Recommended Black Belt

We had Deb Vaughn and Karen Hacke both test for their recommended black
belts this Wednesday night. Both ladies passed with flying colors!

We really worked them hard throughout the test. When it came to the
self-defense & sparring portions, Mr. Lee & I were straight to-the-point
with our attacks. Based on that alone, I'd say they earned it! I'm
especially happy with the self-defense outcome, since both ladies acted
immediately and performed perfectly.

Breaking was different than I expected. Karen surprised herself a little
when her hand shot straight through the first board (palm strike) and her
freshly enervated confidence allowed her to reverse kick the second board
without any difficulty. Deb had some difficulty with the breaks & I
attribute that to no experience - we just haven't worked with her on
breaking. I intend to spend a little time with her on that. No, not so she
can break boards but so she has the confidence to follow through & control
her strikes. The power is there, we just need to focus it.

Terminology was the (other, other, other) part I really took the fight to
Deb. Being a schoolteacher, she shot down every question like a pro &
believe me, I asked her some tough ones.

Congratulations to both ladies for earning their recommended black belts
and to Master Rion for training two well-rounded (in the technical sense,
not shape) students & adding two more capable black belts to his growing
school!