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After waiting four years since my 1st Dan (1st degree black belt) in TaeKwonDo (TKD) I was finally given the "green light" by my TKD Master - Stephen Yeoh (check out the website built with PowerBuilder 11) - in March to prepare myself for the last leg of the journey into the next black belt level. In TKD, the minimum wait time before I can test for a 2nd Dan is 2 years (3 years for 3rd Dan, 4 years for 4th ... ) and I had to complete 160 hours of teaching. Already in February of 2008, I had already exceeded these levels but was still slightly behind in the total curriculum. As luck would have it I caught a break from my busy Canadian government contracts at the end of March and was able to fully concentrate on my TKD for one month solid. This allowed me to solidify my mandatory testing material and review all the other belt curriculum (we are tested all the way back to white belt at each black belt level).
On Tuesday, May 6, 2008 myself, Behnam and Darren (all 1st Dans under Master Yeoh) spent all afternoon with Grand Master FU in an examination. We were tested on advanced: Punching Techniques; Blocking Techniques; Kicking Techniques; Poomsae (patterns); Sparring Techniques; Self Defense; Weapons and Board breaking. Grand Master FU even through in his own special requests for Bag Kicking for Cardio endurance (I tell you, I nearly needed a oxygen mask at the end of that drill). 
In between the action following our testing criteria, Master Yeoh also threw in various techniques from various belt levels all the way from our 1st Poom belt (White) - through to Black-Stripe. So we had to remember countless patterns, movements, punches, etc from these older levels as well. This is what really separates the regular coloured belt tests from the black levels. In the coloured belts, you only test for the material between your current level and the next level you are trying to attain. The black levels are also exponentially harder. For example at the 1st Dan level you can expect to break between 2-4 boards (1" thick by the way) and only one at a time. For your 2nd Dan, the board breaking is 12-18 boards and some breaks include 2, 3 or 4 boards simultaneously. Then add anything from any previous level ... WOW!
The great news after all of this is that myself and my fellow TKD friends all passed our 2nd Dan test! The even better news is that I now have a minimum of three years to rest before the next level ... thank God! 
Regards ... Chris
WTF - 2nd Dan
