Korean @ MindSay 
war
I won't say we did excellent at our first TKD tourny but we did really well for being one of the bigger Regional Tournies in our area!
Hell there were ppl all the way from FL that showed up outside of Omaha to the Tourny! It doesn't suprise any of us that we had ppl down from MN, ND, SD, IA or even up from MO, KS, and AK. But it did shock a lot of folks that we had folks from FL, CA, OR, GA, and a couple from CO! Why the FL one shocked us over the West coasters and the GA folks, is because the person was a lil 7 year old 1st Degree Black Belt! I even talked to his mom (sittin next to each other during the Adult and Tiny Tot's BB competitions before opening ceromonines!). This lil boy's mom flys him all over the states for TKD tournies! This weekend they were of course in NE, last weekend AJ (my assistant instructor) saw him in St. Paul, MN and the weekend before they were in NE again at a smaller state Trouny! Must be nice to be 7 years old and being flown all over creation by parents with money!:P I don't begrudge them doing that but I'll be dayumed I fly anywhere for a tourny unless my kids eventually make it to one of the big ones out in Las Vegas. Even the World Championship ones we won't ever fly too! That is only down in Little Rock!
Anyway, AJ is waiting on BB point standings to be released Monday morning to see if he made it to the World Champinship (Only those in Leadership Status can collect points and go on to World Championship or get any State Championship or REgional Champsionship). Mr. G (his first tourny also) placed in the BB also with forms and got a Victory Medal (basically 4th place -they only place 1-3) on his weapons.
The kids and I weren't up till after opening ceromonies. Which by the way was kick ass KEWL! Master K not only owns the Bellevue NE school (outside of Omaha) but owns 3 other schools in NE also, so they of course always host regionals and he went out of his way this year because they got some High Ranking Masters to help judge this year. A 1979 Triple Crown NE State Championship and World Champioinship Woman (can't remember her name) who is also on the ATA Board of Directors was there, along with the Current 7th to 9th degree Master who is currently the Triple Crown Holder for World Champioinships and one of the retired World Championship Head dudes that helped our Founding TKD Org and TKD Style Master Lee with some of the forms was there. They were all there to help judge! Not to mention a few other high ranking TKD folks who were helping to judge. Then for opening ceromonies after all the chitter that irritates ppl, they had a Korean group come in and did a whole Korean Dragon show with 4 dragons. It was AWESOME!
I managed to watch all of DeLaney's section and she did EXCELLENT for her first tourny! A Victory Medal (again 4th place) for forms and a 1st placing in Weapons out of 5 girls. She was the only ranking in her group. All the rest were higher ranking and a total of 8 girls ages 8-10. Sparring will come as we do more torunies. I didn't get to watch Coltin's because my section was called up and gettin started at the same time Coltin's was. So i relied on DeLaney to take pictures for me. Coltin also did EXCELLENT! He got a Victory Medal for 4th place in forms and got 3rd in Weapons out of 4 or 5 boys. There were three other boys the same ranking as he was and a total of 15 boys ages 8-10 that he had to compete against. Alas though Coltin wasn't able to spar. The ignorance of a Mamma and not knowing that lil boys had to have a cup. First who would have thought at that age group they require a cup. They have really nothing there:D So the judge (4th degree Dan) helped calm him down by letting him be the offical score keeper (usually reserved for BBs) and told him not to get mad at me cause us Mamma's don't always think of those things and just to have Daddy take him cup shopping before our next tourny!
There was about 10 of us women age grouped from 17-39 because there was only 3 girl for the 17-20 age group and the rest of us were the 30-39 age group. So instead of putting those 3 women off by themselves they just lumped them with us. Only two women did weapons (me and a higher ranking woman) and of course there was only 1 other woman at my rank and the rest of the women were either two ranks ahead of us or clear up to the rank below black belt. I did pretty good if I must say so! I got a Victory Medal (4th place) for forms, and the other Blue Belt Rank lady that didn't do weapons and the other Camo Rank (my rank) also got the Victory Medal, so in other words we tied for 4th place and since they only count 1-3 we didn't have to do what is called a Form off:P:D The other blue rank and I were the only ones that did Weapons. She got first and I got second. I didn't get to watch her form beause I was running over to Coltin's matt but EVERYONE said I got jipped out of 1st because I may have had my chucks do something funky twice, she dropper her weapon twice. The other Camo belt ranking goes to the same Academy as the Blue ranking women who took first and said she is either sleeping with the instructor or doing some massive kiss ass because they both started at teh same time and the Camo belt lady is right were she needs to be at and the other lady is two rankings higher then her now. Plus the 2nd Dan judge (Dan is the degree of black belt) is one of their Academies sister school instructors and Camo woman and the other ladies think that is why the lady who got first in weapons got it. I didn't see her weapons form and I dont' care. I placed!:D Again I did good in sparring didn't place but it was our first tourny and the judge even said once I get some things down I am going to be a force to be reckoned with because I don't just do kicks or just punches I do a lot of combos!
They were doing closing ceromonies by the time Coltin and I were done and getting changed and we were getting complements left and right on how well we all three did! The Triple Crown Lady went up to DeLaney and told her she was really impressed with her form and gave her a few tips to clean it up before testing and our in school tourny. Coltin's judge and the Men's Triple Crown Current Champion both told him he did great and the guy took Coltin up to another tourny matt and showed him what he could do to improve both his form and his weapons! I had the head guy that was retired and on board of directors show me a couple of arm and hand positions to help my sparring and complement all three of us and said that he is hoping to see us at some more tournies and asked why we weren't leadership yet. That he was watching all 3 of us all day long because he sat near us, and was really impressed with not only how well we did but how the kids and I were NOT shy and talked to EVERYONE and even helped out others in our postion of being first tourny. And he asked Coltin's judge if she would please find out why we weren't leadership. Coltin's judge is testing at World Championship with our insturctor for their 5th Dan BB and when I explained that I had leadership i just haven't taken it yet cause my kids didn't make it to open try outs and now have a invit try out after our in school tourny, the Host Master popped in and told Coltin's Judge (guess she is going to be at our tourny helping) to tell our instructor to get us in Leadership ASAP so we can start earing points!
Over all we did REALLY good, and I am proud of my kids. They went in to have fun and that is what they did! Sure they placed in weapons but that wasn't the goal. The goal was to get some experenice in and I delibreatly choose a BIG tourny to do it so they would get over the nervousness and here they both placed! We all are on a Marital Arts high today! It was late by the time we got out of Bellevue into Omaha and I decieded NOT to stop anywhere for food and we picked up Micky D's in IA before crossing BACK into NE on our way home, so we are going to the Olive Garden today for a celebration lunch!
I'll post pictures later (sorry none of me cause I was the only parent there to manage my two!) and wish us luck on preparing for our next rank testing this coming Saturday!
... Guess I'll pretend I'm female for a sec, since Sop-Ah said I had beautiful long and thin fingers. Weird compliment for a guy, but I'll accept it nevertheless :P There were only 8 kids in the orphanage when we went, because most of the kids went on a field trip, and many of the kids kept on crying cause Almighty Sushi and the rest of the gang kept freaking out the kids. I managed to get one of the kids to like me though, and it was nice to see the kids on field trip coming back, cause I got to lift Yue Yue up and down again, lol.
Lots happened this past week, and one of them was a break down in relationship between me and Linc_31. Looking back, whatever happened in History class on Tuesday seems so fuzzy, but I was seriously ticked off that day and remained silent unless I had to talk, which in the process freaked two teachers and a few friends out. Not a bad tally, but that wasn't the point, cause the point was, this was the first time that I ever became this angry. Took me the remainder of the week to recover, and during that time period I did not speak to Lincoln at all, ignoring his questions, comments, or conversations starters. Think it was my talk with MC on email that helped me finally see through this incident, as the negative emotions eventually evolved into me feeling constantly depressed and frustrated for no reason, and becoming not myself. I'll see how things work out naturally.
We lost 1-0 yesterday in Soccer, and although it was a huge improvement considering we lost 6-1 last Saturday to TEDA International School(Tianjin Economic Development Area) and 7-1 to Harrow on Wednesday (wasn't goalkeeper that game, it was Rob's turn), I still felt disappointed, as to some extent I let my defence down since they were doing such a marvelous job. It was a great game nevertheless, as I was constantly encouraging my team mates and organising my defence through shouting and talking throughout the game, and making some fine saves during the process.
I'm certainly having fun messing around with a new program I downloaded off Windows, which is called "Windows Live Mail", where I can manage all my e-mail accounts into one program. I still have to figure out how to send e-mails through the program, as both occasions it kept send me the error message, but now I can receive a message from msn and Windows Live Mail when I get mail from any of my e-mail accounts, so its pretty sweet.
Its a little bit late, and I guess I'll have to go to sleep soon, but I have to add one more thing, and that is, Arsenal beat AC Milan 2-0 at San Siro and PSV beat Tottenham Hotspurs 1-0 at White Heart Lane. Not a bad soccer week considering that both of the football clubs that I support won at the European football stage :P
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 3, 2007 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will travel to China, Korea and Japan over the next six days in an effort to bolster U.S. defense relationships with those countries. Japan and the Republic of Korea are treaty allies of the United States, but China – an emerging world power – requires different handling, a senior defense official said yesterday, speaking on background.
"We've made a lot of progress (with China) over the past several years, and we want to do that," the official said. At the same time, Gates will communicate to Chinese leaders several areas of concern the United States has with the country.
Those areas are broadly listed as openness, transparency and understanding, the official said. The strategic intentions behind their defense policy, the military capabilities they are developing, the way they plan and think about military matters are "opaque," he said.
The Chinese defense budget jumped almost 18 percent in the most recent year to approximately $44 billion. This is what Chinese leaders have chosen to release to the public. The number may be much higher, said U.S. defense officials.
Critics in the United States see this as a sign of an aggressive China seeking hegemony first in Asia and then the world.
The lack of clarity has a potential to be destabilizing for East Asia and the rest of the world. China has not communicated the scope, the purpose or the scale of their military build up.
"It's not that we're looking at every tiny detail of every weapon system that they buy, but it's what is the role they plan to play in the world; how do they plan to play it; and especially what does their military build-up mean to us and the rest of the region," the official said.
There are certain areas in every country's military that are legitimately secret. "We're not asking for their secrets, but we're asking for information that will make us both more secure and the region more secure," the official said.
The Chinese anti-satellite test in January is a case in point. The test came out of the blue to U.S. and world leaders, he said.
"We're still looking for the kind of response from the Chinese that really helps us understand why they did it, what's the purpose to the capabilities they are developing and what their next steps are going to do," he said. "It's also unclear if the Chinese understand the kinds and levels of concern that we and other space-faring countries have (with the anti-satellite test)."
Gates will be the most senior U.S. official to meet with Chinese leaders since the 17th Communist Party Congress – "their version of an election" – was held in October, and the meetings will give him a change to gauge China's new leaders, the official said.
Gates would like to see a final agreement on the Defense Telephone Link between the Pentagon and counterparts in Beijing. This is a dedicated hot line that would allow U.S. and Chinese could use in the event of crises. The link is important both substantively and symbolically, the official said.
The American defense secretary is prepared to discuss a full range of important issues from Iran's nuclear program to steps in dismantling North Korea's reactors to concerns about cyber-security, the official said.
The Chinese will talk to Gates about Taiwan, the official said. Publicly, the Chinese are concerned about the up-coming referendum in Taiwan – which the United States also opposes. The U.S. position on Taiwan and reunification with China has not changed. U.S. actions in regard to Taiwan are governed by the One China Policy based on the Three Communiqués between the United States and China, the Taiwan Relations Act and a sincere desire to see reunification done in a peaceful manner.
In Korea, Gates will discuss progress on the peninsula, and continued Korean support for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The South Korean military has engineers and other troops in and around Irbil, Iraq. Coalition officials in Iraq said that the Koreans have added greatly to the security of the region.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban kidnapping of Korean Christians over the summer complicates the picture. The official said that the military alliance between Korea and the United States has gotten much stronger, and "the meeting should serve to acknowledge and strengthen the already excellent military relationships."
In Japan, Gates will discuss U.S.-Japan Defense Treaty realignment and host-nation support to U.S. troops based in the nation. He is also prepared to discuss Japanese support to the war on terror. The Japanese ended their most visible support by recalling oil tankers that refueled coalition vessels engaged in operations in the Indian Ocean.
Try and guess what this says...
나는 개가 있고 그때 그것에 앉고 죽었다... 나는 아주 슬프게 느꼈다, 그러나 이와 반대로 나는 장아찌를 먹고 잘 느꼈다.
And this in Japanese...
私に犬があり、それからそれで置かれ、死んだ... 私は非常に悲しく感じたが、一方ではピクルスを食べ、よりよく感じた。
(HINT: It has to do with dogs and pickles and drawings)
Showing 1 - 5. [ Next ]