Dancer turned Martial Artist

After 6 months of learning to kick, punch, block… I’m no longer a lower belt!  I guess some people wonder how I managed to test into brown belt “so quickly.”  I have my dance training to thank for that… especially for the retention of the forms.  After going from white to green belt, there’s a lot of information to remember!

Last night, I tested to 3rd degree brown belt.  What a long test… after holding stances (horse, bow, cat, reverse bow, monkey) for what seemed like a day and a half, it was on to the weapon forms:

- Nunchakus: as cool as these look in the movies, they are really hard to master.  I’m pretty sure I have a few permanent bruises from these things.  I think I’ll leave the nunchakus to Michelangelo.

- Bo: now, I do like the bo.  It’s one of the easier weapons to pick up – and I love doing the spins.  I knew there must be a reason why Donatello was my favorite Turtle, aside from the purple mask – ha!

- Short Stick: this is a fun weapon, it’s a precursor or intro to using the sword.  I found the short stick form to be a fun one, but I’m still trying to get some movements to look right.

Short stick form

Then after the rest of the test… animal forms, sparring forms, short forms and grappling techniques, I received my certificate and new belt!  A belt that I will be wearing for the next year and a half – at least.

Receiving my new belt!

So, now I’m a mid-level belt (I think). Now, the fun stuff begins (so I am told).

I was looking through my old dance photos; it’s strange to think that I went from this:

To this:

By the way, I’m going to get my leg up there like Jayden by the time I get to black belt.  You can hold me to that.