Candidate Journals

Greetings fellow…fellow…fellow…tea ceremony-waiters? It’s just not the same as saying fellow cyclers. I’m not running into the dojang or the house anymore because I forgot my book, or journaling daily, or in the backyard practicing poomsaes. It just feels weird, like there’s a unfillable void that I have no power over. I miss assisting with class (wait, I still do that), or going through hapkido 4 & 5 thousands of times with my mentor, or hearing the protests of my mentee after telling him his Pal Chang needs work. There are some effects to the ending of the black belt cycle. Am I missing it? Who would have thought? Anyway, I just wanted to say that everyone did great during testing and it’s amazing how much we all persevered; so pat yourself on the back! And I also want to thank all the instructors and especially the masters for leading the...

So. So this is it. The end of my - and all of yours - spring 2024 black belt cycle. But at every ending journey, another adventure starts. Look forward to these next months or years of your nth degree black belt. This black belt cycle was a blast! I learned so much and learned with so many people, it’s amazing how 11 weeks of determination had such an impact. I’m more open minded which is a great character trait to have. Next black belt cycle, I’m not looking at the ground and seeing how many requirements I have to do or how much I have to know, I’m looking up at the sky and awaiting the experiences, the people, and the journey. This has been the best 11 weeks of my life and I was honored to share the experience with all of you. I cannot wait to see ya’ll...

Hello fellow cyclers. Welcome to journal #number-I-have-no-idea. I have one question I want to ask you guys though. Do you know the difference between type 1 fun and type 2 fun? If you said no, let me explain. Type 1 fun is fun that you have instantly, in the moment. Maybe you're laughing with your friends because someone told a really funny joke or watching a movie or at a birthday party - that kind of stuff. Type 2 fun is fun that doesn't come instantly but gets there eventually. Type 2 fun is fun you have to work for. For example, you know that huge event that is coming up in less than 24 hours? Yea, it's only our black belt testing. That's an example of type 2 fun. During testing we'll feel tired and nervous but when testing is over you'll feel extremely happy and be enjoying that quality...

Hello fellow cyclers and welcome to - WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCAST WITH AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: ONLY 2 DAYS REMAIN BEFORE BLACK BELT TESTING - Oh my goodness! I could have sworn I shut down all interruptions in my device settings earlier… but that’s a problem for another time. Anyway, as I was saying... welcome to another late-night journal! But what that guy was saying is right.  It’s only two days before testing and I can’t sleep although I’m really confident in my stuff and I’m going through everything over and over again while counting down the days. Today was my last class (not counting sparring) before testing. I won’t be able to make it for Thursday 6:00 class. :(  It doesn’t really seem like I can ever get taekwondo-ed out. Not that I want to. Today I assisted with some classes in afterschool and then returned for Master Chelly’s class, which like...

Every Dad (yes, Dad should be a proper noun) has at least one of the following character traits: happy, funny, crazy, strong, helpful; amazing, right? (or maybe, like mine, your Dad has them all) It’s all the more helpful to have a Dad. Whether they helped you win the school stand-up comedy competition, which no one participated in, or they correct your blocks in Sa Chang, either way your Dad will always want to be proud of you, which is why he will take any chance to boast about you to anyone around. And maybe you’ll think - ugh, dad’s so annoying! but your Dad does this because he loves you. He wants everyone to know that you aced the test, said something funny or got your 2nd degree black belt. No matter what, he’s proud of you and he wants everyone to know. To all my future Dads, please do this....

Hello fellow cyclists. Welcome to another journal. I want to talk about how excited I am about the upcoming test this weekend. I kid you not, this will be the longest week of my life. Tonight in class we did some preparation for the test. Praneeth and I were the only two testers taking Master Chelly's class. We did some self-defense and poomsaes. All of these classes in the last week have a special feeling to them and it seems like they're talking to me and saying, "these are your last days young bird, use them wisely".  To relax, I started a new book that Instructor Jen recommended to me called "Bridge to Terebithia", which is about a kid and his best friend who make a magical kingdom called Terebithia. That's all I'll say for now. I don't want to ruin it for anyone else who may want to read it...

Ask yourself, have you ever imagined or even dreamed that you were stuck in a giant labyrinth with only one exit at the very bottom? And the labyrinth is filled to the brim with items designed to destroy your credit cards? Welcome to IKEA! A giant concrete box of Swedish architecture. We went there to get a missing piece to a new dresser for my brother Liam. We walked around in the giant maze that they call the showroom. We explored all the model living rooms and kitchens that are cool to walk through but are absurdly expensive. At one point I stopped to look out into the parking lot through an emergency exit door. It was then that my brother became possessed by who knows what and decided it was a good idea to push me into the door which set off the alarm.  The alarm was blasting through the...

Hello guys, welcome to my journal! I hope you all had a good day. My day was pretty eventful. Today at school was career day so there were a bunch of adults talking non-stop for three and a half hours. And then at King Tiger was the last day of color belt testing. I love seeing how excited everyone is when getting their new belts and breaking their boards. I didn't help out at testing but I did assist in two Little Tiger classes before testing. And I got a recommendation letter from a certain Miss Jen. It was phenomenal and it made me feel special. Thank you Miss Jen so much for writing me that! I have so much more to tell but tomorrow is running as you all know and so I have to get into bed now. See you at the track! 

Testing. The wonderful process of which a martial arts trainer goes through to receive their new rank. Actually, talking about testing is giving me deja vu... wait! i helped out with color belt testing today. That must be it. I could only help with the first session because i had to go home and finish requirements. Normally I get picked up from school on the KT bus and arrive around 3:30. I help out with a couple glasses then go home to do requirements and then return for family class. But if you didn't catch it already, today was different. I got to King Tiger, got dressed and helped out with testing until 6:00. During testing I tried to attack as many testers as possible for self-defense. I got two groups out of three. The best part of testing is giving out certificates and belts. There were a lot of instructors helping...

Did you understand this title? That’s why I made an intro! Aren’t vowels important? Some would say the vital part of a word. I like to think of them as the last piece of the puzzle you hid in your dresser because you wanted to put in the last piece and “win”!  Now think about your class assistance credits. Maybe you’ve finished them or maybe not, but they are an important part of the cycle. As sun bae nims, we need to learn how to help a colored belt in class, or maybe you get randomly called on to do warmups, while everyone stares at you and you pass out. Not a good scenario, right? That’s why the physical requirements aren’t the only things you should keep practicing after the cycle. If we want to be good instructors and helpful to our Sa Bum Nims, we have to know our stuff...

Ramen. A delicacy created on a day that ends with "ay". Some say Ramen originated in Santa Fe, New Mexico and other sources claim ramen is actually from Asia. Ramen made its way to popularity around the 12th century. Before that, for example people living in the year 1099, ramen was street food but still good nonetheless. Ramen evolved and become more popular and more expensive and came to be known in many different restaurants around the world. Now you can get Ramen anywhere - from your local grocery store to a fancy restaurant in Paris. It comes in all sorts of flavors too. My personal favorite is spicy chicken flavor. Yesterday I saw a soy sauce flavor that I want to try. The perfect time to enjoy Ramen in my opinion is right after taekwondo class. By now you're probably wondering, "why is Matthew writing about Ramen?" Remember how I mentioned that Ramen...

Hello guys. Essays! Today was a very fun and exciting day and a happy day because I finished all of my essays. It was hard because my friends kept coming by the house and asking me to go outside and the answer was the same, "nope, have to finish my essays". Really I only had one and a half to finish today so it wasn't too bad and besides i like writing. Poomsaes! Today in poomsae class we did different parts of poomsaes where kick and block timing was weird. I got a lot of practice in on that and feel pretty good about it. We also did this fun pool noodle exercises. One was practicing high kicks, front side and round, and the other was trying to switch stances without your head hitting the noodle. The main goal was to be accurate with your stances and not move your head...

Boy oh boy do I have stuff to write about with the final physical test. It all started at Lake Norman when me and my dad pulled into the parking lot at exactly 6:40 am only to see the King Tiger party bus pulling out the other side! I was upset because I was looking forward to riding the party bus. Not that my dad's car smells bad or anything... but then a wonderful thing happened. The bus, as Master Chelley (aka Queen Tiger) said, "pulled a Uie" and came back to get me. I said my thank yous and hopped on the bus. On the way there, one of my TKD friends, Caleb, was playing games on his phone and turned the volume up really loud to make it sound funny. We laughed really hard.  At North Charlotte I beat all of my pre-test numbers except for burpees but in...

Ever thought about the North Carolina sky at exactly 8:16 PM? If you said yes, it was a 1 in 1440 chance in the day. Where I'm going with this is that the sky at exactly 8:16 pm is very relaxing. And relaxing is something that we need to be doing since we're two weeks away from our black belt testing. When you're going through your forms or practicing your kicks you don't want to look or feel like a cinder block. You can all stretch. Even to my adults, it's not embarrassing. Trust me. Speaking of relaxation, I'm feeling pretty good myself. I'm fairly confident with all of my forms and weapons forms and I'm done with my essays except for editing. Although last night I wasn't relaxed after Master Natasha mistakenly told me that essays were due tomorrow. I jumped out of my skin and made the most serious...

Hello guys! Welcome back to my journal. To start things off, I wanted to address that probably at this point in the cycle, including me, you may be tired. But we have to stay strong and finish strong. If you quit now then your choice may come along with some regrets. First of all, we're only two weeks away from testing and if you stop practicing now and you don't know your stuff by testing then it's going to be a rough night. Testing can last hours and you don't want to be the person who is dragging everyone behind. Some nights I really just want to sit down on the couch, bury myself in the blanket, maybe lay with my dog and read my book or play my video game but then I think about what stuff I have to do and what consequences can happen if I don't do...

(Before we begin, I want you guys to know that this is a sequel to my other journal called staffing. Ok, now we're ready) Hello everyone, it's me Matthew. Tonight I will be writing about bolo, aka the machete. Bolo is a pretty repetitive form, but it is very cool nonetheless. It does introduce abanico, which for my bo chos is just two temple strikes of the bolo in a cross stance. Abinico is by far the coolest part of this form. I'm not sure if there are more bolo forms - you know like with stick and staff there are more than one forms - I'm not sure if there is a bolo form 2. Overall the bolo is fun to practice. And even though the bolo is a little heavy, i like twirling it around and doing the form. I'm going to grade it a 'B' for bolo. I'll...

Hi Guys, I'm studying for the test some more before class. I'm just checking in to see how your day is going. I hope it was really good and everyone is enjoying the cycle. That's about all the time I have to write today. Short right? Ping pong table! 

Hi Guys. How was your day? Good? Amazing! I wish we could talk back and forth like Messenger. Anyway... once upon a time, there was an egg carton and in the egg carton was an egg named Timothy. Now Timothy had a couple egg friends living with him in the egg carton, but there was also an egg bully. The egg bully was always really negative and mean to the other eggs. One day, unfortunately, the egg carton got placed on the other side of the counter. The egg bully and Timothy had to figure out how to get back to the other side of the counter but there was a huge gap separating the two pieces of counter. Egg Head, the bully egg, said there's no way we're going to get across it and I don't even want to try. Meanwhile, Timothy was thinking, this is the only way back and...

Hello fellow cyclers! Today was a wonderful day and the day after instructor's camp. I wasn't there because, as you probably read in one of my previous journals, I went to junior instructors camp this year. But my dad was there all weekend and I would have enjoyed it if I was there. I had thousands of questions for him like "what classes did you do?" and "what is Grand Master Lee's do jang like?". I wonder why we wonder. Such a simple question we ponder, which no man has yet to solve. Oops, I went British there for a sec. My bad. Anyway, besides wondering about instructor's camp, my weekend was cool. I watched Mary Poppins (20 minutes of it anyway) finished my school project, completed requirements, worked on my kwans essay and played gaga ball on a trampoline among other things. This morning I went to poomsae class and...

Today I'm going to write about my dog, Ozzy. He's very cute but (sighs) difficult. He's cute in the way that he'll walk up to you and make a cute face. Or just straight up lick your face. But sometimes he jumps out of nowhere and just straight up tackles me. I try hard not to use red belt self-defense number one. Tricks are another cool size of Ozzy. He can sit, he can lay down and he can even do a jump turning side kick! You might be thinking, "no he can't", but if you don't believe me you can ask Master Natashya or Master Marcus. They both witnessed it and they will be my eye witness. Finally, you're probably wondering why I titled this journal my loaf of bread. It's because when Ozzy is laying down he sometimes looks like a loaf of bread! Well, there's no class tomorrow or...

Hello guys. Today, as you might have guessed from the title, I will be talking about weapons and my full thoughts on them. To start things off, I'm going to talk about sticks. I like the stick forms because of the strikes and, for the stick forms I know, they're repetitive and fun to do. Sinuales on the other hand, while they're still fun, everything starts to blend in. My hands get tired and my mind wonders. They're just not one of my strong skills. The staff forms are a whole new level of complicated and fun. Staff form one is a sweet spot - think of it as gum inside a jaw breaker. It's a short form and it introduces you to a lot of basics. And then staff form 2 is like you're in 2nd grade and then the teacher moves you up to 7th grade - not knowing...

Hey guys, Matthew here. Today's temperature was 62 degrees in Charlotte but then there was a storm filled with hurricane back kicks, reverse tornados and turning sides. Here are some tips on staying safe in this weather. TAE to stay indoors, only go outside when you KWON and if you get hungry I recommend dunking DO-nuts. If you can't tell, Master Chelley's class tonight was really cool. We did kicks on the bags and then we did brain cell killing kick combos after that.  Caleb and I were falling down, falling down, falling down from all of the spinning. It was the most treacherous storm of the year so far. To end this journal, i want everyone to think about what they learned today and how they can grow on it. I hope you guys have a lovely two hours left in this day and I'll see you all tomorrow. Good night! PS...

Once upon a time there was a village called poom and in poom village lived various blocks and preps. In another village called Sae lived various kicks and punches. One day the two villages met and accused each other of stealing each others apples so they started a war. After a very long war, both villages ended up battered and bruised and they decided to become one big city called Poomsae. The kicks, blocks, preps and punches lived happily for a time along with their mayor Kukkiwon. After a while, a tiger entered the city wearing a paper crown. The tiger so loved the city of Poomsae that it decided to share the knowledge with all of its children, the little tigers. The King tiger gave colored belts to the little tigers to see who knew what. The little tigers grew up to be big tigers with black belts, which was the highest color. This...

Lately I've been working on a specific poomsae and I practice every time I go to King Tiger after school, every time I have spare time before class and almost every mentor session I practice this form. What is it you ask? It's staff form 2. At the beginning of the cycle I could only get through the three spins at the beginning of the poomsae. Now I know the entire form and still practice it every day. It's become my favorite form to do. I like all the spins and the new hand motions for getting the staff to the other side. And I like the feeling it gives me when I do a temple strike and the staff hits my shoulder. I think that it's an "A" tier poomsae and it's something that we need to know well. And it never hurts to practice too much. What's your favorite...

 If there's a high yellow belt who is flailing their limbs around and isn't pivoting on their kicks during sparring, should you shame them or should you help them as a black belt and instructor? Sometimes on the sidelines at sparring I see some kids laugh and say things like "you should have done better" or "you lost so badly" or they cheer for one kid and make the other one feel bad. Or they make jokes during the match. So come on guys, we're black belts and we need to support each other. It's your job, our job, to help and encourage one another. If you see someone upset because they lost, praise them about something they did good, give them some tips to improve and then praise them again.   Remember, it starts and ends with respect!

Today I found something. Let me explain. Yesterday I journaled about a field trip I was going on tomorrow and today I went on the field trip I journaled about yesterday. We were allowed to bring string bags or any small bag. One girl in my class had a particular bag. It was red and had a tiger on it. Can you guess what type of bag it was? Yep! I saw a King Tiger bag in the wild! I was generally surprised, and I don't know why I was so amused by it. When I asked her about it she said her brother Gavin went to King Tiger at some point. When I got to King Tiger I asked Master Natasha and Master Marcus but they couldn't recall anyone by that name. That was my discovery and it happened on the bus to the discovery museum. Coincidence? Also, I want...

Hello guys! How's it going? Good? Awesome! Tonight I want to talk about my field trip that I'm going on tomorrow. We're going to Discovery Place in Charlotte where, in case you haven't heard about it, it's like a fun non-fiction book where you learn about things as you go about the museum. My last field trip was on December 1st to old Winston Salem. It was cool because a lot of people there were dressed in clothes that you would see people wearing 200 years ago. It was all pretty facinating. I bought my dad a gift for Christmas on that trip. Anyway, I'm very excited about my trip tomorrow and I hope you all have a great day. G'night night. PS - the chicken is burning! Go get it!

A boy rides his bike through the streets of his neighborhood. He turns upon a dark street and looks at the mysterious lane, longing to be home. As the boy rides along a slightly brighter street now, he is shocked when he realizes why the street has turned so bright. He looks to his left and sees a gargantuan monster! With headlights!? But wait…It’s hapkido 4??? Matthew jolts up in bed, sweating, waking up from his nap before Friday black belt class. He is frightened by his dream but decides to do something about it. When he gets to class, he asks his instructor if they could practice hapkido that night. Black belts, stay aware of testing, and use your mentor power-ups to help you! Goodnight

Hi Guys! Tonight I went to a concert aka Jovi's little gig at Summit Coffee. He did amazing and I was impressed to see someone my age play all those chords and switch so quickly. When he was done playing I went outside because my school friend Ari was there and we played "football". Jovi and Martin joined in as well. It was fun but the game broke into a fool around thing so we just ended up running around and laughing which is just as entertaining. See you tomorrow at black belt class. I hope yall day was amazing just like mine. Hugs and kicks!

Hello guys! As you can't tell, because I didn't give out any indicators, I'm feeling happy. I've finished all of my school assignments for the week and I'm feeling pretty good about the black belt cycle. Also, I took sparring class tonight and sparring class always makes me feel happy or jumpy afterwards. Sparring gets you hopped up, revved up. Oh yea, Happy Valentine's everyone. Today I was practicing my kicks by throwing a soccer ball up and then kicking it in mid-air. I was trying to spice things up and make practicing more fun. Maybe probably I got that idea from Master Knight during Jr Instructor camp. Not kicking the ball but making practice fun. While I was practicing, I was thinking about all of the good things that have happened in my recent life. Like getting good grades, getting caught up with my miles, things like that. If you're...

Hi Guys! First of all, congratulations to everyone who made it on the demo team. That's awesome! Second, how's the cycle going? Good? Awesome! I know it can be hard with school, work and extracurricular activities but we're here for each other if we need help. My BBC just advanced because I finished my mission statement essay. I was satisfied with the result. I didn't actually finish it because it's still a rough draft, but it's a good one nonetheless. It will only take me 20 minutes to finish the final draft. Anyway, that was that. I hope yall's day was macaroni and ham sandwiching awesome! Matthew Beckwith out! 

Hey guys! Happy Monday. As I mentioned in my last entry, I said I would write about the Super Bowl. So here it is. My thoughts on the Super Bowl are mixed. I don't exactly like football but i think it's starting to grow on me. At first the game was a bit boring, but after halftime, with the score being 10-3 it appeared as if the 49ers were winning. Yeah... no. The Chiefs scored a field goal and then a touchdown (+1 point conversion) At over time the score was 19-19. The 49ers scored a field goal in over time but it wasn't enough. The Chiefs had the ball and QB Patrick Mahomes made the winning pass. Everybody cheered. Hilariously, my Mom danced. She wanted the Chiefs to win but the boys in the house wanted the 49ers to win. It was hilarious to watch my Mom celebrate. Today we are...

Hi guys, do you know what day it is? If you guess Sunday you're partially right. Actually, scratch that - there are two correct answers. If you guessed that it's SUPER BOWL Sunday then you would also be correct. If you want the Chiefs to win, that's cool. If you want San Francisco to win, then we think alike. Maybe I'll check in later, but right now I'm going to a party with my friends. Good luck football fans! 

Hello guys. How's your day? Has it been good? Awesome, i hope it has! Today's TKD standards were kinda stressful. Some other kids and I were tested on self defense and poomsaes. I was nervous and I think some of the other kids were too. I was upset because I wasn't sure about some of my poomsaes that I should know. But on the bright side were all here to help each other whether it's something we forgot or something we still have to learn. That's how it should always be. We all feel doubtful from time to time. So just set your focus and ask for some help. And keep going. You got this. I'll see you all tomorrow for black belt class. good nighht

Hello guys. Today will be a short journal because i have to work on my essays. So let me tell you about sparring class. I was sparring a smaller kid and I didn't know whether to kick her because I didn't want to overwhelm her but master marcus said to kick her so I was feeling confused. But when I spar someone my own size I throw all sorts of kicks. I can feel myself improving and that's what it's all about. Anyway, hope you guys had a great day and i hope that your black belt cycle is going well. See you tomorrow at black belt class. Hugs and kicks, Matthew.

PS - thank you to Grand Master Evins and all the other great masters for the Jr instructor's camp experience all the lessons learned. The credits are a bonus but I would have done it for free! One of your favorite Matthews on 123 Ooga Booga Street.

Hi Guys. How's your day been going? If it's been good, good! If it's been bad, look forward to tomorrow. Sometimes it's just one of those days. I would like to say congratulations to Instructor Logan who will be a high school graduate in the next 24 hours. Master Chelly made an announcement after adult class when we were getting ready to go home. My dad told me that Instructor Cortney is a nurse now so congratulations to her also. It's great to see everyone making all of these accomplishments and how far we've come, from learning to walk to getting your first degree black belt or second, or third or master. Also, it's amazing how much we've grown as the Tae Kwon Do family. We're a team and that's what we'll continue to grow as. My spidey senses are tingling - i think my mortal care givers want me to go to...

Hello guys. Today was a cool day like most days. Although today I didn't go to class so that's a couple points off. I did get some good miles in though. At school, because it's black history month, they put up posters and exhibits so that you can read and study. We had to put facts that we found on an index card. That's all i have to write tonight. I'm really tired and it's past ten so I'm gonna go to bed, hit the hay, catch some z's, etc. 

Hello guys! Before you start reading make sure you like and subscribe and hit the notification bell so you know when I release a new journal entry. Thank you! Please enjoy! Today I did the usual including helping out out with classes after school. At night I came back for Master Chelley’s really cool self taught adult class. We couldn’t get through warmup without everyone laughing. One minute you’re counting like a whisper, you see Caleb make a sour face and then you’re counting like you’re cheering on your favorite sports team. We had fun but we worked really hard too. Well I’m sorry but that’s all the time I have tonight. It’s getting pretty late. I will leave you with a random fact. Did you know that your name spelled with the letters of your name is your name? (Boom) good night all

Hello fellow fifth week black belt cyclers! Today will be a cool journal because it's about JR instructor's camp. When we got there, I was really excited, and ended up having a blast, like every year! All of the classes were fun, but for me, I liked crav maga. I liked the dynamicness of it and we kinda learned a new martial art. I also liked nun chucks with master Foster, and I really liked Master Knight's classes: the trilogy (boom noise!) but something extremely cool was that my dad was an instructor there this year! It was exciting and felt weird to have my dad there the whole time (except for bedtime, I don't think he could put up with that). He and Miss Jen lead their own class: team building. I thought it was fun but other kids thought otherwise. It seemed like everyone was having fun at the time tho. I hope...

Today after school I was assisting in class and the kids were all young white belts. I tried to encourage them and point out where they did good. Later today we had sparring and i was kinda proud of my performance. The first time around I sparred someone about my height and it was fun because I did a couple jump turning sides and I think it caught them by surprise. Last week I sparred Caleb who is much taller than me. At first he was hitting me hard and I started to get annoyed but then I used a hop step roundhouse and got a shot in. It felt good. All right guys. I'm off to bed now. Have a great friday and I will see some of you at camp. ;)

Hi, my name is... HI, my name is... hi, my name is, Matthew, ma, ma, ma, Matthew, and i am back with another journal entry. Today was pretty cool; it was hump day, meaning it's the middle of the week. We're now over half-way through. After school I assisted with a class and also took one. Both were fun. Then I went to the AT&T store so my Mom could get her phone repaired. AT&T is like a sports coach, they give you a pep talk and then send you off with a date they're going to call you. Then it was back to King Tiger again. I ran 2 miles before the 6:45 class and then I stayed for the 7:15 class as well. Lots of self-defense today. I did knife defense in the late class with Praneeth. (shout out if you're reading this) That was fun. I also got...

As you can conclude from the title, you know that this journal is going to be a short one. If you're wondering why it's going to be a short one, let me tell you. I'd be delighted to! I realized that my journals are pretty long and I've spending a lot of time writing them and I need to put that time towards writing my essays instead of long journals. I do like writing these journals and sharing my thoughts with you guys. It's one of my favorite parts of the day. Enough about me. How was your day? *gasping sounds* wow that's awesome! I hope everyone's black belt cycle is going great. Have a good night!

Fear is the one thing that stops us from doing the things we all want to do. And although sometimes it can be very tough to resist, you have to try your best because fear is the stuff that will kill your hopes and dreams. Very bad right? So, I'm sure we all don't want that to happen to us. How are some ways we can fight against fear you ask? Well, it can be simple - get a motivation. For example, maybe you're having trouble completing your miles for the week by yourself. Now and then you can ask a friend to come with you. Or maybe you're not feeling it for your poomsaes or self-defense so set a goal for yourself and feel the great feeling of accomplishment when you reach that goal. So, to put it in a different perspective think of fear like a simple pest that can...

Hi fellow people of the black belt cycle. This weekend was really exciting. On Saturday I woke up and did black belt class like all of you and then I helped out with multiple classes and got a few miles in. Later I ate lunch with my family and watched School of Rock at night. The movie was really awesome - going into it I thought it was going to be a geeky rock movie (yuck), but I was genuinely surprised how much I liked the movie. It was funny how the kids transformed from a boring classical school to a fun, cool rock band. Jack Black is now my favorite actor. Ok, enough about the movie, change of scenery time, now we're talking about Sunday. "Let's go everyone, places! And.... action!" Today was also another fun day as I took my first poomsae class. I love how you can just...

Tae Kwon Do is way more than just movement. It's a way to express yourself and help others grow. For example, today I was helping out in Little Tigers class (they're the best) and I just love working with them because they improve right in front of your eyes. If you tell them something they won't just put it in the back of their head and think, "who am I listening to? A ten-year old?" Instead, they take the knowledge for all it's worth and apply it. Not always immediately, but it comes around. I just think it's so cool how fast they recognize that you're trying to help them and they know that what you're saying can help them improve. As opposed to higher belts / older kids. What I've seen some people do sometimes when I'm assisting with class is, I'll tell them, for example, keep their hands up or...

nothing out of the ordinary happened in school today although I did see the maintenance workers trying to fix the pipe that I told you about in one of my previous journal entries. Oh, and we got a full hour of recess because my teacher had to go somewhere.  It was raining so we had to stay inside but still it was a nice treat. "No fair" says my (jealous) brother. When I got to King Tiger, I assisted with the first class and then I took second class and was the first one in line. Later in the evening I returned to King Tiger and finished my requirements and took the last class. I wasn't able to run any miles today though due to the rain. Besides that, my requirement life is sailing smoothly. How was your day? was it good? Was it bad? If it was bad, then try to think...

Hello cyclers! School was cool today because we got to watch a play about black history. It was only two actors in the whole play, but it was enjoyable. The two actors were very skilled, and you can tell that they've been acting for a while. At the end of it all, kids got to ask questions. I didn't really like that part because one, I didn't get called on for my question and two, there were a lot of bad questions like "what's behind the curtain?" or "how old are you guys?". It's not that they're bad questions, it's just that they're not very interesting. My question was about how people liked the show when they performed it in other countries since it's about African American history and people from other countries may not know the history. But like I said, they didn't pick me. Overall, the play was really good ,...

Hello everyone. Today after school, when I got to King Tiger, I took the 3:30 class but ended up assisting instead. Then later in the evening I returned for a couple more classes, which were much more productive. I did a mentor session with my mentee Ethan and I got paired up with my dad for self-defenses. And when I got home my dog sat on my face. Overall, good day. Good night everyone. I hope your cycle is going well. 

Hello cyclers, welcome to another journal entry. I did a lot of stuff today and I can't wait to tell you about it. Last night I had a sleepover with my friend William Ross. We had lots of fun, and we were up really late. I barely slept. This afternoon when I got home, I rested a bit and then I took a hike with my dad. We walked behind our neighborhood into a new neighborhood that they're building. There are a couple of roads but no houses yet. And lots of mud. Also, there are three huge mounds of dirt that look like mountains. Me and my dad summited one that we named mount Liam. After the hike I finished up all of my other requirements for the day. Yea, so that was pretty much my day. Now I'm very tired so I'm going to bed. Good night!

Hi guys, unfortunately I don't have all the time in the world today so this will be a pretty short journal. The reason I don't have a lot of time today is because I have a sleep-over at a friend's house. I'm kinda supposed to leave right now. I was almost late to class today. I made it by 5 seconds at the max. But overall, today's class was cool. We did hapkido again which is one of my favorites. Ok, I'm going to leave you with a joke: What do you call a dog magician? A labra-cadabra-doodle! 

Do you know the country Greenland? I hope you do because on some Dollar Tree maps it's bigger than Africa. But have you ever wondered why it's called Greenland when it's one of the most Northern countries in the world? Our story starts in the 9th century when Erik the Red was looking to make a colony - a successful one. People back in Iceland, his home country, relied on pastures and farming to survive. So naturally he wanted this colony to be green like the Icelandics liked it. So, he named his colony Greenland so that everyone would move there. Conclusion: Erik was a liar. Happy Conclusion: he just wanted to help his fellow Icelandics. Moral of the story: be more like Erik, but less like Erik. Do good things, but not by just any circumstances. enjoy your history lesson!

Hi guys. I don't really know what to write about tonight as you can see from the title of this entry. But I've got to write about something so... yea. I know! I'm going to write about my plans for the blackbelt cycle. As of right now, I have not started on any essays or my skill, but according to my plan that's going to change. This coming week I'm going to write at least two of my essays and I'm going to spend time working on my new skill which will be... a surprise :) Now how do I wrap up this journal of nothingness? I guess I'll just say good night. So... good night! 

Test, test. Um, is this thing on? Oh right, I'm typing this... ok, we're not going to talk about that one. Anyway, today something unique happened, which is why I titled this journal "Story Time". Our story begins at school. During our lunch time, the fire alarm goes off and this time it's the real fire alarm. Nope, it wasn't a drill. All of the classes head outside and I'm one of the many kids there thinking, "oh my, is the school burning down?" When the teacher came out and gave us the signal to go back inside, I admit that I was a little disappointed. If it wasn't a fire, you're probably wondering why the alarm was going off. If you want to guess, stop reading for a moment but I'm going to keep typing. Nope, nobody pulled the fire alarm. (good guess though!) Instead, it was a pipe in the...

Imagine a flower seed and all the rain, sun and nutrients it needs to grow. Now imagine that the sun is Sa Ba Nim always shining down on you. And imagine that the rain is Sun Bae Nim, sprinkling knowledge on you from time to time. Imagine that the nutrients are lower belts that help you grow as an instructor. Now imagine that you are the flower seed, and all of those things are helping you to grow and achieve your goals. That is what we need to do during the black belt cycle. Grow into the person you imagine yourself to be. - Matthew 2446

Today was MLK day, also known as Matthew's Little Katch up day. :)  My cousins were here visiting yesterday so I didn't get all of my requirements done. Luckily there was no school today so i had extra time.  My little cousin Leah did the following toddler things: take cookies and put them back in the tray half eaten, drinking six juice packs, feed me broccoli dipped in barbeque sauce, attempt to go down a slide 20 feet high, climbing over furniture like Indiana Jones, and lastly, jumping on the bed I wish could post a picture here. She is soooo adorable. I hope the cycle is going good

Hi Everyone, my half-birthday was yesterday but we're celebrating today because yesterday was a school day. :/ I'm waiting for my Mom to get out of the shower so that we can eat ice cream cake. We've never really celebrated half birthdays before. It's kind of a new thing for our family. Actually, it started last year. Last year I got a gift from my dad, but this year we're just having cake.  Sorry for the short journal entry, but if something interesting happens I'll write a seven page essay on it. I hope everyone is having a good cycle so far. See you tomorrow at the track.

Hi Everyone, how's your day been? No response? Wow, ok, anyways, like most of you I was home from school today because it was sprinkling outside and there was a breeze. I had all day to get my requirements done and I had my little brother to help. He did rolls and falls and he held the paddle while I did my kicks. Overall, I was pretty hyped about having the day off, but I'm a little stressed about the classwork I have to finish. Well, it's after 10pm and I'm supposed to be sleeping soooooo... I better shutdown. Good night everyone!

Hi Everyone! First week of the black belt cycle and I'm very excited and going into this confidently. I hope the novelty of the cycle does not wear off quickly. Joining the cycle was a last-minute decision I made Friday night. I was very nervous going to the pre-test on Saturday morning and didn't understand why it was on the first day. On my first cycle the pre-test was a couple of weeks after the cycle started. Here's the funny thing, the part I was most nervous about, the written test, ended up being pretty easy. I only missed one question and scored a 90%. I want to wish everyone good luck for the cycle.