YES! I CAN HIT PEOPLE WHEN I SPAR NOW!

Several of my friends and I are in a tae kwon do class here at Lee. For those of you who like to make fun of this martial art, this is the kind in the International Taekwondo Alliance, which is much more practical for combat than what the World Taekwondo Federation does. Anyway, this class is conducted by the managers of Pope's Tae Kwon Do here in Cleveland, TN. We have class in the Mayfield Elementary gym and get credit for the class, in addition to having access to lessons at the facility.

I'm one of several green belts in the class (senior green, to be more specific). Green belt is the level at which people first learn to spar. Unfortunately, green belts don't make contact when they spar either. This is so that students get used to using the moves they've learned in a fighting context without dealing with actual blows. I personally find it frustrating a bit because it's kind of odd trying to block a kick that you know won't hit you, but the practice is understandable.

Anyway, today is the first day that the students had class under their new ranks. The newly initiated yellow belts worked on their form with Mr. Pope while Mrs. Pope joined the higher belts in the back of the gym. To our surprise, she said "Get your gear on. We're going to tournament spar today!"

Essentially, tournament sparring is like this: you're in a 15' x 15' area. You and your opponent bow, get into your free-sparring stances three feet away from each other, and start fighting at the signal of the head official. One round is two minutes. The plus: we can hit each other! The round ends when two minutes are up or one fighter has reached five points. Points are scored by landing blows. A hit to the body is one point, and a hit to the head is two. If a hit is landed with a jump move, it's two and three points, respectively. Any hits to the back or punches to the head is a strike (though kicks to the head are acceptable because the foot has a greater distance to travel). A hit below the belt is two strikes. Three strikes equals a loss for the offender. When a judge sees a hit, a break is called, and the fighters go back to their starting points and prepare to engage again.

So my friend Mike Stoess, another senior green belt, and I were the first to go up. We did a variation in which it was best two out of three. In about fifteen seconds he had me beat 2-0. Doesn't really help that he has longer limbs and greater speed, haha. Several others fought, but one fight that caught my eye was when Mike faced Scott Vest, a black belt, in first to three. Mike ended up winning 3-1, thanks to his longer limbs, in a prolonged engagement that likely exceeded the two minute mark. We wound up facing off again, and I was able to get in a miracle punch to the ribs before class ended (though I was still down 2-1, lol).

Looking forward to this again!

The End of an Era (Or, Finally Leaving Medlin Next Year)

On the night of Tuesday, March 2, Medlin Hall had its mid-semester dorm meeting in the Rose Lecture Hall, this time to focus on residence hall assignments for next year. After much previous deliberation, I decided that for my senior year I wanted to be in a place where I could practice my mad culinary skillz (which currently is limited to scrambled eggs and sandwiches, ha ha) and have my female friends enter the dorm past the lobby. :-P With this in mind, I have decided to attempt to move into B.L. Hicks Hall for next year. It's got the apartment style, while at the same time having close proximity to most of campus. Some of my friends and I got together and have planned to share a suite; if all goes as planned, my longtime college friend Caleb Mann will be my roommate, and our suitemates will be J.D. Wooten and that level 10 ukelele bard, Jimmy Davis. We picked Hicks first, then Storms and Medlin as second and third. Considering that we're a group of seniors and juniors, however, I believe that we'll get our request since we all requested each other in the same dorm.

In spite of my leaving, I will truly miss Medlin Hall. While I did not originally request to live there, I am so glad I was put there freshman year because of the amazing community it has given me. Through Medlin I have gained from all walks of life the brothers I never had. They've never failed to lift my heart throughout my time there, and are the primary reason for my living there for three glorious years. Although I will be living in another dorm, I'll certainly visit there again every so often.

This is also the end of an era. Several well-known/longtime residents will be leaving like Caleb, Jimmy, J.D., Matt Smith, James Laney, me, and others. Fortunately, the majority of them will be going for Hicks, so I can just walk down the hall to see them. However, Medlin will have a much higher percentage of freshmen now, and many of the faces that have represented Medlin will be gone.

I'll miss Medlin Hall. Once a Medlinite, always a Medlinite. Still, there are great things ahead, and I'm looking forward to them with anticipation.