One Hundred Squats Later...

As all of you know, I've been in Tae Kwon Do on a consistent basis for the last three and a half years. A couple months before I became a black belt last spring, I started teaching a few classes for Master Jon. Although it was never specifically stated, I believe this was sort of a character check, to see if I had what it took to be a black belt. I was confident with idea that I could teach the material. The real kicker, however, was learning how to present the material to the students. Especially younger kids! At first it felt overwhelming, trying to keep kids attentive while teaching them some valuable stuff (and remembering all their names on top of it all). After a month or two of being subjected to this new experience, I started to catch on and it became a bit less daunting.

Since last spring, I hadn't had the oppourtunity to run class until earlier this month. In August, Master Jon asked that I run classes every Thursday in September. It sounded great, but Holy rusty, Batman! I was not only lacking in the material, but also teaching in general. Needless to say, the last four thursdays have been an interesting learning experience for me. Being in Tae Kwon Do as a Black Belt has almost entirely changed my view on the whole activity. I am now taking responsibility in training others and feel I have so much more to learn about it in that aspect. I am still in a position to learn from higher ranking black belts, yet I am also in a position that others can look at and strive to achieve. What I can look back at and smile about, however, is that I actually made it! Makes me feel pretty good, if not for self improvement.

Master Jon is really something else, being able to teach on a daily basis, yet giving each class a little different spin than the last one. It boggles my mind and I hope I'll be able to provide that kind of experience someday.

Psst: The blog title pertains to yesterday's class. We have this six sided dice with different exercises on each side. Crunches, "Teacher does 25 pushups", Squats, etc. Squats was rolled a bjillion times, so my upper leg area kills!

Tags: Tae Kwon Do, Black Belt

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