I took a belt test Tuesday night, the last one I need to do before my second degree black belt test in May. As usual, I prepared and practiced the techniques I would use for my board breaks: a knife hand strike, reverse knife hand strike, push kick, and a roundhouse kick/spin hook kick combination. Of the kicks, the most basic was the roundhouse kick, a kick I’ve been doing since my first Tae Kwon Do class over seventeen years ago.
As it turns out, I under-prepared for the most basic kick. The other, more advanced kicks went fine and I have a cool stack of broken boards now, but my first attempt at my roundhouse kick board break left a bruise on the top of my foot. I rushed through it the first time, already focusing on the spin hook kick I would do next. My foot aching, I had to take another kick at the board and fortunately it broke on my second try.
It’s often when we take things for granted that we can begin to slip and lose the foundation for the more advanced things we are doing in life. We all need to periodically reassess the basics. How are we doing with getting enough of the things we need, like food, sleep, rest, spiritual nourishment, and fun? Some of the most accomplished clients I know still lack the basics, and the basics set an important foundation for what is to come. Sooner or later people with eating disorders will experience loss of those more advanced things if they do not put the basics back in place. If my roundhouse kick is not effective, I cannot build on it in a way that is stable, strong, and lasting.
So my foot still hurts a little, but the good news is that I will do my roundhouse kicks more intentionally and accurately going forward. I plan to get the basics back into place. I plan to keep assessing and adjusting, and strengthening the foundation. And if I bruise my foot again, there is always a second try.
