Candidate Journals

Antoine Hicks, Black Belt Log                                                                             7/15/2024

             Woke up around 5:am, practiced color belt curriculum to prepare for the up coming test. I checked to see if I had any classes for the day and fed my birds. Around 5pm I went to tkd, helped out with an intermediate class and then took the advanced class after. Went home and practiced my German, and did my physical requirements and went to sleep.

After finally beginning the cycle I didn't expect what we would really need to do. I thought that it would probably be things like a lot of exercises and curriculum but I was indeed wrong. You're going to need a lot of motivation and endurance to complete this cycle, as long as a lot of homework to do while you're not training. Make sure to do everything even if you don't want to do it, the things for you to do quickly piles up and now your behind.

I've been in martial arts since 2002. I started in tong soo do under Head master M.K. Lee in Pineville,  N.C.  After I broke my left hand during a colored belt exam, I switched to Taekwondo under Head master William Grady down in Pineville, N.C.  I trained at Eagle Taekwondo for 8 years, earning my 3rd Dan. When Covid  the dojang did not survive.  I have now been training at King Tiger , North Charlotte location, under Grand Master Evins since June of 2023. I am excited to start my Masters journey,  but very nervous at the same time.  I look forward to meeting the other candidates.  

Martial arts practitioner of over 27 years. I am versed in both traditional Taekwondo (a.k.a. ITF) and sports Taekwondo (a.k.a. WTF). I have been training for very long, and have practiced with some of the worlds most-renowned grandmasters of the art. I have also practiced wushu with Kungfu grandmasters in Guangzhou, China. I intend to contribute to the world of martial arts in the best way possible and represent the art as a religion of peace.

Today was a pretty normal day I woke up a bit late for school but still got to the bus in time.I did my quiz in spanish which was pretty easy and i think i did pretty good so still haven’t finished my children’s book for social studies but i think im on the last page so i know i can finish it soo. My uncle is at my house. Tomorrow i have a basketball game at 3 and im kinda nervous for the mile even though i’ve run one before tomorrow is also the start of an indian festival so that’s exciting. we have monday and tuesday off of school next week so that great. And that’s it Have a good day

I'm back today to journal about some of my experiences so far in black belt cycle. So far I'm proud of what I've done in cycle. for the first week I had to do double to the stuff because we had been away at California. after that week we got into the process of going to the Northern Regional Rec Center and did all of our stuff there. yesterday I went to a birthday party and had a lot fun but I had to go home to all the stuff that I still had to do. I did all my stuff before this journaling session and I was tired and sore from yesterday.

Grateful for someone saying yes to mentoring me tonight, now I just need to have a mentee.  What do we talk about?  Do I get a list of appropriate mentor topics? Let them pick? Pick a topic out of a hat? I'm also wondering where the test is so I can start preparing for it.  Pretty sure I'm just missing it somewhere.  Testing is this  Saturday, so I hope it pops up soon!

Today I made matcha tea for the first time. I'm excited to keep working on it and trying different recipes. I really want to work on enhancing my drink making skills (coffee, tea, etc.). While I was drinking it, I find a few videos on YouTube on how improve the flavor and different add-ons. 

I worked on poomsaes using the Kukkiwon Youtube. I only review Il, Eh, and Sam. 

Ms. Suzanne and I worked on hopkido 4 last Saturday with guidance from the Grandmaster Lees demo video and in person guidance from Instructor Jen. I didn't think I could learn hopkido from reviewing videos, but after watching hopkido 5 today, multiple times, I feel comfortable with the steps. I'll still need to practice it in person and with an instructor for technique, but at least I'm more familiar about it. Hopikdo it not my favorite thing to practice, so learning it can be a bit overwhelming.  

I was born in Yarmouth, Maine. As a kid had a lawn mowing business, worked in a lumber yard and on the back of a lobster boat. I always knew that I wanted to be a Doctor. I didn't get into medical school the first time. Therefore, I went back home and lived with my parents for the year, worked in a biotechnology company, took a Paramedic course and got a Golden Retriever named Georgia. I re-applied to medical school and got in. I met my wife at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. We then moved to Rochester NY where we were for seven years. We had three children while in training. We then moved to Albany, NY in 2010 after my training had finished. We lived outside of Albany for three years, then moved to Cornelius. We have been in Cornelius since late in 2012. I currently work at Levine Children's Hospital in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, my wife Sara also works at LCH as a Pediatric Hospitalist. Our children are now 11, 14, 15 years old and go to school in Cornelius.