Here We Go... Again.

There are 3 words at my martial arts school that can cause either extreme relief or fear when heard. The emotion depends on whether you've been through it yet or not. Those words are "Il Gup Evaluation". This is the 5-6 hour hell to qualify for black belt testing. The actual black belt test is nothing in comparison to this evaluation. The evaluation test is 3 years worth of terminology and material repeated multiple times that is already enough to drop you but also includes a killer endurance section that'll have you doing a billion kicks, laps, push-ups, etc., that make your body tremble from sheer exhaustion and put you on the verge of passing out (which I nearly did twice). And this is all without a single bathroom or water break. I had to mentally and physically prepare for months, not missing a single day of training in the last month leading up to it. The evaluation was possibly the hardest thing I've done in my life and, unlike many other people, I was fortunate enough to pass the first time. I still remember my sheer joy upon hearing I passed, not just because it meant I was closer to my goal of black belt, but more importantly in that moment, I would never have to go through that hell again!

What I didn't think about at the time is I am also training in sword, which has a different belt progression. So you probably know where I'm going with this... On Saturday after sword class my instructor said the dreaded words, "We're thinking the Il Gup Evaluation will be in January. And it will difficult, as it should be." My stomach dropped and I couldn't control yelling out, 'January?!?!' I'm in the first sword training class ever at my school so we never really know when things will be put on us, since were the first group to do everything. But this was the biggest shock of all. We knew this test was coming but thought we'd get more time, more notice, more anything. My other Il Gup Evaluation, I had the date on my calendar for months, not less than a month. I can't believe I'm going to go through this again, but as we always say at my school... "this is what we do", crazy as it all may be.

So, here I go yet again, this time with the goal of getting my official Samurai status, which I guess is kinda cool. :-) Hopefully, I don't pass out...