STRIP GIRL

Because a comic girl could not but inspire a balloon post. Peace, Alessia :P

ITALIAN VERSION

LIQUID COURAGE

We proudly brew our own.

TIP OF THE ASS-BERG

You know, sometimes your master tells you to do things that look very, very bizarre.
Trust him, though. It all becomes clear, when you get the bigger picture.

OLD BOYS

Usually in sport you compete as long as you can keep up with the best, no matter if they're up to 20 years younger. So, over 30/40/50 years divisions are a privilege of our discipline. They allow talented Poomsae performers to stay on top for almost a lifetime. Besides, staying in touch with the competition dramatic feelings makes them better teachers as well. On the other hand, as Poomsae are an aesthetical sport, the oldest veterans cannot but disappoint when it comes to agility and high beautiful kicks, even on a global scale selection. That's why I have mixed feelings about Master divisions.
Anyway, please stand up for Nadir Giunchi, Roberto Boghi and Giovanni Sotgiu, the amazing Italian Male Team 2 that tricked their age conquering a bronze medal at the European Poomsae Championship 2011.

(Photo courtesy of Aleksandar Golović)

LOOK AT MY LADYBUG

Yes, dear son, Taeguk are fixed patterns, but you never know what you might come across when you perform one.

OH JOY

All's well that ends well. Right? Wrong. The more I train with the best athletes in my region, the more I realize this: they love TKD, they like to train, they want to compete. But they find it so hard to enjoy it when they do it. This is true for both fighters and poomsae specialists, but it's the latter the most vulnerables. Poomsae training doesn't leave much room for improvisation. Routines are repetitive, as the focus is on correcting mistakes. Competitions, on their side, can keep you waiting a whole day to eliminate you in a minute. Sure, if everything goes right, you'll eventually smile at the end. But how long can you bear with this? Hard training, strong pressure... only for a feeble chance of bliss at the end of it all? Just think a minute. This is nonsense. You're getting burnt out, only you don't know it yet.
Martial arts are not strictly about "having fun", but no passion can do without some kind of pleasure. Poomsae are not about playing over and over some record in your mind. *You* are that form. You are the tradition, revived each time you blow your fists. Feel the energy flowing all through your limbs. Enjoy the wide stances and the statuary kicks. You are the swift body of a mute dance that echoes wars from an ancient past. This is art. Don't carry out. Perform. Don't play it. Live it.
So when you train with your friends or enter a competition venue, don't let the hard feelings overcome you. It's not fear the reason you're here. It's joy. Right from the very start.

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

Don't tell anyone, though.

DEFEET

Do you know how to lose? I don't. Not anymore.
Actually, losing was never a trauma for me. I'm not a champion. Never was. Never will be. What aches me is failing. Failing to other people's expectations. Failing to have fun when I'm doing something I love. Failing in being myself. And when it happens, I feel like these feet. Naked on the hard ground.

WHAT'S YOUR GRADE AGAIN?

How do you feel with your belt? Do you think it mirrors your effective skill? As Taekwondo Olympic call grows louder, students no longer feel grades as critical goals. Most of them deliberately give up on acquiring superior dans to avoid learning complicated poomsae, which would subtract time to combat training. However, nowadays black belt exams are not selective. They're expensive. But there is little point in spending time and money for grades easily achieved by poor martialists as well. A few weeks ago, I took my 4th dan exam. It costed me 200 euros, travel expenses aside. I was happy to undergo a test unlike my frequent poomsae competitions, even though I was strongly debilitated by a five months stop. The excitement for the unusual trial, however, couldn't prevent me from questioning the meaning of what I was doing. Did I want to take a further step in my TKD career? Did I want to acquire the grade that would allow me to perform Pyongwon at the Italian Poomsae Championship this December? Did I want to have my two decades experience in this sport attested on the basis of a public showcase? Maybe the three of them, but the one thing I am always looking for at an official TKD event is truth. And as long as failing an exam will be a remote possibility, I will find it hard to give much importance to those little stripes on the right end of my belt. 200 euros drain excepted.

ALL I WANNA SAY IS THAT THEY DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT US

Goodbye, my little big friend. Stay strong.