As many of you already know, I am Tae Kwon Do black belt holder, training for over 15 years in this martial art. Recently I took the test for 2nd degree black belt. This time a colleague from Tae Kwon Do who also happens to be a professional photographer took the pictures and also the quality of the videos are nice enough to post them here. If you like martial arts you will like to watch them.
 
During this test I had to repeat everything I did before on my first black belt test – with more accuracy, as it one would expect of someone moving to a higher rank – plus some new movements, like defense against knife attack and self-defense against grabbing. The breaking test was more difficult – instead of one pine board per kick, I had to break two one-inch pine boards held together, for each technique.

Here is the summary of what I had to know and perform:

• All forms (poom-sae, equivalent to the “katas” from karate) from colored belts plus 1st dan poom-sae (Korio). My master asked me to perform Korio, tae guk o jang (blue belt), tae guk tchil jang (red belt), tae guk pal jang (red with black stripe belt) and tae guk sa jang (green with blue stripe belt).
• Three-step sparring (sebom kyorugui or sam bo derion 25 drills)
• Two-step sparring (dubom kyorugui or i bo derion, 16 drills)
• Kneel sparring (anjoa kyorugui or joa derion, 9 drills)
• Demonstration of several hand and leg techniques.
• Defense against knife (3 drills), new for this test.
• Self-defense against grabbing (3 drills), new for this test.
• Several matches, including 1x2 match (i.e. me against two other guys at the same time).
• To break two 1-inch pine boards held together with a jumping side kick (tuiu yop tchagui) jumping over three colleagues.
• To break two 1-inch pine boards held together placed 7.5 feet high (2.3 meters) with a jumping front kick (tuiu ap tchagui).
• To break two 1-inch pine boards held together with a hand technique from my choice. I chose to break them with my elbow.

The pictures and videos are posted in the same order my master asked me to perform the techniques. By the way, the last photo is the best one. I posted the "before" and "after" so you can believe I didn't use Photoshop.

Video 1: Korio poom-sae (1st dan black belt form).

Video 2: Tae Guk O Jang (blue belt form).

Video 3: Tae Guk Tchil Jang (red belt form).

Video 4: Tae Guk Pal Jang (red with black stripe belt form).

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Figure 1: Kneel sparring (ajoa kyorugui or joa derion).

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Figure 2: Basic ready position used on two-step and three-step sparring.

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Figure 3: One of the two-step sparring (dubom kyorugui or i bo derion) movements.

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Figure 4: One of the three-step sparring (sebom kyorugui or sam bo derion) movements. Before you ask, the target is a vital spot below the armpit, not the head.

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Figure 5: Defense against knife attack.

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Figure 6: Another defense against knife attack.

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Figure 7: Continuation of the above defense.

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Figure 8: Defense against grabbing.

Video 5: One of the matches I had to do.

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Figure 9: Preparation for the first breaking test. Pay attention on the thickness of the pine boards.

Video 6: Breaking two 1-inch pine boards 7.5 feet high (2.3 meters) with a jumping front kick (tuiu ap tchagui).

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Figure 10: Jumping three colleagues with a side kick to break the two 1-inch pine boards. Pay attention to their thickness. See the video below.

Video 7: Breaking two 1-inch pine boards with a jumping side kick (tuiu yop tchagui) over three colleagues.

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Figure 11: Preparing to break two 1-inch pine boards with my elbow (palkub dolio tchigui).

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Figure 12: Breaking two 1-inch pine boards with my elbow (palkub dolio tchigui).

Updated on 09/17/2007:

I passed my exam and got my 2nd dan certificates this weekend, see picture below.

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Figure 13: Getting my 2nd dan certificates from my master, Renato Ribeiro (5th dan), and from my grandmaster, Yong-Min Kim (9th dan).