2nd Degree Test: The Pictures

We started with 50 burpees, in keeping with recent tradition.  Then material - forms, hapkido, weapons.

Sparring.  Here I am with Middle.

More material.

There was a lot of emphasis on our three sword forms.  No nunchaku or bo staff this time.

More burpees (140 total over the course of the two hours), and back to material.

Fighting Middle again.

Knife techniques / throws / disarms.

Taking down Middle.

More knife techniques / throws / disarms.

Grappling.  I had prepared well for this part, and wish I had had the energy to do it well.

More sparring.  Last push.

Thankful to be done.

Middle presenting me with my new belt.

Comparing belts, with our names in Korean.

So grateful to The Master and my fellow black belts for giving us a good test, to my most supportive hubby for taking a zillion pictures, to my parents for coming out to watch me get beat up, and of course to my training buddy, with whom I (once again) enjoyed a Margarita afterward.  We kept each other sane and motivated during the process, and both felt relieved and extremely happy about how the test went.  No regrets this time; no looking back.

It was incredibly hard, and when I put the belt around my waist, I knew I had earned it.  This time, there was no question in my mind regarding whether I belonged at this rank, and I'm sure this was the case for all three of us. We were three out of the twelve adults who had tested for 1st Dan two years before.  We had done the work, put in the hours, pushed ourselves hard.  We were ready to be Sabumnims at the school.