Quality over quantity

December 15 saw the final grading of the year take place for Il Shim Stawell, with Mr Paul Harper & Mrs Michelle Harper braving ongoing road works to attend. The numbers were a little disappointing, with only 6 students being able to grade. However, as has often been the case in the Stawell club, when we lack numbers we make up for it in sheer determination.

The Masterclass gave students instruction in the four aspects of competition taekwon-do, with Mrs Harper sharing her experience as a representative of ITF Australia in patterns to help students understand what judges are looking for, and Mr Harper breaking down, as it were, the finer points of power breaking, sparring and special technique.

TKD SparringChon JiAlthough it was not during the Masterclass, there was one piece of advice given to students by Mr Harper that had incredible results that were immediately visible. When questioned, all of the students grading had admitted that correct hand position was one of the most difficult aspects of taekwon-do to learn. Mr Harper’s simple advice, to get your hands in the right position before carrying out a particular move, drastically improved student’s performance in their patterns. While this is something we might share with beginning white belts, it is easy to forget that such pearls of wisdom can also benefit young students of any level.

Group shotFor the first time since becoming instructor at the Stawell club one of my students did not show the skill level required to advance to their next belt, in this case, red tip. While disappointing for the student involved it was a valuable lesson that I had been unable to successfully communicate verbally to my senior belt students. If you do not practise regularly at home you will not pass your grading!  Going for your 3rd Kup is a very different story to going to your 8th. (Are you reading this Stawell seniors??)  Only hard work is rewarded, not just attendance. The five remaining students who ranged from 9th Kup to 5th Kup were outstanding, showing excellent power and flexibility.

As always, everyone in attendance learnt a huge amount with the help of Mr & Mrs Harper, who are able to share their wisdom in a wonderfully uncomplicated and oft amusing manner. And as always, we are all very grateful to you both, and looking forward to putting everything into practise before the first grading of the new year.

Kicking

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