Usman’s now customary delays meant we arrived late for my first session of Tae kwon do. Uncertain of what was expected of me I followed the boys into a side room to deposit my trainers, socks and keys, then followed them out to the hall and waited on the side for instructions. The session was in progress, however, very quickly Master Esrar called time out and came over to me and invited me to join in advising me to take it easy and have fun.
As part of the warm up exercises he got us to bounce, perform press-ups, and sit ups. The sit-ups got progressively harder. Starting with basic sit-ups, we performed sit-up stands and then sit-up up stand and jumps. He demanded 10 reps for each exercise, but around rep 4 or 5 of the sit up stands I was exhausted but adamant on completion.
Crossing to the right and bullet kicking and then crossing to the left to bullet kick again took it’s toll on me around about the 4th rep, however I soldiered on to completion.
After the brief break that followed I feared better with the on the spot sprint and frog jumps. The press-ups however, did prove a little challenging – muscles required were not yet up to the task.
The stretching exercises were little easier on my body. Looking around at my class mates I wasn’t the only one letting out a sigh of relief.
A 20-minute break was announced and the scene was set for demonstration and execution of TKD techniques.
The horse riding stance was first on the agenda. Esrar demonstrated exactly what horse riding stance was and how assume it correctly. He then showed us how to punch and perform inner, outer and high section blocks from this stance. The class and I followed his lead and performed the exercise to the best our abilities. Both master Esrar and Master Ensar walked around checking our execution and assisting where help was needed. My technique was corrected a number of times!
Next we were required to perform a series of kicks. Master Esrar demonstrated the front, turning, chopping hook, and front hook kick in turn. Alternating left and right leg we were guided through the execution of each of the kicks and assisted where necessary.
Newbie’s were asked to sit out the poomsae exercises and observe. The class was broken into 3 groups; red belts and above, green belt to red belt and below green belt. Each was assigned a set of exercises to perform (poomsae). Master Esrar and master Ensar walked around and scrutinised the execution and helped correct when necessary.
In the final phase of the session we were permitted to choose a kicking technique and perform it in turn with a partner. We were advised to maintain guard after each kick and to cultivate the habit snapping our leg to properly perform each kick.
Master Esrar congratulated us for a job well done and proceeded to instruct us to meditate bringing to mind everything we have done today and its contribution towards a particular goal for this session and indeed for the art of TKD.
Finally he gave a brief overview of things to come over next few months and set us homework to help us to perfect our kicking techniques before dismissing us.
Thank you Master Esrar and Master Ensar for a wonderful first session!
