I got it!!

Well it has been a HUGE month culminating in the achievement of my 5th degree Black Belt, my full time centre opening and my students achieving their first belt levels at my schools grading on Saturday.

Today I feel as though I am on a mental holiday :)

My grading went ok - I am a perfectionist by nature so of course I wasn't happy with it!

So I bow to the opinions of the panel and the people watching the grading who all thought it was incredible and just have to take their word for it!!

I have an exciting 5 years ahead of me now as I embark on the next phase of my taekwondo training.

The big plan for next year is to go to Korea and gain the official Korean instructor certification through spending a week in Korea and learning from the Korean Masters - this is very, very exciting for me.

I also plan to create an organisation where all martial artists can come together to learn from one another in a spirit of sharing where egos and "my style is better than your style" are left at the door.

The plan is to have a massive Martial Arts Super Conference in early 2013 so much, much work to be done but all good work that will no doubt put me in touch with some martial artists that will likely become friends and training partners for life.

In all of my years of training I think this next phase will be the most exciting and rewarding.

Competing is all ego and adrenalin (which I LOVED and still do!!) but this will be something different altogether.

My students grading went so so well, I am so proud of them all.

They exceeded my expectations on the day that is for sure.

One of the best compliments I got on the day was from my Instructor (also female) who commented on how lovely the culture was within the school.

She said it was visible how conscious everyone was of one another and how supportive and encouraging they were of one another.

Once I handed out the belts all of the ladies helped the girls with their belts and tidied up the rubbish!

Only at an all female club would this happen :)

I have had a strong focus on club culture from day one where I have instilled a culture of working hard but being a strong support for one another and it is lovely to see that is paying off and is visible to everyone watching.

This is the stuff that fulfils me.

Sitting in front of my school of all women and girls alongside my female instructor really was surreal - when I look back to how much of an arm wrestle it has been to stake out a career in taekwondo in such  a male dominated culture it is hard to believe we are here in what seems like the blink of an eye (although in reality has been 2 decades!). Really quite amazing.

At the training centre we have this week of training left without grading syllabus for me or my students (which is why it feels like a mental holiday!!) and then we have 2 weeks off.

I'll still be working hard for Glow and running fitness classes but Taekwondo will take a break till the new school term begins so this week is all about fun and training hard.

I am proud to say that with all of the pressure I was under I only had one small melt down the Friday night before grading (pmt had something to do with that I'm sure!!) and have not missed any training sessions so I am still on track and gaining some good muscle.

This has been a revelation for me as I figured I would have had to drop the 4 times a week at the gym to fit everything in but I think it is what kept me sane!!

So what's next??

Melbourne Marathon in Oct.

I attempted the Paris Marathon 2 years ago for my 40th birthday and had to pull out at the 33k mark due to injury so I am determined to tick this off the list in 2011 so stay tuned :)

I want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement over the past weeks, it has been very heartening to receive such wonderful well wishes from you all.