Seo’s Martial Arts

Abigail Moline

My experience

I have been going to Seo’s Martial Arts for close to six years. I started because of an after school program with Seo’s at my elementary school. When I started my cousins went there also and that’s probably the main reason I decided to make the commitment. My cousins ended up quitting about a year later to try other sports. My dad and sister did it with me for a while, but after I got my black belt I decided to take a break for about a year and in that year my sister quit completely. I am now a first degree black belt with three stars. I am in prep cycle right now and am going to test for my next star in a few weeks. Seo’s has taught me how to set “unreachable” goals, like breaking boards with nothing but my bare hand.

The process

When you join at Seo’s you have to take to classes before getting your white belt. At white belt you learn the very basic things, like the respect and tradition. You also learn your curriculum. As you learn it you get black stripes to put on your belt, and you need four to graduate. You also need at least five red/attitude stripes. You get them by doing well in school, or bringing a note from your parents saying you did well at home, or just being extra respectful in class. From white to purple belt it only takes two months to graduate to your next belt. Blue to low brown belt it takes about four, and advanced belts take a lot longer. Brown belt and up test at what’s called “black belt testing”.

The belts:

White

Gold

Orange

Green

Purple

Blue

High blue

Red

High red

Low brown

Brown

High brown

Conditional

Black

Beginners

Intermediate

Advanced

Overall, it takes about 4 years to get a black belt.

Beginner belts

At white belt your curriculum is just 6 different combinations, which are little combos of punches and kicks. You also learn the three student creeds. It takes two months to graduate to your gold belt. At gold belt it’s the same thing except only four combinations that are more complicated. It takes another two months to graduate again. At orange belt you learn a form, “basic one”, and your combinations. A form is a long sequence of punches and blocks.

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Intermediate belts

The intermediate belts are green through high red belts. At these belts you learn one step sparrings, forms, and how to spar. At green belt you learn “basic two”, and from there at each belt you learn one of the five “pyung ahn” forms. It can take from 2 to 4 months to graduate during this stage.

Advanced belts

From low brown belt to conditional black belt, everything is a lot harder in this stage. There starts to be a lot more curriculum, like wrist, back, and side grabs, and multiple forms. To test you go to what’s called “black belt testing”. It’s a very formal three-day testing that only happens every six months.

Black belt testing

Leading up to testing you have to go to the pre-exam to see if your eligible. After pre-exam there are 8 prep cycles, the prep cycles are like more formal classes. The testing usually occurs at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge. You go up on Friday night and test for a few hours and then go back and test all day Saturday. On the Sunday is when the promotions happen. The promotions are very formal and traditional.

Pros

Some of the Pros of Seo’s and martial arts in general;

Exercise- There is a lot of movement in class. The instructors keep the energy up the whole time and encourage the students to push themselves.

Confidence- You learn how to if not be than at least look more confident in front of everyone. You have to train in front of the class and your instructors.

Focus- A huge part of all of our training is just being able to focus on your instructors and be able to pay attention.

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Cons

Cons of training at Seo’s or in martial arts in general;

Commitment- It takes about four years to get a blackbelt, and consistent training for those four years.

Expensive- All sports have their cost, but martial arts can be very expensive because of the different weapons and gear.

Demanding- You don’t have an “off season” like a lot of other sports might have.