Saturday, May 14, 2011

I did it!!

I got my black belt today at my tae kwon do promotion test!

Here's a recap of the test (thanks to Shelley Friesen for being my photographer!)

Here's Jonah during our warm-up.



They called up several groups (the black stripes testing for their 1st poom belts (junior black belts), and some groups of white belts before calling up my group (testing for our 1st dan). It was Nima from my club, myself and two people from Carman (my friend, Evelyn and Isaiah).

We started off with some kicks and patterns.




They also had us do some one-step sparring and answer some questions. Then we got to sit down.

Shelley also took some pictures of Jonah and Sage's test (they were testing for their green stripes).






My group was called up again about mid-way through the test. We were asked to kick some targets...



...and some board breaking.


I did a back spin kick (above) and a jump front snap kick (below).




I was so happy when both of my boards broke on my first try!

Austin was testing for his black stripe and was in one of the last groups called up:




My group was called up one last time. We did some three step sparring...


... non-contact sparring and more patterns. Then we could sit down again.

At the end of the test, the instructors gathered all the students around the front and presented their thoughts on the test and some awards. Then they called up the group of black stripes testing for their first poom belt and presented them.

Then they called up my group and presented us with our black belts.



Evelyn and I posed together for a picture:



And the test concluded with a group picture of all of the Premier black belts present at the test.



Thanks for looking!

5 comments:

Audrey Pettit said...

Wow, Leigh! Super huge congratulations to you for your black belt, and to the kiddos, too! This brings back lots of memories of my kids and tae kwon do. I think it's awesome for you to take it, too, and to get so far! Way to go!

Jeannine said...

Congratulations, Leigh! That's awesome!!

Greg Drummond said...

These are some great pictures Leigh. You did awesome at your test. Welcome to the life of a black belt!

Anonymous said...

What a great accomplishment...Congratulations!

Julie Overby said...

Yay!!!! HUGE Congrats to you Leigh! How exciting! Love all the photos. ; )