Oh How It Burns!

It's amazing how many muscles the human body has. It's also amazing how exercise makes us aware of each and every one...

Today I lay back to do another 30 sit-ups, I looked up at the beams of the ceiling and considered the fact that I had looked forward to class all day. That thought quickly fled as I lifted up for the first one, cringing and biting down on my cheek; it's still swollen.

After completing the warm up, I got to learn some of the basic moves. Mostly this involved my uncoordinated limbs flailing about in an effort to imitate my instructor, who is a year younger than I am and has trained for 13 years. There were lots of snickers from the black-belted boys, but really in a fight I could still just sit on them.

I had to do more ankle lifts, and the first few almost killed me. Yesterday I got a cramp in my calf, and everything still ached. My lower lip trembled, my eyes welled, but the favorite Konglish phrase (Konglish = Korean + English) "Fighting!" rang in my ears. Whenever something is difficult, you can count on someone to rally with a chorus of "Fighting!" Except, what with the lack of "f" in the alphabet, it comes out "whiting" or "pighting," but the sentiment is there. So I pulled myself together, and my instructor came over to talk to me and distract me to the point where I was able to do all 100 again.

I'm so glad I'm going to Seoul tomorrow. As much fun as I had today, I'm looking forward to blowing off my "becoming Korean" classes (aka taekwondo and language) to go experience the real thing with a friend. It's supposed to rain and be chilly, but I'll just remember: fighting!