A little about nothing

There is absolutely nothing TKD related to post since testing. I went to Chicago the Saturday after Thanksgiving and returned late this past Thursday.........so no TKD activity has occured.

Two weekends ago, a family friend and incredible man passed away unexpectantly. So, I want to take a minute to say "Thank you" to Tim for being such a fine example of Friend, Father, Leader and Example of a Strong Man. You will be remembered and missed often. Nothing has quite touched my heart as much as pouring thru your work laptop trying to find/retrieve your family pictures for Becky & Trey. Your passing reminds me to appreciate every minute, day, week, year that I am blessed enough to have with family & friends.

Today is my 42nd Birth Day so I am signing off now to celebrate with the family!!

May God Bless each & every one of you!

A month late

WOW, has it really been four weeks since I last posted. Holy cow, I have really fallen behind. Let's get started. This month has hosted two milestones for us. The first one occured Friday, November 14th. We attended out first Board Breaking Seminar. Mr Wiggins was the host and it was a blast. We learned proper technique for getting the maximum focal power while striking and kicking. Ultimately, it's not about the actual board breaking as much as it is about learning to focus your power to a smaller point for maximum impact effectiveness.

Mr Wiggins leading the kids:

Kids warming up:

Emily & Dalton waiting their turns:Tyler breaking with a Side Hammer:

Dalton executing a very effective SideKick:

Dad's turn with a SideKick of his own: Tho Emily was ready, the Board was not willing to cooperate....but she tried hard, all the while constantly smiling:

This past Friday we tested for our next ranks. Gladly, we all passed and advanced in rank. Me & the boys are now Advanced Blue Belts and Emily is now a Green belt.

The next couple of months will be slow due to the coming Holidays. But the new year should start off with a bang.

Happy Thanksgiving to all & may God Bless you during this and all other times of the year.

Peace!

Feeling it

It has been over a week since I last posted, so I am taking a 15 minute break from work to write this. We did train 5 days last week, but we were a bit lackluster coming off the Tournament focused training. Since we are testing mid-November, we are not gonna slow down.

TKD has truly helped us bond. Nothing like learning, sweating, and earning together. Emily Grace's kicks have improved tremendously over the course of the last couple of weeks. Her balance, height and power is getting better each week and it is cool to be apart of. We hit the pads at home a couple of days a week (just me & her) in addition to the classes and she seems to really enjoy the one on one time.

Dalton & I have added circuit weight training to our mornings. T-man is not so into joining us ;-) but he does get up a couple of times a week and join us for patterns, so that's cool. This extra work is an attempt to be more healthy and active.

Our training plan is as follows-

• Mon-Wed-Fri: up @ 6am for 30-45 weight training in a circuit (20 reps per expercise) followed by going thru our 6 patterns 3-5 times.
• Tues-Th-Sat: up @ 6am HIIT program for running. Run 1/4 mile 85%, then walk 1/4, & repeat cycle 3 times. The program calls for adding 1 cycle every 2-3 weeks......huh, guess we'll see how that works out?!

We started the running program September 29th and last week it was time for us to add the weight cycle. So far this weight & running program has enabled me to lose 10 lbs and that's a good thing (only 30 more to lose). Unfortunately, my right knee has been non-stop nagging at me (never had knee problems until now) and I am truly feeling my age. And Yes, it stinks to admit that. Hoping this bad boy heals up soon.

Until the next time, I wish all Peace & happiness!

Battle by the River results

What a blast! This tourney was the biggest challenge yet and the Denson kids made their family very proud. Please forgive me ahead of time for bragging from this point forward as my cup runneth over right now.

The tournament started with a bit of controversy for us. Emily Grace was assigned to compete with the 4-5 year olds yellow belts. That was fine and dandy with her; however, the 3 other children did not know their patterns; however, Emily grace did. The lead judge then inadvertently skipped her. So the ring judge decided to skip the standard patterns and just call out moves for the whole group to do one at a time. Then they on moved to one step striking combos……well I submitted a challenge thru my lead Instructor, Mr. Wiggins. Mr. Wiggins then submitted a formal challenge to the decision and a 15 minute discussion followed. Believe it or not, it actually ended well and I must thank Mr. Wiggins for his doggedness to give Emily a shot at showing her stuff (even if she had to compete then with the 6-8 year olds).

Emily took 2nd in striking

& 1st in Patterns…………WOOOOHOOOO. That’s my Girl!!!!
Next up was the boys. Tyler and Dalton landed in a large group of competitors comprised of 9-12 year olds. They did awesome, amazing, outstanding>>>

Tyler man earned 1st in Patterns:
Dalton earned 3rd in Patterns:
Of course in sparring they drew each other in the first bracket & Dalton won (but Tyler showed tremendous heart):
Dalton sparred 3 more times. And trust me when I say, it was not easy. He did get in some good headshots, like this one:Once against a 12 year old that was a good foot taller and my little man beat him 5-2. He even took a direct kick too the…..uh, um, well the picture says it all & yes he did get the point for the body kick he landed on the Giant:
Ultimately Dalton earned 2nd in Sparring by winning 3 of 4 matches. He showed speed, technique and grit. Those boys made me really proud today.

As for me, well I had a pretty good day. Fortunately my pattern went strong and I received 1st Place for patterns:
Next up was sparring. I drew the pre-bracket round and had to spar just to earn a spot in the brackets. Won that 5-2, then went on to win 2 more matches to earn a spot against the same Martial Artist that I sparred in the April finals.

Notice the fella on the right holding video cam, that's my Pop: What, a jump Turn Kick?? LOL & it landed for 2 points!

Ultimately, I was able to win 3 of 3 Sparring matches to earn 1st Place in Sparring.

We had great rounds & I was blessed in winning the Sparring for UnderRank Adults.

What a blast. Eventhough the Denson's brought home a boat load of hardware, more importantly was the kids fine display of competitiveness mixed with good sportsmanship. I just can't express the joy in seeing my young one's giving their all.

Thank you TKD-USA for enabling us to use the things you taught us to earn these awards!! You guys are the BEST!

BTW-I will post some video clips later next week, after we create them.

24 hour countdown has begun

This morning @ 5:55am reality began to set in. As I waited for the boys to get dressed for our morning practice session, it hit me that tomorrow is T day (lol). The unnerving thing about the tournament is the unknown factors. There are 6-7 schools participating in this fall tournament. With that many schools, we have no idea who we will be competing against.

The pattern competition will present us the opportunity to do our best with what we've learned over the last couple of weeks. We will be competing by age groups in a bracket type of format. Each competitor will do their pattern in groups of three. Then the top four competitors will compete head to head. The 1st place and 4th place will face off, followed by the 2nd & 3rd place, and finally the winners of these two face offs will compete against each other to decide 1st place. Competing in this way will be new for Emily, and I look forward to seeing how she reacts.

The point sparring is a different beast all together. Not knowing your opponent creates a void for planning any strategy..........same basic format as pattern competition with a couple of big exceptions. During this part of the competition we will get hit & kicked. Same bracket arrangement, draw to see who faces who, then winners face off to whittle down to 1-3rd places. On a personal note, I am really hoping that this right knee holds together! The swelling has gone down a bit and it's not as stiff as it was. Rapid healing is not occuring for this "old dude".

We have trained as hard as possible, against the best at our facility, so now it is up to us. Like I said before "unnerving"!!!

Getting down to it

Three more days of training is all that's left. The "Battle by the River" Tournament is Saturday. We are all giving everything we got to perfecting our patterns and improving our sparring skills. In addition to the classes, we are still getting up every morning by 6am to do some sparring drills and to perform our patterns 10 times. I am really impressed with the boys dedication in getting up early before school to do this without complaining. It will pay off for them.

The boys have been getting better with each session thanks to the fine sparring help from some of the higher ranks like Junior Black Belts- Mr Matthew Corliss, Ms Elizabeth Wiggins & Mr Cade Carpenter, the Recommended Black Belts- the Lemons Brothers, Jada & Kera.

I have been sparring with top rank Black Belts since last week. The following Black Belts have really tried to help me out: Mr Wiggins, Mrs Wiggins, Mr Corliss, Mr Perry, Mr Scarborough, & Mr Scott. These folks are top notch and I am greatful for their patience and support.

Emily Grace is coming right along with her Orange Belt Pattern. I am looking forward to seeing how she handles the tourney. She is just so darn cute out there doing her thing.

On a side note, I hurt/twisted my knee last Friday and the silly thing has been a little swollen and stiff ever since. Sure am hoping it will stay together thru training & tourney. My competitive spirit refuses to let it get in the way.

Until the next time, peace to Ya'll.

Sparring, Sparring, Sparring

As you could probably tell from the title, today was all about the Sparring. We did do Patterns too, but we sparred alot and it was a blast. The boys & I got to spar with higher ranks tonight and that is a valuable asset to use moving toward the Tourney. Working with these higher Ranked & better skilled Martial Artists should really help us prepare for competing with those folks that are in our own Rank.

Turns out the Tourney rules are going to be ITF style & that means 1 additional point for strikes done while in the air.
Example: a jump turn side landed to the head is 3 points instead of 2.

So, needless to say we are working on some timing to get a few of these strikes incorporated as a fluid part of our striking skills. Fun stuff. I even scored a couple of these during our sparring tonight.........woohoo, trust me it's no easy task to jump my big self up & do an aerial strike. I even absorbed some very good head & body shots that were dished out by the Black Belts. Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I like the physical challenge that comes from being hit with strong contact! It releases that competative adrenaline and drive to do better.

The patterns are coming right along as well. We will continue to work hard to make the Tournament a great experience.

Kicking it in HIGH GEAR

After a two week hiatus that included vacation & work travels.
Ahh, the Great Smokey Mountains

Family all together.

Kids going old school in this black & white (thanks to their Momma's fancy camera).


We're back & ready to dedicate the next two weeks to learning our new patterns in hopes of making the Fall Tourney coming up October 18th in West Memphis, AR. The only way we are going to be ready is for us to work morning and night to get our forms down! This will be one of our biggest tests yet and not a lot of time to get prepared.

The boys & I have to learn and be able to proberly execute the 32 moves of Joong-Gun.


Emily Grace has to learn and be able to execute the 24 moves of Do-San.


We started down the trail Friday evening and let's just say, it's not gonna be easy. Mr Wiggins worked deligently to familiarize us with this new form. His patience is very much appreciated (unfortunately, I am a slow learner).

Saturday & Sunday mornings we got up early (6am) and practiced our patterns. This morning Dalton & I got up to start the day off with a 5:30am run (a little more than a mile). Dalton is helping Dad try to loss some weight and get in better cardio shape. After the run, Tyler joined us for a program that included doing our pattern cycled with push-ups for a rotation of 5 sets (seemed like a good starting point). Tonight will bring two 1 hour classes at TKD-USA to focus, practice and learn.

Boy this should be an interesting couple of weeks. Stay tuned.

Another Step toward the Goal

Well this has been a GREAT night. We all performed our patterns & combo's for passing scores to achieve our next rank. Taking another step closer to the ultimate goal with my family is the BEST feeling EVER!!

Before the testing began Emily Grace and her buddy Josie did some strategizing.

Then she & Dalton discussed the plan: Emily was first up.

Mrs Wiggins called her out and the show began:

Spin knifehand (such grace)

Side kick (very nice)

Next up was the three of us boys. Once again Mr Wiggins was kind enough to let us do our Yul-Gok pattern as a family unit. What a blessing!

Next came sparring and wouldn't you just know it, Mr Wiggins decides to spar with me. It was an honor to get to spar with a 5th degree BB that has the kind of skill Mr Wiggins has. Yes he schooled me, but not in a flashy showy kind of way, just enough to make me realize how far I have to go without completely destroying me. I appreciated the opportunity.

However, as everyone found out, David Blane isn't the only one who can levitate, check this out.

Even replayed the famous scene from Rocky:

Dalton in the Blue Uniform did well.

Tyler held his own against his opponent.

I am very proud of the whole gang for working hard, learning the patterns/combos, over coming the nerves and doing their very best to succeed.

And yes, as you can tell, Emily is having a ball.

Next up will be the fall tourney in October. Got get to work for that one, cuz we do not have a lot of time to prepare for this bad boy!

God Bless and hope all of you have a great weekend.

Testing Tonight

Tonight is the night to show what we learned the last 7 weeks. We have to demonstrate our patterns, striking combinations and then spar utilizing the striking skills that we learned thus far. These strikes include: spin side-kicks, spin heel-hook, knife hands, round kicks, side kicks, hook kicks, reverse punch & front punch. Fun stuff.

Me & the boys are testing for Blue belt tonight. We will be demonstrating the 38movements in the Yul-Gok pattern.

Emily Grace is testing for Orange belt. She has to demonstrate the 21 movements in the Dan-Gun pattern.

Will post pics & update after testing. Until then remember "You're born to win".

Not the usual week

TKD this week went really well for us. We all got better on our patterns and combinations. The morning practices have really helped me remember the patterns that we've learned so far. Emily Grace and I reviewed her Pattern (Dan-Gun) and it began to click for her. In fact, she was able to do 90% of it by herself for Mr Wiggins on Friday. Good job Emily!

Also, this was the week many of us remembered the events of 9/11/01. This week also was one marked by the loss of one of our favorite MMA fighters. Evan Tanner was a unique individual who was very much a free spirit. He touched many lives in and out of the ring/cage. He truly believed that everyone of us can make a difference in this world. He lived his life as if there would be no tomorrow and he went out as only Evan could. His life was inspiring for me and I'd like to share the following vids in honor of Evan.

The first two videos are a two part interview during which he shared some of his thoughts on life:





This video is one of the best tributes put together on his fighting career:


Evan Tanner 1971-2008
Rest in Peace

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did!

Next Friday will be testing for new ranks. Us three boys are testing for Blue belts and Emily is testing for Orange. We gotta keep practing in preparation for that.

Sports Saturday with the young'ns

This post is not about TKD, cuz today was Sports Saturday for the Denson's. The three kids at home play sports in addition to doing TKD.

9am: Emily Grace was first up today. This is her first year to play soccer and she's a bit confused, but watching 4yos play soccer is always entertaining.........

I mean they are just so cute.

Mom & Dalton cheered Emily on:

9:15am- Tyler's flag football game started. His first year at trying football, so we had him start out in Flagfootball to learn the basics of passing, running catching and basics of game. He did really well, playing QB & DB. Fun stuff!

11:30am- Dalton's soccer game. This is Dalton's 4th year in soccer and he came out aggressive this year. I contribute this coming out to TaeKwonDo giving him the confidence to do so! Today he scored 2 goals and defended a direct shot on goal...WOOOOHOOOO!
Here's a Steal at mid-field:

And here is the breakway that led to his second goal. What a great day we had!

Man it's Early!

Dalton & I have decided that we are going to get up @ 6:30am and do every pattern we have learned up to this point. So last night I set the alarm, with every intention of getting up before Dalton to show my dedication.........well the alarm evidently did go off, and I must have then turned it off, because at 6:33am tap tap on the arm and there was Dalton fully dressed and whispering "Are we gonna do our patterns?" LOL, so much for being the leader. Good job Dalton!

We did all of our patterns and recited the meanings and you know, it felt great! What a way to start the day off. Now if we can only drag Tyler outta bed to join us?!

On a side note, my Parents celebrated 50 years of marriage Sunday together. My sister (Jill) & my wife (Diane) worked tirelessly on planning and setting everything up. The day went well & I want to thank them publicly for all of their efforts. My Mom asked for one thing....that I sing at their church. I said no, (yea right) so Sunday as I stood in front of her church going thru what can only be described as comical relief, I hope she enjoyed her request ;-)
Our Denson Family


Hope all has a blessed day!

Oh Yea, baby!!

Two days of TKD classes in a roll with No trauma, Drama or crying Mamma!! Woo hoo.

Okay, sorry for that burst of excitement. After missing sessions due to ER visits & being out of town with work, completing sessions last night & tonight have been Great! In fact, all four of us (Emily, Dalton, Tyler & me) were able to take the same classes together to try and catch back up. Thanks to Mrs Wiggins for allowing us to join each others classes. Boy have our patterns been rusty........we gotta practice these at home.

On a side note, I've been sucking some serious wind in class. So, I have to do something to lose this big ol belly. My motivation has been rather low for getting my big behind up in the mornings to exercise & run. No excuses, just laziness on my part. Once we finished the 100 push up challenge and I've been seriously slacking. BTW: The three of us boys actually completed 100 pushups after taking the challenge for 7 weeks (6 week course, but we had to repeat a week)!


Till the next time, be safe & hug them young'ns!

Not again!!

Well it happenned again. Hoping to make up missed days this week because I was out of Town M-TH for work, we planned on going to TKD Friday night for two classes. Early afternoon, Dalton's school called and said he cut his finger & probably needed stitches. So for the second time in two weeks, off to the hospital we go with Dalton. Three stitches in the first knuckle crease of his left index finger (pretty sucky place to have a cut) and a few hours laters, we head back home......missing TKD again due to injury to Dalton. Looks like he's gonna be taking after his Dad, cuz I've had many, many stitches & multiple broken bones!

Good grief, hopefully we can get back on track next week without an injury ;-)

Peace Ya'll.

Sword Seminar

Tonight we attended our first seminar. The seminar was led by Mr Shade, a TKD Black Belt and very accomplished Martial Arts Swordsman.




The boys class was full of young'ns. The whole class seemed to really enjoy learning this new skill. The swords are made of wood, so no cuts or deaths, just bruises...LOL. The boys took right to the swords.

They learned proper stance with a sword:

Overhead slice:

Angle slice:

Mr Wiggins helped some of the kids out.
Mrs Wiggins helped some:
Emily watched her brothers and wanted to know when it would be her turn.


All in all we had a very fun night and truly enjoyed learning a new aspect to Martial Arts.

Finally this pic just seems like the best way to say Goodnight: