Candidate Journals

Last meeting with Master Cavasos and feeling great about curriculum. Always feel privileged to spend some quality with him. 

This upcoming summer is going to be a beast! Oh yeah! 

Last day of training with students on this raining Sunday. We call it rain train! 

Going to volunteer on this hot day! I'm ready! 

Processes & Systems... Define & Upgrade... Deep work commences. :)

Big decisions takes big changes but it's the small incremental steps that keeps you going towards success. 

Rain... Rain, wash away the pollen so I can breathe for another day. :)

Friday! Friday! Our promotional video is going great. Results are positive. On to the next one! 

Doing something well takes time, commitment and tons of effort. Need more time! 

Last of class for this week. :) Going to spend some time with my instructors this afternoon to finalize our first promotional video. 

Always doing the hard things will eventually pay dividends. :) 

Really proud of my students today. Showed a lot of effort during physical fitness week. Hopefully, we'll keep the momentum and be full force tomorrow as well. :) 

Further reevaluating teaching methodology. As an educator I'm reverberating, I have not taught until my students have learned. 

Finishing up my class plans for the week. It's going to be tough classes this week. :)

Today, finding the balance between authoritative and entertaining. Students must show some effort but it's an educator's responsibility to make the curriculum exciting. :) 

New projects are always fun and exciting in theory but when it comes to application and execution, tough. Getting it done though!

Snow came and melted. Successes and failures come and go but the learning experience is everlasting. 

Finally beginning to feel well rested today. Remembering to not let one person's judgement shake me to the core. 

Busy! Busy! Busy! So much to do! Just as we're feeling good about doing something well and that it's going really good, the next immediate step is pivoting and moving onto the next. :) 

Going to play some mind games this evening at an escape room. Hopefully we'll get out! 

Moon's little brother left back for China yesterday. Household is feeling empty and lonely. I always say that it's not goodbye, just see you later. :) Looking towards finishing the week strong! 

Been incubating the idea of leadership at our studio. Everyone seems to talk about it in a vague way. I'll be defining it and clearly setting some actionable steps we want to see from our students. Get it Monday!

Another busy day. Looking forward to tomorrow's testing and finishing up the dry wall. 

Busy today! Spending time with family after work today. Feels good to be surrounded by positive support. 

Let's talk about love. Let's share love more, Let's let love guide us, Let's feel motivated by love and Let's express our actions through love. 

To-do lists stack up early on Monday. I'm feeling my 12 mile hikes this past weekend from Nantahala national forest. Let's clear some of those tasks today! 

Teaching the juniors today! Awesome time seeing everyone!

If I had a mantra for myself it would be... Do what you can with exceeding effort and always pay attention to the details. 

Trying to finish up the month strong! Throat is a little sore, it may be from shoveling water out of the back entrance while getting drenched. Thanks for all of our students that helped to clear the flooding!

Stretching takes time... Feeling loose, after being in pain for the past hour. Remembering to breathe is the hard part. I wish there was a fast track to being able to do side and front splits. :)

Busy day! Feeling great to be sitting down finally. A day well worth the effort...

What a glorious day! Beautiful weather while getting a lot completed around the house with some exercising in between. Looking forward to a great week!  

Friday, Funday! it's always a great feeling to get a four year old to really focus and get a handle on their techniques. Awesome way to start today!

Busy day! I've been grappling with these two quotes recently and looking forward to some luck. “A lack of planning on your part doesn’t constitute an emergency on mine.” & “Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity."

Great day to be back after a long weekend! Went paddle boarding this past weekend on the Catawba River. New experiences always humble my athletic abilities.

Wow, I finally found someone else that loves watching martial arts videos as much as me. Well, besides my wife... we're all nerds. We watched the finals at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Moscow. Skip to 27:32 for the finals in the 68 kg division between two Korean athletes.    

Brunch at 300 East with Master Hama. Great menu and good setting and he would recommend the crab cakes with a fried egg. :) Ended up going to the dojang and trained for a couple of hours. I taught him pyongwon, which forms is something completely foreign to him. He is a quick learner but I could see him getting frustrated with not perfecting it right away. I assured him that he was doing a great job but will need a lot of practice. Much like anything in life, we've got to be patient and practice as doing anything well takes time. We had talked about the reasons to be well balanced in both areas of taekwondo. I had mentioned to him that I had always loved to spar and competition but as I got older and more prone to injuries, I could still practice poomsae as it relates to body...

Great black belt class but wished for more space most of the time. :) Picked up Master Hama last night and took him to attend class. He has a great attitude about learning our curriculum and completely interested about our King Tiger way. After class, he said something about our schools that resonated with me. He mentioned to me that every dojang that he had traveled, he has not seen one that has been so willing to give something back to him as in teaching him as well. He seemed to really appreciate the time that we spent going over our black belt curriculum as it was something that was completely new and foreign to him. Great job Master Hartle to helping him with those self-defenses! We ended up going out to the Pit as Go Pro Motorplex was running league races all day. My friend and I cooked him a...

Great poomsae class today! All of that time practicing with Master Moon, aka Wifey, in Africa paid off. I'll have to practice more on the minor details for WTF poomsaes and I'm so lucky to have her as reference. I'll have to practice harder so that when she gets here stateside, we'll be able to compete in pairs poomsae. Of all the years I've despised practicing forms, I've grown to like it more as I'm less likely prone to injury than sparring. :)   Here is another picture from Africa. You know, just some hippos chilling out by a marsh.   

I'm back in full swing and enjoying every convenience that I didn't have in Africa including unlimited internet service. :) From this past weekend, I was able to take black belt class and learned Hapkido techniques 21 through 32. Hooray! Following black belt class, I taught sparring class. Very surprised and honored that Master Shin took my class. It's not everyday that I get to teach a class with someone that has his presence and caliber of awesomeness.  Here is a picture from Africa. 

I made it to Tanzania! Whee! Met my wife, Master Moon. I already taught her pal gwe one. We plan on learning all of them together before we depart ways again. About to eat breakfast and head into Tangerine National Park for our first day on the safari.

I made it to Tanzania! Whee! Met my wife, Master Moon. I already taught her pal gwe one. We plan on learning all of them together before we depart ways again. About to eat breakfast and head into Tangerine National Park for our first day on the safari.

I made it to Tanzania! Whee! Met my wife, Master Moon. I already taught her pal gwe one. We plan on learning all of them together before we depart ways again. About to eat breakfast and head into Tangerine National Park for our first day on the safari.

Whee! Taught my last class for a couple of weeks. I worked on self-defense techniques and the hapkido forms. It's time to start packing, I've only got 4 more hours before my flight!

Feels good to be teaching afternoon classes after leading summer camp last week. Looking forward to this last push before heading out to Africa on Friday morning.

Two week countdown until my trip to Tanzania! Still a lot of things to finish up. Got adjusted at the chiropractor today and my lower back appreciates the extra attention. All of those deadlifts has put a strain back there. I hope to be most loose when boarding the plane. Air time always gets the muscles tight. I started adding riddles to my classes. Here's one: What gives off rays, is bright and if you stay in it too long you'll get burned? :) Onwards to Thursday!

Alright, alright, alright... Gymed it up this morning. I worked on Romanian deadlifts and bench press. I almost tweaked a hammy. I went ahead and rolled it out. :)I've been thinking about my creative poomsae. I had some good running ideas. 1. Practical Application of Pyongwon as demonstrated in poomsae then self-defense2. Weapons: Staff, Nunchunks and Sword. 3. Board breaking - 4 boards in 1 jump - scissor kick + punch + roundhouse

I'm staying on top of those pal gwe forms. They're easy but remembering the combination of techniques in order gets slightly confusing. Anyways, someone once said "Change is always hard in the beginning, messy in the middle but glorious in the end." Anyways, the picture below brings out the nerd in me. I always love mathematical wordplay especially the double meaning with the summer season in full swing.  Enjoy! 

Lesson for today: Think to make choices. Those choices will produce actions to make results. Those results will create a culture that mostly closely defines who we truely are.

All Day... HVAC couldn't keep up with our AC loads for the past two days. I feel like I'm in Taiwan with the humidity and the heat inside. All sweat, all day. Keeps the muscles warm. Worked on hurricane hook kicks, still not at the speed nor the height that I would like but it's coming along. I have to keep in mind about rotating my hips over to prevent injury. Fruit punch spark is keeping me going. :)

Great Tuesday to start back, classes went well. Hot today indoors, AC was on full blast with no avail towards having cool air circulating. Sweaty all day.

A full day is behind me. Whoo, tough and long. Got my requirements in between my appointments today. Feet are swollen, Legs are tight and back is sore, I've got issues. I'm considering an ice bath tomorrow... I just got the shivers just thinking about it. Might get me to feel better though. I'm still wondering why I can't upload photos on this journal.

Full day and with another full one ahead. Having my first competition team class tomorrow evening. My lower back still hurts and trying to take it easy on my body today.

Hump day!!! Halfway through the week! Spin falls early in the morning mess me up. My lower back is sore again and I'm trying to stretch it out but pain is all that I feel. No worries, nothing like a little ice on the back to make the pain go away. It's definitely a reoccurring injury but I'll be okay. Just can't kick so high with my right leg. Looking forward to career day at Landsdowne Elementary tomorrow.

Wow, what a beautiful day it was. Great weather, just what we needed to thaw out and regain focus from the snow last week. Back teaching classes felt great, but definitely have seen the difference of missing a week of taekwondo that made on the students. My body is beginning to fatigue but I'm pushing through by staying well hydrated and stretching for a solid 45 minutes each night. Finding the time is hard but definitely worth the effort.

Went hard today and worked out by myself for about 1.5 hours. Practiced portions of my planned workout for instructor's camp and all of my wang ho forms. Finding the practical uses for the forms is difficult for me to see yet, but I'm going to keep at it until I figure it out.

Great day after the snow. Black belt class was hard and challenging, as it should be. :) Mr. Graham is such a great partner, as I see him try hard, it just makes me want to try even harder. Finished nebujin 2 today and will be practicing that non-stop. Legs feel great but there is a slight pain in the right shin. I iced it and it should be okay. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Great day, working out in the snow. Built a huge 8 foot snowman and did a lot of kicks with resistance bands. Feeling good about tomorrow.

It has been a great day indoors. Getting caught up on paperwork and practicing on poomsaes. Maybe tomorrow, I'll get outside and do a workout in the snow.