Second Degree Test
My second degree test was 13 December 2003. My friend Patrick Corkren and I tested together. At the same time, my son Matthew tested for his first degree. Katie tested for her red belt earlier in the day.
Here's the picture at the end of the test, with our piles of wood and our new 2nd degree belts.
Movies
Movies of the kids' test. Katie was at 10 am, then Matt and I and the other black belt tests were 12-2:30.
MatthewGroundWork.AVI
KatieOnAirShield.AVI
KatieBoardBreak.AVI
The test was long. We did all our patterns (like Karate kata), fighting combinations, fighting combinations (sort of like kickboxing) on handpads (offering a target and some resistance), combinations (part of our patterns/kata) on pads, defense drills (like sparring), ground work (lots of Judo, including fighting someone off who's on your back choking you), and two minutes (a VERY long time) of air shield fighting.
PatrickMarkDefenseDrill.AVI - Defense Drill #6 (we had to do drills 4, 5, and 6) has one person continually attacking, and the other continually defending, but occasionally striking back. We call the one position the "Attacker," and the other, the "Annoyer." Here, I'm annoying.
Finally, two hours later, we started the board breaks – the best part to watch in the audience, and the best part for us because it's at the end!
PatrickHookKickBreak.AVI
MarkHookKickBreak.AVI
MarkSuspendedBreak1.AVI – why my knuckles are sore.
MarkTripleBoardBreak.AVI – that's three boards stacked
MarkSuspendedPalmBreak.AVI
After all the sweating, a very proud Dad with his first-degree black belt son (and Jenny poking her head in).
Dad with all three of his kids.
