Day 1

Today was my first day of Tang Soo Do. But not only did I have this to think about through out the day, I also had a killer final exam to worry about. So, I had a bit of nerves in the morning. They returned as I was driving to the dojang. Amazingly though, the second I walked in the door, I instantly felt comfortable. Master Miller is a wonderful and very respectful person, and the rest of the students were all very welcoming as well. I am very happy I chose Master Miller to study under.

When I entered I received my uniform and instructions to put on my belt. I was also shown the proper etiquete when entering the dojang. For those of you who don't know, when entering the dojang one salutes the flag and then bows towards the middle of the room. Saluting the flag is a sign of respect for one's country and bowing towards the center of the room allows you to pay respect to any senior members in the dojang. One must always bow to a midnight blue belt, regardless if he or she is in or out of the dojang.

The first thing Master Miller showed me was an exercise that will encorage the muslces in my claves and feet to keep my foot flexed. This will prevent me from breaking my toes. Always a good thing! 20 reps a night though! Second, we worked on the forward kick. I wasn't terrible at it. I need to stretch my hamstrings a bit more to extend my leg fully. I practiced kicking the bag. After that I worked on a basic stance. Again, the name has escaped me. I felt pretty comfortable doing it. Then we added a kick and a block to stance. So, I would walk the stance across the floor, but doing a kick and a block as well. I'm not so sure eveyone is going to understand all these details without seeing examples, but at least this gives you an idea of what I'm talking about, even if you don't understand the details. While I was doing this I realized this was very similar to some of the moves I did in tai-chi. Next, we began the regular exercise routine. Some of it was pretty tough, but I kept up with most of it. Surprisingly! I didn't realize how much tai-chi, my self-defence class, and a year at curves were going to help with Karate, but they are definately paying off. I can tell already! There were parts during the exercises where endurance was important and I seemed to have that. There were others things, like the full body crunch, which was giving me difficulties (however, I had my first personal training session at my new gym yesterday and my abs were sore from that, which may be the reason I was slower at the full body crunch). Overall I had alot of fun. I also learned one escape move for a wrist grab. I had learned several others in self-defense, but this one was new. Later I was pared with the other female of the class and she showed me how to move into attacker stance when I'm practing with someone. That one ceratinly needs some work.

But with all details aside, I felt really good about the class! I had fun and learned alot today. I didn't feel uncomfortable or that any of the moves I learned were impossible. So far I don't see the affects of the frailty myth. Oh wait, I did forget one thing. I am hesitant to shout when I go into attacker position. I'll have to get over that. A hestiancy to be loud and to announce one's pressense is most likely a holdover from the frailty myth. I did practice shouting in the car on the way home from class. I think once I'm confident that I don't sound like an idiot I'll be alright. When I played volleyball I was always the loudest caller of everyone. So, my goal for next class is to get this shouting thing down.

I plan on practicing with my boyfriend, and I should make a practice schedule for myself as well. My boyfriend has experience in Tang Soo Do. Unfortunately he hasn't been to his dojang for a while, but I think he'll like practicing with me. Either that or he'll be jealous. I'd probably be jealous if he was doing something that I couldn't for a while. Anway, all in all a very positive experience and I've unfolded one possible way that the frailty myth could still with me.

Observation Day

I was able to meet Master Miller and observer my first Tang Soo Do class today. I was slightly nervous at first. I was worried Master Miller would be intimidating or that others in the class would have an intimidating air, but I was very wrong. I was warmly welcomed in the Dojang and did not feel uncomfortable at all. A good sign! Master Miller and I discussed the philosophy of Tang Soo Do for a bit before his class began. From the way he was speaking the philosophy behind Tang Soo Do seems to be of Confuscian and Daoist descent, which doesn't suprise me since this is a Korean art. There were moments when he was explained how movements should feel and his explanation was very reminicent of wu-wei (if you don't know what wu-wei is I have a short paper that explains at www.kejarboe.blogspot.com).

There are eight people in the class, three midnight-blue, one red, three green, and one orange. The class is mainly comprised of gentlemen between the ages of 30 and 40, with one female in her 40's and one younger male probably the same age or younger than me (22). I enjoy the small class size.

While observing I noticed a few things that I have experience with or at least knowledge of. The first being the stretches. Some are actual yoga stretches such as the plow and the crow. They were also working on wrist grabs, which I remember doing in my self-defense class. Also some of the kicks are familiar, but Master Miller used Korean to refer to them, which is foreign to me. The flow of the class was also similar to Tai-Chi.

I realized that I need to work on a few things to make my life less painful while I'm there. The first is flexibility. While I've been doing Yoga for two years, I'm still not very flexible. Alot of the stretches will be difficult for me at first. So, I think I need some more yoga in my diet. Secondly, I think I'm going to need more abdominal and upper body strength. There were some things I saw during the warmup that I wasn't quite sure I could do for lack of enough upper-body strength. The gym will help with that though. I have more upper-body than the average female, but that's not saying much.

After watching the class I decided that this is definately what I want to do. I got a good vibe and believe Master Miller will be the right teacher. Tomorrow I begin my first personal training session at my new gym. Now I know what I need to focus on. But in anitcipation of all this new physical activity that I'll be doing I think I need to retreat to my bedroom and do some pushups and some yoga. I'll be back to write some more Thursday evening.

Purpose of this Blog

This blog will chronicle my experiences in Tang Soo Do. I am journaling my experience for my senior thesis at St. Mary's College of Maryland. The current title of my thesis is The Philosophical Influences of Gender on the Body.

In my thesis I plan to show how philosophy has physically shaped the body. I am particullarly concerned with how a certain philosophy on gender, the "failty myth," shapes the body. Usually when I present this topic to strangers I receive confused looks, so I will briefly explain what I mean.

The "Frailty Myth" is a philosophy about women that has been developing for centuries, but came to a head during the 19th century. It deals primarily with white middle to upper class women. The "frailty myth" encourages the physical frailty of women. In other words, ideas such as women are passive, a woman's place is in the home, and women are the weaker sex, are all part of the frailty myth. The myth encourages women to refrain from physical activity and prevents their bodies from developing fully. The myth still exists today, although many women are breaking free of it. If you want evidence of the ways in which the myth is still present today, drive around your neighborhood and look at the kids who are playing sports or doing any physical activity, and you'll probably notice that the majority of the kids actively participating are the boys. The girls are usually sitting on the sidelines or are not present at all. And people wonder why boys are stronger and more aggressive? Could it not be because the boys have the training they need and are also pushed and encouraged to develop their strength? This is precisely what my thesis is trying to show, but through a close evaluation of the philosophies that developed into the frailty myth. If you would like to read pieces of my thesis you can visit my other blog at www.kejarboe.blogspot.com. Also, if you are interested in this thesis I strongly suggest you read The Frailty Myth by Collette Dowling. This is the book which inspired my interest in this project.

I have chosen to begin a journey in Tang Soo Do to show how the frailty myth plays a part in my adventure with Tang Soo Do. Another reason is relevant but tangental to this blog, and that is to show how a dicipline, with it's roots based in philosophical ideas, shapes the body.

I will begin by explaining any physical training that I have had recently and as a child. A basic list should be sufficient.

* Gymnastics: 2 years
* Ballet: 1 month
* Modern Dancing: 6 months
* Horse Back Riding: 1 year
* Poms: 2 years
* Basketball: 1 year
* Volleyball: 3 years
* Softball: 3 years
* Knife and Hatchet Throwing (target sport): 6 years
* Yoga: 2 years
* Tai-Chi: 3 months
* Circuit training: 1 year and 5 months
* Self Defense: 3 months (one class a week)

I never considered myself terribly successful at any sport. I was pretty good at poms (I was co-captain), and in Softball and Volleyball I was a powerful server and hitter, but I seemed to loose steam towards the end of the season. I'm pretty good at knife and hatchett throwing too, but I've never had a teacher, and don't feel I have progressed much in the six years that I've been doing it (it's fun though). It seems that whatever physical activity I'm involved in I hit a plateau that I can never quite overcome. I believe this is partially due to a lack of encouragement and perhaps a lack of desire to be dedicated to my physical development.

I am currently in better shape than ever before. For the past year I have been doing circuit training, which is really more cardio than anything else, but I am toned and seem to have more endurance. I can run a mile or two and not feel completely winded. I don't believe I've ever been able to do that. Even as a child I hated running, but now that I've learned how my body works, that I need to breath at a certain rate, that I need to be aware of my stride length, and that flexing the stomach muscles helps to overcome stomach cramps I've been able to overcome those difficulties. However, I think Tang Soo Do will be more of a challenge, so to prepare for and to complement my martial arts training I have joined a "real" gym with weights and body sculpting classes. I plan on working on core strenght (abs), as this is where the majority of one's strength comes from.

I am slightly nervous about starting Tang Soo Do. I don't think I really know what I am getting myself into. I recently took a self defense class, but I came out more nervous than when I went in. I was mainly nervous because the classes were short and were only once a week, which meant I didn't get much practice. I'd usually forget what we did by the next class. For the final class we had to escape from an attacker. I was so completely nervous that I started hyper-ventilating. I got away from my attacker, but felt I could have done better. A little knowledge can be more harmful than no knowledge at all. The class shot down my confidence. But I've had a full 6 months or more to recover, and feel with practice (that's class time and personal time) I will do well.

The dojang that I am planning on studying in is called Miller's Tang Soo Do Institute. I will observe one class before I dedicate myself completely. I hope to rank at least once before my thesis is due to the registrar's office. Please feel free to comment on any of my posts.