My Hapkido final

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For my friends that keep asking me about my Hapkido final, here is a draft :-) **************** I knew when I walked into the wrestling room forty-five minutes before class that it was going to be a serious exam. At the end of the room was a table and two chairs - one for Mr. Lekas, and the other for Mr. Baisinger. Part of me was filled with dread, and another part of me was filled with excitement. What would a martial arts final exam be like? I was relieved to see my classmate show up to practice with me. She had taken Aikido before and was able to help me quite a bit on the grabbing techniques, my least favorite part of class. All us Hapkido 1 students were giving each other support, and I felt a twinge of bittersweetness that I would probably never see any of these people again (I can't afford another term and even if I could I would

probably try another class to further broaden my fitness horizon). When Mr. Lekas and Mr. Baisinger entered the room they went to the table and had us fill out our blank exam form with our name and signature, the one that they would use to write comments on and grade our form and technique throughout the next two hours. We got into our lines like we do for class, but we didn't have the warmup. One by one we introduced ourselves formally to the examiners out loud, i.e., "My name is ". Then they would arrange the papers we filled out to match where we were in line. We went straight into ton-jun breathing, which is like t'ai chi, and a deceptively difficult part of class because it involves deep, controlled breathing, and also balance. It's graceful and meaningful to me, and I enjoy it very much. Next were walking

punches and kicks, which to my surprise was the hardest part of the exam for me. Many of these have multiple arm and leg movements, and it's like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same on some of them. You only have a split second to figure out what it is too. While you can look at the person ahead of you, that doesn't necesarily mean they know what they are doing. I screwed up big time on one section of this exercise, but did okay on the rest of them. Periodically Mr. Lekas would stop us, reprimand us, then correct us. "People, your feet NEED to be facing forward. You should know this by now, that is 90% of it. We've worked on this all term and there's no excuse for your feet not being forward. Continue". He would throw out a multiple command, such as "sliding roundhouse, front kick, neck strike" and we had to perform it right away and end

with a kee-up if it was a kick, punch or strike. At one point he called out a series of strikes and for the life of me I couldn't figure it out. It took like three or four tries watching others to get it. Other multiple commands I grasped right away. Periodically he would stop us, scold us, then demonstrate the series properly and have us start from the beginning. It was grueling. Next were the rolling hard falls, which I consider myself to be pretty good at. I can roll and fall in a straight line, for one thing, and many others cannot. What was fascinating here was to watch the Hapkido 2 students, who had to sort of flip in the air and land on their backs in the proper fall position. I was mesmerized by this, and my mouth hit the floor when I saw what they had to do. I had never seen them practice that in class, so they must have practiced those at the Hapkido club that meets on

Saturdays, a requirement for Hapkido 2 students. Mr. Lekas clapped his hands and had us line up for grab techniques - ug, my absolute least favorite part of class. I don't know why I don't like this, it is what would help prepare me for an attack in real life, but I just don't like hurting people that way I guess! (I'd rather punch and kick them). For that reason, it's what I'm least good at. Mercifully, this part didn't last as long as it does in class and was over before I knew it, but each moment of it was tense. After that the three Hapkido 2 student were tested on their forms, a long string of moves that reminded me of a very intricate aerobics combination. It was beautiful to watch, it almost looked like a dance. Finishing that off, the yellow belt had to break a board with a walking middle punch, and he succeeded. Lastly, my favorite part of class, the part we end with - kicking on mitts. We only did heel turn back kicks and roundhouses, and I did pretty good in my opinion especially on the roundhouses. My experience with Turbo Kick and having done other CK and KB workouts really came in handy here. We were ordered back into our lines, and were told we would be given our evaluations. He would call out our full name, and we were to walk to the side of the room, formally shake hands with Mr. Baisinger, then obtain your eval from Mr. Lekas with one hand, then shake with the other. I messed this part up, GAWD, but I have a terrible, terrible crush on this man and this is the effect he has on me. I didn't go back the way I came and was corrected there too. Which brings me to the part you are all wondering about, my big crush. Allow me

to backtrack a bit here. I originally signed up for this class because I needed to obtain a student i.d. in order to get $10 symphony and opera tickets, not to mention other performing arts shows that are heavily discounted for students. and I frequently attended these, and because he always insisted on paying for everything, he asked that I get a student i.d. card - fair enough! Shortly after I obtained my student i.d. left me, and I was, and still am, heartbroken. I had considered dropping the class, getting my $205 back and keeping my card, but the truth was I was hooked on this class from the minute I entered our humble dojang. Tuesday nights became the highlight of my week, and part of the appeal is the excitement and discomfort experienced each time. The discipline of it all captivated me, as I am not very disciplined. I crave

discipline though, and I especially desire a good disciplinarian, and G. is all that. I was on fire when he held me from behind to correct my form, intimate parts of his body cradled in mine, but I won't go into this here, as this topic would merit a whole post on its own. There was some verbal exchange that was pretty electric too, and all of this drew me to him and the practice, as my personal life was otherwise bleak and sad. When he called my name to come obtain my evaluation he only said "". Everyone else had their first and last names spoken. I was tearful that this might be the very last time I'd see him. As I walked forward he exclaimed, "Advance to Hapkido 2". We finished up with the formal bows Mr. Lekas he told us that it was a great class and that he was pleased with us and the turnout. When everyone went to get their stuff I went up

to Mr. Lekas and Mr. Baisinger. Mr. Lekas said, "Yes M'am!". I smiled and said, "I just want to thank the both of you for a fabulous class and for all your constructive criticisms this term. I teach Turbo Kick, similar to Tae Bo but more fun, for 24 Hour Fitness, so I invite you to take MY class sometime!" I handed them a card, but it was Mr. Baisinger who took it. So now I have to impatiently wait to see if either of them decide to come to my class. I didn't leave with an impression one way or the other. Knowing they even might show up though will make teaching class even more exciting than it is already! When I got to my bus stop I shyly looked at my evaluation. We were graded on 1-5, 3 being average/acceptable. I got a 3 in each category, except for Ton-Jun breathing, for which I received a 4! I was so happy I did well on

that part! It's the most feminine and spiritual part of class, and I did put extra effort there. So there you have it! I would encourage anyone to try a martial arts class sometime, because you learn a lot about yourself when you try something new and totally out of your comfort zone!