Come in, take the shoes off;
The air is a bit dry; I can'tsuppress this cough.
Wrap the tape around my bad foot,
At theend of class both are covered in soot.
Line up by rank andage,
And listen to our instructor, our sage.
Bow, mind hisopening remarks;
Count and stretch
(My, these cold muscles ofmine make me feel like a wretch!)
Kicking drills up and down thefloor,
(Hey, there's somebody standing in the door!)
Power,speed, balance and grace,
This floor is so slippery; I'm flushedin the face.
30 minutes into the class,
Down I go on my ...
"I'm okay, really!"
A quick break, boy, this wateris chilly!
So soothing and calming,
(This next promotion Imight end up bombing ... )
Line back up, go through theforms,
The sound of a yell thundering like summer storms.
Ifwe're lucky, we get to spar.
Don't step on my toes or I won't getvery far.
One round, two rounds, three,
Two head kicks andgetting knocked out of the ring for free,
The adrenaline rushesthrough my veins,
"What the heck is she doing?" runsthrough everybody's brains.
Receiving a kick to the gut,
Whatother action to take except to land on my butt? Cool down, stretchsome more
(Oh my gosh ... here comes round four)!
Fightingfuriously, getting so so hype
(Tomorrow the pain I will feel, andthus will gripe).
Class is over, line back up
(Oh thankgoodness I'm only a fourth gup!)
Putting the shoes back on myfeet,
I begin the journey home to receive my after-classtreat.
A nice, warm bath and some Icy Hot
To soothe the CharlieHorse I just got.
With all the things I now know
Some I couldonly learn in Taekwondo.