A/N: An update! At last! Sorry it took forever and a day and then some to update. My marching season ended recently, so I've actually had some time to write. Hopefully there will be less time between updates now (hopefully...) Anyway, Happy Early Thanksgiving!
Hope everyone's ready for some more taekwondo. Enjoy (and review)!
Back to the Do Jang
After nearly a month away from taekwondo, Jen decided to get a few more classes in before school started the next week. On the way to the do jang she put in her Disturbed CD and rocked out to "Ten Thousand Fists" before skipping to "Stricken", her favorite song on the CD.
When she arrived at the do jang with quite a tan from band camp, all her friends were jealous. "Jen, why are you always ten times tanner than the rest of us?" lamented Mary Beth, a freshman blue belt.
Jen smiled. "Two words: band camp."
"You're such a band nerd," Donnie said. "It seems like your life is band."
"Hey, I come here too!" Jen jokingly retorted. "And besides, band gives me something to do. As lame as this sounds, I would be so bored without rehearsals all the time."
Just then, Ian walked over. "Hello, stranger," he greeted Jen. "Haven't seen you here in a while."
"Yeah, well…" Jen trailed off.
"Wait, don't tell me, you've been busy with, hmmm, band?"
"Maybe," Jen said, eyes darting back and forth.
Ian laughed. "Band nerd."
Jen rolled her eyes at her instructor. "Whatever. I'm one of those cool drum line kids."
"Alright, I'll give you that one," Ian said. Then he looked at the clock mounted on the wall. "Let's run!" he yelled to the room in general.
"Yes, sir!" the students chorused as they started jogging.
Ten minutes later Ian decided everyone had sufficiently loosened up their muscles to stretch. "Line up in belt order!" he called.
The class lined up quickly. Dan, a second degree black belt, was first in line, followed by Jen, the red-tips Ed and Sam, Donnie the red belt, brown belts Will and Trent, Mary Beth the blue belt, and finally Marshall, a white belt. Ian led the group through the usual stretches and basic warm up kicks and hand techniques. Then he announced, "We're going to work on techniques in pairs and then we'll do Learn from the Best at the end of class. Everyone find a partner around your rank and height."
Will and Trent paired up, as did Ed and Sam. The remaining five students looked around the room before splitting up: Donnie and Jen, Mary Beth and Marshall. "Dan, you'll be my partner," Ian told the last student. "Jen and Mary Beth, switch places so Jen can help our white belt." The girls nodded and changed partners. Ian looked around, satisfied with the pairs. "Okay, line up facing each other by the mirrors, and one partner go get a kicking shield." The students quickly arranged themselves into two parallel lines, half of them holding puffy kicking shields.
"Face the mirrors if you have a shield," Ian called. "We're going to start with some roundhouse kicks. Go down to the other end and back, right leg only, then switch roles."
"Yes, sir!" most of the students responded. The unfortunate Marshall, however, forgot the customary response.
"Marshall, what do you say when an instructor tells you something?" Ian asked.
"'Yes, sir!'" Marshall said.
"Then why did you not say so when I explained the drill?"
"I…I forgot, sir," Marshall said, embarrassed.
"Well, perhaps twenty push-ups will help you remember."
Marshall, new though he was, knew not to argue with the instructor and quickly dropped to the floor to start his "reminders." He stood up when he finished and Ian said, "Now that Marshall is finished, you guys can start."
"Yes, sir!" everyone, including Marshall, yelled.
Jen braced the shield against her side for Marshall to kick. She took one step back with each impact, occasionally giving her partner tips on his technique, until they reached the other end of the do jang. They repeated the drill going back to the mirrored wall, and then Jen gave the shield to Marshall with a bow and stepped back into a fighting stance. Marshall settled the shield into position and readied himself for the powerful force behind Jen's roundhouse kick.
Jen drove her foot into the shield, rotating her hips to follow through. As her foot met the target, she let out a surprisingly loud yell. Marshall was knocked back a few steps. Once he steadied himself, Jen repeated the kick again and again.
A few rounds later, Ian switched the class to techniques appropriate to their ranks. For Marshall, this meant side kick, while Jen practiced her jumping back swing kick. Jen was not happy about this; jump back swing kick was on her list of least favorite techniques. However, she did not complain, she looked at it as an opportunity to improve her technique.
Meanwhile, Ian plugged his iPod into the do jang's stereo system and cranked up the volume on "Remedy", his favorite Seether song. Donnie and Mary Beth both unconsciously started dancing to the music, but caught each other and looked guiltily at the floor. Dan shook his head at the underclassmen's shy behavior. It's so obvious they've got something going on. Why doesn't Donnie just ask her out already?
When only ten minutes remained of class, Ian called, "Put the shields away and line up for Learn from the Best."
The nine students hurried to do so, Mary Beth looking rather pale. She hated Learn from the Best. They always chose some technique she had only tried a few times before, and generally got out the first round they raised the target.
Once everyone was in a single line, with Ian holding a target at the head of the line, he asked, "What's the first technique going to be? Dan? Pick a technique."
"Um," Dan said. "Step over half tornado kick."
"Okay," Ian said. "Step over half tornado kick! You get one practice round, and if you miss the target after that you're out."
Dan, the first person in line, executed his favorite technique perfectly. He stepped forward, spun to the left on his right foot, and jumped to bring his foot through the target. "Good," Ian commented and clapped the target against his thigh, making a dull whack! "Next!"
Will stepped up, unsure of the technique. "So, um, what are you supposed to do?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed.
Ian explained the technique step by step and demonstrated for the brown belt. Will nodded, and attempted the kick. "Not bad," Ian told him. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?"
"No, sir," Will answered before jogging back to the end of the line.
Whack! "Next!"
Ed kicked with confidence. A little too much confidence: he kicked too high and missed the target. He muttered something to himself and then commented, "Good thing this is the practice round."
The rest of the class, with the exceptions of Trent and Marshall, did not have trouble with the technique during the practice round. "Now the real competition starts," Ian said. "We'll start at head height."
Dan measured the distance with his eyes, kicked, and hit the target. Ian nodded. Will still looked unsure of what he was doing, but by some stroke of luck hit the target. Ian nodded to him. Ed, now that the target was higher, nailed the technique. Ian nodded yet again. Sam also succeeded, as did everyone except a certain white belt.
When Marshall attempted the difficult technique, he tripped over his own feet, hitting the floor instead of the target. Ian shook his head as Marshall sprang back up. "Sorry. There's a spot on the wall calling your name." Marshall sat down against the wall; content with watching the higher belts execute the kick.
The next round, Mary Beth and Sam joined him. By the fifth round, it was down to Dan, Donnie, and Jen, with the target two palm-widths above their heads. Dan, naturally, passed this round with ease. Donnie barely skimmed the target, but passed none the less. Jen jumped and snapped her kick out, but it did not reach the target. She joined the others sitting along the wall.
"Welcome to Reject Land," Ed said with a teasing smile.
Jen smiled back and turned her attention to the remaining two competitors. This round, Ian set the target a raised arm span above their heads. Dan hit the target with some effort. Donnie, however, did not even come close. His kick swept through the air six inches below the target. "Alright, we have a winner!" Ian announced, holding up Dan's hand like a victorious boxer's. "Unfortunately, that's all we have time for. Everyone line back up."
The class lined up while Ian returned the target to the stack in one of the side rooms. Then they bowed out and shook hands with each other before leaving.
Outside in the waiting room, Jen grabbed her water bottle and sat down in a folding chair, Dan, Mary Beth, Donnie, and Ian joining her. "Good class, guys?" Ian asked. The four students nodded. "I don't really like Learn from the Best though," Mary Beth spoke up.
"Why?" Ian asked.
"I always get out on like the first or second round because we do some really hard technique that half the time I haven't even heard of!"
"Yeah, well, that's the way you learn sometimes. You just have to jump in and try stuff," Ian said. "But I tell you what. Next time we do Learn from the Best, you can pick the technique."
Mary Beth smiled. "Yay! Maybe I'll actually last more than two rounds."
"See? Learn from the Best isn't that bad," Dan told her.
Mary Beth nodded. "I guess so." Then, looking out the window, she added, "That's my mom. I'll see you guys later."
"Bye Mary Beth," three of the four senior belts said.
Donnie said, "I think that's my brother out there. I'll walk with you." He jumped up to accompany the freshman out.
Once the door was safely shut behind them, Dan commented, "Shy underclassmen."
"I know!" Jen exclaimed. "It's so obvious they like each other. Why hasn't Donnie asked her out yet?" She looked at Dan. "You'll have to talk to that kid."
Dan laughed. "Yeah, but you probably should too. He listens to everything you say."
"You think so?" Jen hadn't really considered that her younger friend actually took much of any of her advice seriously.
"I'm sure of it," Ian said. "He respects you, and not just because you're a black belt. It must be because you're a 'cool drum line kid'."
Jen laughed. "Maybe."
"So you're still wrapped up in band?" Dan, who would be starting his freshman year of college in a week, asked.
"Yes, Mr. I-Played-Football-All-Four-Years," Jen said. "The games won't be the same without you to laugh at this year."
"You're just jealous because you don't even know how to play football," Dan loftily said.
"Whatever."
Ian rolled his eyes. Jen and Dan had known each other for years between school and taekwondo, and were always making fun of each other in a marching band vs. football way. "You guys never stop, do you?" he asked.
"Heck no," Dan said. "It's too much fun making Jen mad."
Jen glared at her friend. "I'll kill you."
A/N: What do you think? Good? Bad? Should I include more taekwondo chapters? Did you like Jen's closing statement?
Anyway, the whole Mary Beth and Donnie thing came completely out of nowhere. I've always heard other authors use that phrase, but until now I've never known what it feels like to have your characters lead you along instead of the other way around. I also noticed this chapter that I seem to slowly be giving a shout out to every band I like. Okay, well, hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to leave a review!