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I just had to do something that depressed me to no end: I dropped Taekwondo.

If I had just one reason for doing so, I probably wouldn’t have been able to talk myself into doing it, but I’ve a few reasons. None have anything to do with the art itself, or with the instructor, or with the sauna they teach in, or anything of the sort. These are all personal reasons.

Not least of all (but not most of all, either), are my piercings. The syllabus the TAs handed out in Master Pak’s absence on Monday make it clear: absolutely no jewelry, of any sort and in any physical location, allowed in the dojang. I thought long and hard about the rule, and decided that I was okay with it, since it’s in the spirit of safety (of self and others) and respect. So, I spent a good long while figuring out how to take out my earrings (I’d never done it), and I practiced taking out my tongue ring, so I could do so quickly. My eyebrow ring doesn’t exist right now, so that was easy. My nipple rings were another matter. I tried and tried to take them out, and I couldn’t get them to budge. Eventually, I figured out that the lady who put them in me simply closed the metal hoops ~far~ too hard, and the little metal ball that’s supposed to ‘pop right out’ (as I’ve been told countless times) is jammed in there with enough pressure that I can’t unpry it with my hands. So, I used a pair of needle-nosed pliers to loosen one. And promptly lost the little metal ball on the floor somewhere, never to be found again. THEN, I discovered that the only way to ‘quickly’ remove these rings, based on the width of the gap in the metal hoop and the relative size of my lil’ niplets, would be to bend the hoop straight and pull it out. And that, my friends, I’m not so okay with. I went through a lot of pain for these rings, and I’m going to keep them for a while longer, thankyouverymuch.

More significant than my piercings, is my health. I’m not so healthy right now. My legs still haven’t fully healed from the poison ivy episode, and in some spots on my right leg, it’s starting to look very suspiciously like I’ve got ivy where I didn’t have any before, which I need to keep a close eye on. So, that takes both my legs out of commission. Not for normal use, but certainly for running around barefoot in a robe (dobok), swinging them around in the air and at others.

And then, there’s my left hand. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with it yet, but the pad of my thumb is sore and unevenly swollen and really friggin’ itchy (not ivy-itchy, though), and it’s making it tough to make a fist with that hand. And making a fist is sort of essential, you know, for punches and all. I’m wondering if maybe it was a spider bite or something (though it looks like three spider bites, if it is), and maybe I picked up a lovely new allergy from somewhere *cough*mom*cough*.

And there’s other little stuff, too, but those are the big ones. So, I dropped the class. I’d still love to take Taekwondo at some point in time. I plan to replace my nipple rings with barbells so they’ll come out easier, and my body’s bound to heal up ~someday~, right? So then, I’ll plan to give it another shot. I could just join the club, instead of taking the class. One credit doesn’t make or break me at this point in time. :) It just means I’ve got five credits to go until graduation after this semester, instead of four. I was planning on taking nine credits or so, regardless, so it’s not a big deal.

But I didn’t even get to meet the famous Grand Master Pak. That was going to be one of the best parts. :( At least, the part that was going to make Kara jealous. *beams*