So, internet is not as accessible as I’d hoped. I will have to get over my fantasy of posting
a new blog each night and regaling you with my adventures as they happen.
Saturday and Sunday were the days of the World Kuk Sool Won Tournament. The first day was part competition, part
demonstration. Saturday's competition was for qualifying students only, and the categories were: long sword form, open hand (no weapon) form, and technique. Technique consists of the competitor throwing a partner or partners around in various forms. Certain throwing partners are more dramatic than others, pounding the mat in “pain” and screaming.
Sean Harvey (1st degree black belt) during his open hand form competition.
This side kick earned cheers from the crowd.
A Korean black belt waits with her throwing partners
as she is scored by the judges. Notice they don't get to see their scores.
A Korean black belt during her long sword form competition
A finalist for the Korea Cup is scored by the judges
The winner was Chris Pak (3rd degree black belt)
from George's aunt's school in Texas.
(Notice the three people seated behind the podium.
From left: a very high level Buddhist monk, George's mom, George's dad)
Kuk Sool students carry flags, each of which represent
a country where Kuk Sool is studied
Demonstrations are a performance, showing us different areas
of the martial arts practice from all different experience levels.
Black belts (multiple levels) demonstrate
Sambangchohyung, a Kuk Sool open hand form
Emerald and David Aue demonstrate sword sparring
(Remember them from the Haeundae Beach post?)
My favorite demonstration – and I think everyone’s favorite
– was the “Demostration of the Children.”
As most of you may know, Korean kids are friggin’ cute. But these kids were not only cute, they could
do some serious damage. At one point I
saw one of the tiny ones jump on a taller kid’s back, wrap his legs around his
neck and take him down. Mini-me style.
Adorable but deadly
Tiny children breaking big stacks of wooden boards
Jool bong (Korean version of nunchucks)
Any eyes they put out will be on purpose.
This kid is my favorite.
For obvious reasons.
Sunday was a full day of competition, all levels and
categories.
Ready...
Set...
Throw!
Mission accomplished.
(That's a girl that threw 2 guys, btw.)
That day, George’s mom invited me to go to lunch with her and his dad as well as his “aunties.” The thought of spending lunch in the nerve-wracking situation of eating with your boyfriend’s parents without your boyfriend – and tack onto that the whole language barrier thing and cultural ignorance on my part – I wanted to say no. But I knew I had to say yes. Seunghye told me that I was going to need to eat all of the food. She said, “I know it’s going to be tough for you, but it is important.” Oy.
The good news is I realized that I just need to let go of
that American thing of feeling like I should have interesting things to
say. That I should be asking questions and be
able to offer something to the conversation.
When I’m able to get past that, I have a much less stressful time with
his family. I just sit there quietly and
act like I’m listening. Well, I am
listening, I just can’t understand any of it.
But the thing is, they’re not really talking anyway. For the most part, they sit in silence. (Very different from my family to say the
least.) They seem content to sit and be
in the moment, only saying something when necessary. Drives me crazy.
And when the food comes, it’s time to EAT. From what I can tell in the time I’ve spent
with George’s family, eating a meal is not a time to socialize. You sit down, you wait for the food to come,
and then you eat it without stopping until you’re finished. We all got a bowl full of “jjajangmyun.” It’s basically a bowl full of fat noodles in
a sauce made from black beans. George’s
parents and the aunties started eating as soon as the bowl was in front of
them. But the noodles were so hot! I’m sitting there blowing on them so I don’t
burn my mouth, and meanwhile they’re all chowing down. How do they do that? Is it some Korean gene that immunizes your tongue from all things hot? And then when I felt like I was really making
headway - about 1/8 into the bowl of noodles – George’s dad pushed his bowl
away and leaned back. I looked in his
bowl: it was empty. Okay, that’s
fine. He’s a man, and plus his food came
first, so he had a head start. Surely I
was on par with George’s mom. Nope. She was almost finished. What?!
How was she doing that? She is a
small woman! Maybe I could keep up with
the aunties, I mean, little old ladies don’t eat that fast. They were almost finished, too! Little old tiny Korean ladies! Where were they putting it? I was trying my hardest to shove those
noodles into my mouth and chew as fast as I could. Eventually, George’s mom leaned over to me and said that
I didn’t have to keep eating if I was full but that I should take my time if I
was still eating. Phew. I’m sure not finishing my food is better than
throwing up my food on the table.
At the end of the tournament, there was a quick award ceremony before we all got on the busses to go to our next city: Daegu.
The 2 men in suits in the middle are George's dad and uncle.
Remember how I said his dad is kind of a big deal?
A really big deal.
Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I am keeping up with
my half marathon training. Kind of. I ran on Saturday morning with George along
Haeundae Beach. The sun wasn’t even up
yet, so I was feeling pretty hard core until I saw all of the little old Korean
ladies out exercising, too. I tried to
take some pictures but that didn’t go too well.
In closing, I have created a game for you below called “Is This George or His Uncle?”
George?
Or his uncle?
His uncle!
That's George.
But at least we know what he'll look like in 30 years.
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