaster Kim Soo

Dear Grandmaster Kim Soo,

I know that you will not remember me. I took Chayon-Ryu from you in the early 1990's when I was in college as a young woman in downtown Houston. I began karate lessons with you, as I lived in fear and was eager to learn how to defend myself. I took lessons from you very late in the evenings and am humbled when I realize now how much personal attention that you gave to me. You built my confidence up, as you told me that you saw promise in me. You spent much extra time with me. I fell into hard economic times and had to move out of the city, but Chayon-Ryu stayed in my heart forever.

I moved to Wharton, Texas and sought out a Chayon-Ryu dojang there - none existed. I continued to practice what I learned under you, but life took over and I strayed from my karate ways. After a couple more years, I moved to San Antonio, Texas. I also sought out a Chayon-Ryu dojang there, and again, came up short. I knew that there was a void in my life from not continuing with your form of karate, and I was not satisfied to join another type of karate school.

Now, I am a 40 year old married mother and a successful business woman. About 2 1/2 years ago, I decided to fill the void in my life and begin martial arts. Again, I sought out to find a Chayon-Ryu school in San Antonio, but still none exists. I decided to interview a few different martial arts schools and systems and joined a Taekwondo dojang, where I have been attending faithfully 4-5 times per week.

Martial Arts has changed my life and has given me so much passion and improvement in ALL areas of my life! I am testing for my black belt in June and know that I will not only achieve that milestone, but I will also have achieved some additional martial arts goals that I have personally set. Because of my dedication to be the best martial artist that I can be, I quit drinking alcohol, I workout daily for health, eat clean, and strive to be a positive role model for everyone that I'm in contact with. Everything in my life has improved because I life the martial way.

I still have void in my heart, though. I can honestly say that I would trade my Taekwondo training for Chayon-Ryu in a heartbeat. I miss the traditional principles of the system that you have created and fill this void by reading the articles and information that you post online. Have you considered expanding your system to San Antonio, Texas? I would start over as a white belt all over again to study your system - in a heart beat.

The purpose of this letter is to thank you. I know that our time together was very short, but the time you spent with me had a lifelong impact. You are a very special person. I know that I would not be the martial artist that I am today without the foundation that you provided me with in my young and formidable years. THANK YOU. I have not only survived some pretty heavy losses in my life, but thanks to martial arts, I have persevered and have come out stronger. I wanted to ensure that I had an opportunity to let you know how you have inspired me. My goal is to continue to set new goals, to continue testing myself as a martial artist and to still be doing martial arts and the martial way - even when I'm 80 years old. I want to learn how to lead others to continue the legacy.

You are awesome and I've been amazed at all that you've accomplished as I've followed you through the years. Keep it up - you have no idea how many lives that your leadership has touched over the years! I'm living proof!

I wish you the very best!

With great respect and admiration,

Dedie

Early Morning Musings of a Martial Artist

Ahhh...morning workouts are the best. I have started my early morning workouts again and it feels great to start the day with a good dose of endorphines. Here are some of the things bouncing around my head today:

- Thank you, Lord, for the somber reminder of Easter and how that translates to my own salvation. I'm humbly amazed at what You endured to ensure that I would never have to suffer. I NEVER want to take You for granted and appreciate this life that You have blessed me with!

- Balance and core stability is critical in martial arts success. Without core strength, it's impossible to achieve correct form in kicks and other martial arts manuevers, which is the framework of the sport and necessary for effectiveness. The same holds true in life. If I don't have balance in life, it's impossible to achieve core stability for success. Each day for me is a pursuit to balance my Christian walk, family life, career, martial arts, and other extra curriculars (like fun!).

I have started to rehab my left arm after 3 months of inactivity. I used very light weights and average reps today and was surprised by the fact that I didn't experience any pain or discomfort. I'm going to take it slow, as I do realize a torn ligament is serious business. We'll see how it goes. I'd love to be able to do a push up without pain or risking further injury within 60 days.

If you are reading my post and are a Mixed Martial Arts fan, I have added a new feature to my blog. I will keep an updated schedule of upcoming fights at the top of my blog.

It's a glorious day!

Kihap!

Sam Sheridan!!!

I feel like a giddy teenager today! Sam Sherdian commented on my blog and corresponded with me!!! Who is Sam Sheridan you might ask?

Sam Sheridan is the author of two of my favorite MMA reads, "A Fighter's Heart" and, "A Fighter's Mind". He also writes for Fight! magazine and is a regular MMA favorite interviewed among the various MMA websites and publications.

Sam is a Harvard grad that followed his nomadic adventuresome spirit and traveled the world while seeking to satisfy his need for adrenaline and to explore his fighting game. He served in the merchant marines, fought fires in New Mexico's Gila National Forest, and did construction in Antarctica. Sam lived, trained and fought Muay Thai in Thailand, trained with the Gracie's in Brazil, trained with Pat Miletich in Iowa at MFS, trained with boxing Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward, and trained with a Tai Chi master in New York. I'm certain that I've left something out, but you get the picture.

I believe that Sam is also involved in a documentary called, "Fight Life" that will be released in 2010 by a guy named James Feng. I saw this when I was watching a UFC fight on youtube the other day. Here's the link to that documentary: http://www.fightlife.tv/

Anyway, Sam's awesome and is very generous to correspond with his fans. You can see Sam's latest work on his new website: http://worldismadeoffire.com

Thanks, Sam! You Rock!!!

Kihap!

Flex This!

Okay - I've finally come to terms with the fact that I will NOT be testing for black belt in June. My torn elbow ligament (fondly known as my Ulnar Lateral Collateral Ligament - UCL) is still damaged. While I have definite improvements in my range of motion, it's still damaged. I have not slept a full night without pain since January 17th - that's almost three full months! I have not been able to do a single push up, jab or extension of any type with that arm. Tailoring my martial arts workouts has been interesting to say the least. I have continued to train and spar, though. It's fun and slightly devilish to see my sparring opponents facial expressions when they figure out they are about to spar me. I look like a total invalid as I have to tuck my entire left arm in a sling underneath my chest protector. While it isn't pretty, I'm fully functional that way. I still have my killer spirit and I proceed to kicking those perplexed asses - even with only one arm. I can tell that my kicks have really improved, which the additional focus that I've been forced to place on them over the last three months.

Oh, how I digress... back to black belt testing. In our dojo, black belt testing is only twice per year. If I don't make June testing, I will have to wait until December. UGH!!! So, I'm going to find the positives in this situation and I figure that I can really set some hefty goals to make the extra training time fortuitous for me.

I have always displayed a natural flair for flexibility, but I've never been able to master all three splits - left, right and middle. I've currently got my left split down, but I'm only close on the right and on the middle. While possessing the ability to do the splits doesn't guarantee a better martial artist, those skills definitely help provided the artist understands the application. So, to fully explore how to train for greater flexibility and ultimately higher, more controlled kicks, I am turning to Tom Kurz, the world's leading expert on flexibility training.

Directly taken from Tom's website, www.Stadion.com, there are three kinds of flexibility:

Dynamic—The ability to perform dynamic movements within a full range of motion in the joints. High kicks are a display of dynamic flexibility.

Static passive—The ability to assume and maintain extended positions using your weight (splits), or using strength not coming from the stretched limbs, such as lifting and holding a leg with your arm or by other external means.

Static active—The ability to assume and maintain extended positions using only the tension of the agonists and synergists while the antagonists are being stretched. One example is lifting the leg and keeping it high without any support.

I have ordered Tom's book, "Stretching Scientifically" and will begin to supplement my daily martial arts workouts with focus on the three types of flexibility. So here it goes...

My goal is to have all three splits completely flat to the ground by black belt testing in December.

Kihap!

Dedie

Hanging With The Boyz...

Today's TKD class was terrific and empowering. I was the only chick in the class and all others were tough black belt dudes. What's so gratifying is that I not only hang with these men, but I'm better at almost everything from forms, conditioning, flexibiliy, cardio capacity, working the bags, weapons. Today we learned a 360 degree heel kick and I rocked it! My heel kick is head level, as compared to the men who struggled to kick higher than chest level. Gotta love that!

Working bags is really a favorite drill of mine. It is a challenge with my left arm still incapacitated; however, I'm learning how to stay mentally in the game and persevere through my injury. Instead of jabs, I'm throwing elbows to keep my arm protected. Throwing elbows really only taxes my shoulder joint and I'm glad to keep my shoulder active while I'm healing my elbow ligament. I can tell you this though, if I ever really do get into a fight and have to throw down, I'll be very proficient at cutting someone with this left elbow of mine! (visualizing the Miguel Torres cut from WEC 47)

You know it's a great workout when you look in the rearview mirror after class and realize that you only have one eyebrow on (I pencil them in each day)! I sweat profusely today and my makeup was a mess.

You can't beat a day like that!

Kihap!!!

Dedie

Another One Bites The Dust

And another anatomical body part of mine bites the dust! I was rocking along in private lessons in January and my instructor, Mr. F, told me that I was really a talented martial artist, so I was feeling like Bruce Lee-Ann! I was training at least 5-6 times a week in the Dojo, but had not been doing any other workouts, due to my schedule, sheer laziness and the cold weather! (It's hard to get out of my warm and cozy bed in the mornings!) In that private lesson, I was feeling confident in all aspects of my martial arts regimen: Forms, Sparring, Weapon (this testing cycle we were on Jahng Bong which is the long bo staff), Self Defense, and I had also been putting much work into perfecting all of the foundational kicks, blocks, and strikes. I was feeling elation from the momentum of my training, which always translates into a superior state of mind - this also spills over into all areas of my life. These are the moments when I feel like I am able to truly take on and accomplish anything and my confidence is through the roof.

Mr. F and I decided to really work my upset ridgehand strike board break. I did well with my right hand on the brown rebreakable board, which is equivalent to breaking a 1 3/4 inch wood board; however, with my left upset ridgehand strike, everything went wrong. First of all, my confidence in my ability to break the board was not there. Instead of focusing my energy and thoughts on the force and placement required for a successful strike, I was doubting myself. I was thinking about asking my instructor for a thinner board, but was both embarrassed and timid to do so. I just went for it - as hard as I could AND I did the worst thing ever .... I closed my eyes. When my hand hit the board, it felt like electricity pulsed from side of my hand up straight up into my left elbow. I immediately withdrew, let out a very loud, "OMG!", and grabbed my elbow. I knew at that moment that I totally screwed something up. The pain was unbearable, made me see stars and then made me nauseous. But, in a moment of stupidity and wanting to demonstrate perseverence, I did the board break again, this time breaking the board. In Spanish we call a person like this a Stupida. You can easily translate that to English.

5 weeks later of immobilizing my arm, doing first-aid R.I.C.E. and still feeling immense pain, I saw an Orthopedic Surgeon, got a MRI and discovered that I have damaged my Ulnar Lateral Collateral Ligament. Let me tell you - it's a painful injury. It's been almost 8 weeks now and I'm still in great pain. My prescription is to lay off of TKD for 8 more weeks and if that isn't effective, surgery will be inevitable. The ligament is slightly torn and very loose, which means that I have to REALLY watch it. If this ligament completely tears, the surgery is an awful one - called the Tommy John surgery. This would mean that I'm off of TKD for a minimum of one year. I think I would die.

In the meantime, I have still been participating in classes with my arm in a sling. I feel that I still have 2 good legs and 1 good arm, so why waste time? I am challenged when it comes to Forms and Weapons, but I'm still kicking ass in Sparring. This is also a great opportunity for me to focus on kicks and get the intricacies down of perfecting the basics. One of my ultimate TKD goals is to have a side kick that is worthy of magazine publication. You know the picture: the martial artist on the beach with the sun coming up (or setting for that matter), which provides the perfect silouette lighting for the side kick that is all the way up to the sky. I can and will accomplish this!!! My instructor is awesome at tailoring the class curriculum for me so that I can still train with this injury.

So, for now, I have had to readjust my black belt testing goals. I don't feel that I'm worthy to test for black belt until I am fully functional with all limbs. We'll see. I've been struggling for a fully functional status for over a year now. First with my right knee injury, and now with my left elbow injury. I've really got to find a way to train and excel as a middle-aged martial artist.(YUCK! It's painful to write that) By the way, did I mention that I turned 40 a few weeks ago? It's just a number, I guess. Since I can still kick 20 year old ass, it's really inconsequential to me. :-)

Until next time,

Kihap!!!

Dedie

Staying the Course

Well - I'm officially into my first two weeks of 2010. I've really made progress towards improving the quality of my life and overall health and wellness, both interally and externally. For the last two weeks, I have made a concerted effort to reflect upon my core values every morning as the foundation of my day. My core values authentically are who I am and what my thoughts and actions should reflect. What I treasure: my relationship with God/Jesus, my family (they ROCK!), and leading others. I've stopped obsessing about measuring food out each day, what the scale number is each day and how others perceive me. The result is that I've truly been so much more joyful and peaceful. My perspective has changed and I am reaping the benefits.Wanna hear something really amazing? My daughter's teacher just told me that Isabella has been so much happier over the last two weeks and for the first time in pre-school, Isabella has brought home two consecutive weekly reports of perfect behavior. I get it now - Isabella's view of her world is a direct reflection of how she sees me, not how she hears me. Epiphany!!!

With regard to my TKD training, things are really on pace. I've been doing 3 classes per week, along with an hour long private lesson. My new attitude has also really helped my TKD progress, as well. While I excel against a peer comparison, I am not where I want to be against my personal expectations and goals. I am wondering if I should take an additional 6 months to prepare for my black belt test and test in December. More than being prepared for the physical aspects of the test (3 hours of grueling anaerobic and aerobic testing activities without water in the 100+ degree Texas heat followed by a 1 mile run), I want to feel deserving of being a black belt and confident in my TKD skills. I just don't see that I can reasonably accomplish this within the next 6 months. My instructor feels differently, and while I don't want to challenge his authority, I am pressing him to consider letting me continue this level of training and test in December. We'll see how this goes with time.

My body hasn't felt this sore in awhile. My quads, hamstrings, calves, biceps, and core are definitely feeling the results of my new training - they are awake! Starting Monday, I'll add an additional mini-morning workout to supplement my TKD training. My morning regimen will focus on weight work with cardio on alternating days. There's a terrific martial arts conditioning program called Warrior X-Fit that really fits the bill for these morning workouts. I'm going to have to really become efficient and disciplined in my daily schedule, because adding my morning workout means I'll have to wake up at 4:45 every day!

My form this testing cyle is In Wha II. To see the form, I posted a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_kImUd-YF0&NR=1

Well - I gotta make some breakfast. I'm going to made some yummy high-protein pancakes! Then, on to my Warrior X-Fit training workout.

Kihap!

Dedie

OUCH!!!!

Today's class was an ass-kicker! I worked out so hard this week in my classes, that my quadriceps felt like they were shredded. EVERYTHING hurt - going downstairs, sitting, standing - everything! So, today when class started and I realized that it was going to be a class packed with nothing but jump kicks and plyometric work, I almost died. I gave it my all, though, and know that a workout like that will just help to rid the lactic acid moving through my quads.

Tonight I'm mapping out my strategy. Will post it later.

Kihap!