With the fall comes the return to school and, commonly, a period of review for students. Summer pursuits, family vacations, and relaxed routines have caused facts and habits to fade from the forefront of the brain, and teachers, coaches, and parents spend time helping students retrieve what has already been learned, bringing it back to the surface to be used and combined with new information.
So it is with Tang Soo Do techniques and vocabulary that may not have gotten rusty over the past couple of months. Has your Front Kick devolved into a soccer kick? If Ms. Ohlson says “Ha Dan Mahk Ki in a Hu Kul Jah Seh” do you freeze, unsure if it’s a high or low block, wondering if you need to step into a front or fighting stance?
Remembering and forgetting is part of life, but as your grow and develop in your Tang Soo Do training, you will learn that practicing your basics is the foundation of every Black Belt. With repetition come familiarity, knowledge, and comfort.Therefore, as stated in this Attitude Requirement, it is important to practice all the old techniques as well as to learn new ones. All new techniques build off of your old techniques. With each, you cannot learn upper level one steps or senior ranking forms! You will see a lot of review this time of year at the dojang, going back to basics as we prepare to build new skills.