Candidate Journals

This is my final jurnal so I must make it good.  Thank you all for helping us Bo Cho Dans through our first cycle.  Although it has been hard and somtimes you just want to give up all of us passed from the youngest Bo Cho Dan to the 5th degree Black Belt we all worked we all complited and we all made the final stand to get our belt and for the pooms out there like me when we turn 13 we to will get a solid blackbelt and we to will have a blacked striped top and we all will be able to say I AM A BLACK BELT!!!!!  thank tou at mint hill who brought me back up when I fell behined.  But most of all...   Thank YOU black belts for setting a example to me thats gonna be hard to beat.   --KAP

To day I practised all my forms and self defence and falls to get ready I hope everyone does good

So I woke up today at 4:00 and I said oh yeah I need to jurnal so I picked up my phone and did a small jurnal I hope I can still do the jurnals on friday if not then I am gone.

One day m9 r e till bb testing we are I n the final hours

only a few more days till testing I am very exited but not at all nervase I am prepared and ready I have trained for 10 months and I am ready to crack my goal of getting a blackbelt.

I am done with every thing. I finished all my requirements I passed my jump rope I only have 4 more jurnals  my tree stuff and my community servace esay I am so glad that I did all the work to pass.  I had to practise 2 hours straight but it was all worth it.

This is a short jurnal just to fill in.  Today I went to the renesanse festivle on a field trip. And I still have to redo jump toope

out of all the things I had to do on the test I failed jjumrope so I'd any one has tips phrase he l0 me

So weare almost done with everything after hours upon hours of training we are near the point of testing the final battle the test of all test the test gor you black belt.

This will be short because I am doing it on my phone and it is moving slow so don't read this please good job on your physical everyone . Ate almost done

I only have 9 more jurnal entreys left I am so happy that every one kept working as hard as they could to reach this goal one question I want to ask where do you get the shirts that say thousands of hours of training hundreds of classes countless bumbs and bruises one black belt It would be helpful to know thanks

I am done with every thing besides pull ups It feels very good to finally be done with every thing I evan finished my 5 page esay wow it feels great just so good to finally be done with every thing on the cycle so now I only do pull-ups with a few of everything else ;)

This is my workout statistics for this week          298.6 1056.4Push Ups1501505015015015015010,166 10,0000Sit-ups150150501501501501509,790 10,000210Burpees/Squat Thrusts2000202015201,185 1,0000Basic Kicks1501252515015015020010,530 10,5000Poomsae Challenge201210202020201,438 1,50062Self-Defense Challenge2012010155151,076 1,0000Sparring Rounds5305535230 2100Jump Rope5315555209 2101Meditation/Quiet Time5505555618 5000Pull Ups5335555285 35065Random Acts of Kindness (RAOKs)1000302205 2000  So yes I am almost done     P.s sorry this is short I needed one but its late so yeah.

I am so happy I am almost done with everything I finished pushups only have 360 more sit ups have finished all my leadership credits all my sparring classes and dream team and every thing else.Wow you cant believe how happy I am to be finished with most of this yes today is a good day

dear people Today I woke up at 4:30 now ive been doing this for a while now and it is helping me get rvery thing done. Now it is kinda hard because once I am done then i go get as much sleep as possible and then have to wake up at 5:50!!! now ourf school is not the normal school we need to go to school ast about 7:00  

There is one week till every esay is due I dont know about you but (......I AM GOING TO DIE......) There is going to be some late nights in m7y house tonight and I need to get these done so bye need to get 3 esays done   ...YAY... :'(

Hello people today I was not able to go to black belt class because we could not find where it was they saidit was somewhere else besides master Evins and I had already completed  So as the title says I only have 15 more to go YAY!!!!!!! now I have to go so see y'all

Today I woke up at 4:30AM to get in a esay and my workout I think it was a good Idea because I was fully awake when I was done and got in a quick shower and was on my way.The cycle is drawing to a close and we all are finishing our stuff and are hurring to get in all our jurnal entreyes so good job every body.

Dear people I am almost done with every thing and only need about 1,812 push ups and situps WHOOOOHOOOOO I hope every one else is doing well. We had a demo performance yesterday and bain daze and I think we did pretty good.  So the AAU is comming up and I am wondering if I should go or not. I have been reading all of your jurnal entreys and all of them are looking great.     Thanks for support---

So far I only have 18 more of these and am almost done with every thing else I am writteng this at 10:00 at night but I need to finish these we onky have 27 days left so go strong.

It feels like my sto.atch has riped open and my arms have given out but I am still going on

Hello sorry I havent jurnaled for a day my computer was not working and probably will never work again so I also have not been able to login my stuff gtg bye

Dear People I am dieing  not literally but my muscles are sore and my every thing else hurts my fingers hurt as I am typing this. I think what is the hardest is the essays I have gotten 1/4 of them done and I need to do three a week so let me get satarted.

Dear friends You all have worked very hard and it has paid off we are almost done!!!!!!! SHOUT OUT to Nick coconato  for fighting through and amazing journal entrees and helping me to stay strong.now all of the rest of you have amazing journal entrees and are very motivational thank you all 

Hello I really got to go because I need to go to sleep any think that anyone reads these except master Evans. So I am going to make this short now I will tell you my day I waoke up went to school came back got all my stuff done then came running to get this done the End got tooo raun byr.. d this will be a fast jurnal entry so be prepared. I dont reall

today i could barely stand because of how tired I was. All we did in school was listen to the teachers talk about 9/11 then we watched a few videos about famous people who saved people.(tie a red bandana an your arm tomorrow.) there was this on guy named joe wills who saved everybody on the 78th and 79th floor witch was over 19 people. they called him the man in the red bandana because he wore a red bandana ever since he was 6. Another man save the president and the U.S president and the capital. these are all heroes from 9/11 that will be honored tomorrow at there  funeral.

I'm just taking a wild guess at the days and I realize that you can commit stuff in the commits so if you guys con tell me the day we will get back on track.  Now to the main part of the journal. Today I got in all my reqirements at home easily because of the technology diet I finished a easy and went extra with my workout.   

today is Friday, it feels really good to finally have the week done. I have been reading all of your journal entry's and they are really good they are very descriptive and well written. I am going to include in this journal entry my WHOLE day from start to finish. So I woke up at 5:15 to go take a shower but I was really tired so it was really hard to even stand up. So when I was done with my shower I went to get my breakfast I ate my cereal and a glass of orange juice then went to get some stuff done for one of my friends. After all of us were done we got in our new car to go to school. Since my dad is a car guy and gets good cars cheep. When I get to school I go to my locker and put in the...

This journal is being written late at night so it wont be that good. today I had a spparing class and relized haw much stronger I have become and relized the harder you work the better you get also the harder you work the more sore you get.  

The black belt cycle is going good.  I went to my classes today and got my credits.  I have noticed that when you are focusing on the big things like the 10,000 push ups it is hard to remember the little things like journal entries.  I started wondering why I even had to write journal entries.  So my mom asked me what I learned from writing them.  I said that thinking about these entries has made me work my brain harder than its ever worked.  Then I knew I had my answer.  The physical requirements make me work my body harder than its ever worked and these journal entries make me work my brain harder than its ever worked.  I answered my own question.  The black belt cycle works the whole body, even my brain. 

I have kind of lost track on my days as you might tell. I have also run out of journal ideas. But this will be from the deepest corner of my brain all of you are doing really good on you requirements and should keep going the way you are and keep doing good in class.

Today we are in Georgia so its hard to get all my stuff done especially with my cousins here who I wont see for another year.  But back to the cycle, we reached the half way point of it only 29 more days to go I thing if anyone knows how many days are left put it in your journal writing. Good luck to all of you.       -Kelsey

Today I completed my leadership 2 credits it feels really good to finally have something done. Today I hade a sparring class with master Justin and learned a lot and realized I've  gone from can barely take a kick to, take a kick from master Justin. talk to you later. 

Today we got almost all of our workout done in class.  We did enough Burpees to last for two sick days.  I'm still going to do them tomorrow in case I get sick later on.   I did a Tuesday Black Belt class and I realized I need to work on my preps. I got some leadership credit and one of the boys in class said he really liked it when I helped in class.  That made me feel pretty good.   Good luck everyone.  Kels

"Life's most urgent question is:  What are you doing for others?"  By Martin Luther King, Jr.  To me this quote means that instead of thinking about what you can do for yourself you need to think about what you can do for others.  Its like the Random Acts of Kindness in the Black Belt Cycle.  They cause you to stop thinking of yourself and think about someone else.  On the black belt cycle you have to do random acts of kindness but we should do it everyday.  I guess what I'm saying is that your whole life should be the Black Belt Cycle.  That doesn't mean that you should do all the sit-ups and push-ups and stuff.  But you should keep doing the random acts of kindness.   --Wish you all luck,  Kelsey

Yesterday was the pre-test for the black belt cycle.  it included a physical and written test.  I realized what I need to work on.  I realized what I'm actually doing well on that I thought I was doing badly.   I need to work on Red Belt Self Defense because I keep kicking with the wrong leg.  I need to work on my pull ups because I only did four.   I was surprised that I did good on my physical stuff including my running.  I finished my run in 10 minutes and 15 seconds which made me really happy.  

Today I am really tired so we won't get as good of a journal. Today was a struggle to get all my requirements in, why you ask, because today was my first day of school and all the teachers did was talk. I think this year will be better than last year because we are not in a grade with one of the teachers from last year. Our school you wake up really early so I have to go to sleep. See you tomorrow!

Today was my last day of summer.  I spent it at a Tae Kwon Do camp getting all of my requirements done.  We had a sparring class.  And I got ten sparring rounds in.  That made me happy because I was able to exceed my goal.  I made a plan for school.  I am going to get all my random acts of kindness done during the school day.  I am not really that happy about school starting because it'll make it harder to get all my requirements done.  I guess this is what people who work full time have had to do the whole time.  So I am glad to have had this much school-free time.   I do wish that I had worked harder to complete all my essays before school started.  I hope I can get everything done.  I think this is going to be a great cycle.  I...

Today I went and helped with tae kwon do camp. And did 2 hours of sparring. It was a good class to take to get a lot of things done. Got to go because we got to go pick up our new exchange student from China! I am really exited because it will be a fun way to learn new things. so I got to go bye!

Today is our last day with four people in the house! Tomorrow night at 11:58 PM we go to the Charlotte Airport to pick up Logan, our Chinese exchange student.  I am pretty excited.  I hope I can stay awake that long.  It is going to be pretty hectic around here for the next few days.  We have to take him to the school on Tuesday to learn all about his schedule and tour the high school.  He will be in 11th grade.  I won't be the oldest anymore.  That will be pretty weird but I will like having a big brother too.   On Wednesday we go back to school D: I am not exited at all. Some people like going to school because they have friends at school but I have friends out side of school that I see during the summer too. The worst part about school is...

Yesterday when I was watching TV I heard a quote  on a preview for Football Friday Night.  It was from Paul "Bear" Bryant and it said, "Its not the will to win that matters, everyone has that.  its the will to prepare to win that matters."  I thought about this tonight as I was running in the pouring rain.  The track was muddy.  The mud was sticking to my shoes.  I was already sore from my black belt class today.  I still had to study all the curriculum for the pretest and write an essay.  And I thought. . .this black belt stuff is a lot of hard work.  When I was a white belt Master Burkart had us write our goal on the first board that we broke.  Just about every white belt had the same goal--to be a black belt.  That is will to win.  Everyone wants to reach...

Today I was working on my leadership credit.  I got to open class with the five tenets of Tae Kwon Do.  It was a great experience.  I was very proud when the other students bowed and called me sir.  It was a very proud moment.  I also got to lead the running.  Maybe one day I will be an instructor.  I liked it.  I hope to do it more.  I am really horrible at jump rope.  I used to be good at it but now I am horrible.  I think it is because my legs and arms have grown so fast.  Everyone calls me Gumby.  My mom says that my brain doesn't know where my arms and legs are.  I am pretty clumsy and not very coordinated.  I hope I get better at jump rope.  I think this is a good chance.  The push ups seem to be getting easier.  My...

I read a great story last night in my book, "7 Habits of highly effective teens" by Sean Covey.   "When I was young and free my imagination had no limits.  I dreamed of changing the world.  As I grew older and wiser I realized the world would not change.  I decided to shorten my sights somewhat and change only my country but it seemed too immovable.  As i entered my twilight years in one last desperate attempt I sought to change only my family, those closest to me, but alas they would have none of it.  And now here I lie on my death bed and realize (perhaps for the first time) that if only I had changed myself first, then by example I may have influenced my family and with their encouragement and support I may have bettered my country, and who knows I may have changed the world."...

This is the third time that I have written this journal entry.  It has been erased twice so now I am going to rewrite it.  I read a quote today by an english poet that said, "we first make our habits, then our habits make us."  I had to think about this one for a while.  Everyone has habits.  We can have bad habits like using bad language, we can have good habits like exercising or showing respect by saying, "Yes, Sir."  Or we can have habits that don't really matter like taking a shower every night before we go to bed.  This summer I had some bad habits.  One was that I would wake up, sit at the computer and play on the computer until lunch.  This is a bad habit and it could make me a lazy person that could starve.  A better habit would be to wake up,...

Today I was able to do five burpees in a row without dying.  When I first started the Black Belt Cycle I could only do one before I felt like I was going to pass out.  I am really proud because I have been working very hard for the past eleven days.  I haven't gotten behind even when I was so sore that I couldn't stand to do one more push up.  Now I'm starting to see it paying off.  Every day a new muscle is sore.  I'm sore in muscles I never even knew that I had.   I've been super excited because an exchange student from China might be staying with us this school year.  His name is Hoecheng Luo but he goes by the name Logan.  He is coming from a town close to Tibet in China.  I'm not sure of the name of his exact town but...

Today I went to a black belt camp and we worked on attack and defense with staff.  We learned basic form number 1 with the staff.  We had the black belt cycle meeting this morning.  During the Black Belt Meeting I figured out why we have to complete all these requirements for our Black Belt.  When Master Evins took the Ultimate Black Belt Challenge he had to he did all the stuff that we had to do on our cycle.  He traveled to a lot of places and thought it was a lot of fun.  It was a good experience for him and he wants us to have the same kind of experience when we earn our black belt.   I can't believe that this is day 10 of the cycle.  I think that I am already getting stronger.  i can do all my push-ups faster and better.  Its been a...

Today was intstructor Jaque's last day.  He is leaving to go to college.. He has been a very good instructor and I really learned a lot from him.  i will miss him.   I was looking at the physical requirements.  I looked at what other people are doing and realized I need to step it up

Today was my first mennte session. I realized that we need to work on his white belt things and his High red belt things. And I need to work on my stances in all my forms.

Today was a really long day.I got up at 6:00 and went to camp then went straight to narrroway so I am journaling  at 11:26 PM. I barley got my workout in and tomorrow will be the same but with TKD instead of Narroway. 

Today was our first official Black Belt Class.  I realized that I really need to work on some of my stances and my punches.  I figured out today that the re-chamber is actually important because it gives you power for your punch.  I realized that I actually need a little bit more energy in the classes because I was tired the whole time.  I did run two miles before class.  I guess I need to build my endurance by running more and doing double of all the requirements just in case I forget to do something.  Today I doubled up on kicks.  

Today was a medium day.  It wasn't really great and it wasn't really bad.  My muscles are very sore from all the physical requirements that I have to do.  I am tired because its late at night I waited too late to write this journal entry.  I think the training is hard it you just start into it.   The running has been my biggest challenge so far because I haven't done a lot of distance running and now I'm trying to run three miles a day.  The basic kicks have been the easiest for me to do every day because I've been doing kicks every day since I was a white belt.  That was two years ago.   I haven't been very hungry since starting the training.  I have started drinking a protein shake for breakfast instead of eating a meal.  I think that helps me because it has protein...

Dear Journal,  I did not know how to start this so I started with "Dear Journal".  This is the first day of the black belt cycle.  I've been preparing for this over the weeks but this is probably the hardest thing I've done. My mom read somewhere that out of all the people that start a white belt only 3% reach there black belt!  They say a journey of 1,000 miles (The black belt cycle) begins with one step (The First Day Of The Cycle) and a good pair of shoes.  This will take more than shoes this will take sweat, a whole lot of it pain in your muscles, and tears because of the pain.  I've gotten a lot of advice from the masters that have gone before me like Master Burkart, Master Thamm, Instructor Jaque, and Instructor Alexander.  Master Thamm said to double up or triple up on the...