52th Taekwondo Exam At The Kaohsiung Chinese Taekwondo Class
By Allison Chen
August 31, 2017

On August 26th, at around 1: 00 PM, many students gathered at the building where a taekwondo exam was about to occur. It was the 52th exam at the Kaohsiung Chinese Taekwondo Class. Younger kids about the age of 6 were listening carefully to the black belts’ tips and guides.

The exam started at 1:30 PM. The coaches introduced themselves, then the black belts demonstrated the test routines for the white belts. The exam was in the order of the belts from white belt to black belt. Three person were called per time. First, they did the poomsae. Poomsae is when you demonstrate a specific set of moves. Each belt level has been taught different poomsaes. The black belts would have to demonstrate one poomsae, and have another poomsae be picked randomly by the coaches. After the poomsae, there would be kicking. The coach assistant would tell the students to kick a specific kick. The student would have to perform the kick as best as they can, as the belt levels increase, the complexity of the kicks also increase. The third part of the test is kicking the boards. Students under blue belts kick plastic kicking handles. As for students above and including blue belts, students would have to kick a wooden board, and for the students above and including red belts, there would be sparring. Sparring is when two people kick each other while wearing protection. When student were sparring, there were cheering and excitement from younger students, as for they don’t see sparring that often, since they didn’t start training for that yet.

“I was so nervous,” said a student. “I was scared that I would not pass the exam, but, I did and I am so happy.”

Many students were waving their new given belts happily. Some were jumping up and down in excitement. Students were also telling their parents what they had accomplished today.