I am official!

Intensity · October 03, 2007, 10:04:08 AM

:thumbup:

on Friday, September 21st, I tested and was promoted to 4th Dan in both Tae Kwon Do and Tang Soo Do. I've been training for 16 years almost, and dedicate six days out of the week to the martial arts.
I was very sick during the whole testing week, and was close to pneumonia- I needed an inhaler during the test, but I did very well and passed.

so now, I am Master Kevin!!! :) sweet.

Outcast · October 03, 2007, 10:16:12 AM

:o Whoah! Congratulations! Master Kevin! All your hard work finally paid of. ;)

stumpy · October 03, 2007, 10:32:51 AM

Congratulations, Intensity!

I practiced Tae Kwon Do when I was much younger. I never got very far with it, but guys at your level showed great skill and discipline.

Bujin · October 03, 2007, 11:20:35 AM

Congrats, Sa Bom Nim! :thumbup:

Intensity · October 03, 2007, 12:56:38 PM

thanks guys for the congrats!!!

hago Bujin-

kamsa hamnida!

:)

Bujin · October 03, 2007, 01:30:08 PM

Ch' onmaneyo! ;)

The Phantom Eyebrow · October 03, 2007, 01:44:44 PM

Congrats Kev, Fourth Dan is seriously impressive going! (Speaking as someone who only did some introductory lessons, and in a different martial art at that)

Sevenforce · October 04, 2007, 08:43:34 AM

*bows with his fist against his palm

Congratulations, Master ^_^

I'm not too good at this...Nomu pissayo?

detourne_me · October 04, 2007, 09:05:22 AM

nomu pissayo?! haha!

Jal Haseyo Kevin!

Spam · October 04, 2007, 09:07:15 AM

Dude, that's like totally awesome! Congratulations! High five!

Intensity · October 04, 2007, 10:19:33 AM

Quote from: The Phantom Eyebrow on October 03, 2007, 01:44:44 PM
Congrats Kev, Fourth Dan is seriously impressive going! (Speaking as someone who only did some introductory lessons, and in a different martial art at that)

thanks everyone for the Korean and congratulations!!! Yeah Phantom, I've been training for about 16 years now. What art form did you take the intro lessons in?

And I am a bit rusty, what is Nomu Pissayo? sounds funny. :)

The Phantom Eyebrow · October 09, 2007, 10:03:36 AM

Ah. Back in my young days I did a beginners course in Shotokan. Didn't much like it and then when they made us run around the stoney grounds in our bare feet (to make us tougher!) I decided to draw a line under that one.

More recently I tried Aikido. I;ve not got a good back but I find most exercise is great for it. However the continuous throwing and (more particularly) the falling played merry hell with it and a promising career as Stephen Seagal's stunt double never came to pass.

Bujin · October 15, 2007, 07:23:03 PM

Quote from: The Phantom Eyebrow on October 09, 2007, 10:03:36 AM
Ah. Back in my young days I did a beginners course in Shotokan. Didn't much like it and then when they made us run around the stoney grounds in our bare feet (to make us tougher!) I decided to draw a line under that one.

More recently I tried Aikido. I;ve not got a good back but I find most exercise is great for it. However the continuous throwing and (more particularly) the falling played merry hell with it and a promising career as Stephen Seagal's stunt double never came to pass.

LOVE Aikido! Tang Soo Do was my obsession in my teens/early 20's (about a century ago), while aikido became my true love when I was in my late 20's to 30's.

Intensity · October 15, 2007, 08:42:43 PM

Aikido is beautiful! My mentor that trains at my school has a black belt in Aikido... and I have had several private lessons with him. He also teaches seminars for my school in that art- so peaceful.

I also have been picking up an interest in Tai Chi. I've noticed a great deal of reduced stress since practicing the techniques.

:)

detourne_me · October 16, 2007, 07:07:44 AM

does anyone have any interest in Hapkido? i'm torn between taking Hapkido or Taekwando... i'm getting a spare tire, and need to be a bit more flexible and stuff too, but im not as spry anymore, hence my doubts about Taekwando.

Intensity · October 16, 2007, 08:48:50 AM

There are many Tae Kwon Do schools that simply just teach Olympic point sparring techniques and focus very little on other things such as forms, step sparring, stretches, or self defense applicable movements.... finding a good Tae Kwon Do school can be hard at times.

On the other hand, if you have a Hap Ki Do school in your area, I would research that Dojang/school, because the art is hard to come by. You would do everything from kicks, possibly forms, hand strikes, falls, standing and ground defenses and throws.
I would choose Hap Ki Do if I were in your shoes...

hope it helps,
Kevin

ThePrelate · October 16, 2007, 10:06:46 AM

very impressive! congrats!

detourne_me · October 16, 2007, 10:15:38 AM

theres quite a number of school in my area, in varying disciplines too, Taekwandoe, Hapkido, MMA, Kumdo, and Muy Thai.
It's weird, I usually only see girls dressed in hapkido uniforms (whats the korean word? i only know Gi from my years in Judo and Karate)
I'm most interested in forms though, and some meditation too.
but my number one factors will be proximity to my house, and times i can train, i want to be able to do it a few times in the morning.

oh, and i forgot to mention it earlier, nomu pissayo means very expensive, heh heh.

Intensity · October 16, 2007, 12:56:50 PM

oh yeah- pissan is expensive and ssan is cheap... I forgot about the formal version of the word, -ayo ending. But really I never learned the formal ending for pissan.

Anyways, the Korean uniform is called a bok... or do bok. I'm not positive on the spelling.

I would train in Hap Ki Do if there was a school in my area. I did train in a hybrid Hap Ki Do/Tae Kwon Do/Tang Soo Do school for awhile, but it wasn't real Hap Ki Do like it should be taught. The Aikido training I've had showed me the flaws in that system I took... Aikido and Hap Ki Do have several similarities and you should look into it.

Kevin

detourne_me · October 17, 2007, 07:34:04 AM

OK sweet, it would be do bok then, or actually 도복, as in the dress of martial arts.

soo, Master Kevin, how did the TV contest go?

Intensity · October 17, 2007, 07:56:50 AM

can I call you Toben or do you prefer detourne_me?

anyways, the tv contest went great, especially for the length of time we've been in business as compared to the other Detroit schools. We placed fourth or fifth out of a list of twenty, and several schools weren't on the list. Out of a local radius of schools in our area of Detroit, we were the highest ranked.

I'm also holding a test this Friday for some of our students... it will be the highest ranking test we've had so far over the past two and a half years, and my Master Teresa will be driving in as a surprise guest for the occasion.

Are you still in Korea or have you returned yet?

blessings,
Kevin