Fall 2024 Black Belt Cycle

Candidate Journals

King Tiger Tae Kwon Do Black Belt candidates blog daily about their journey: their thoughts and feelings, their struggles and successes; their pain and their encouragement. Follow along on their journey; words of encouragement are always welcome!

Ben Karki Day 57

Today, I got my requirements done in the morning and went to the kick-a-thon. I got around 1,000 kicks in, which was very tiring. After that, we bought a boxwood shrub and went home. At home, I got more requirements done. Have a good night.

  0 Hits

Ben Karki Day 54-56

On Wednesday, I had to wake up early for robotics and went to school. After school, I got a mentee session done and finished homework and requirements. On Thursday, I woke up early for robotics and went to school. After school, I ran for 2 miles, did homework, and finished requirements. On Friday, I went to school as usual. after school, I attended a weekend black belt class and did some requirements. Have a good night.

  7 Hits

Ben Karki Day 52-53

On Monday, I caught up on my requirements and finished my digital detox essay. On Tuesday, I did my requirements and went to school. After school, I helped out a senior tiger class and got a mentee session done. I am extremely behind on those, so I will try to mentor as many people as possible. Have a good night.

  5 Hits

Ben Karki Day 49-51

On Friday, I woke up, got requirements done, and went to school. After school, I attended a weekend black belt class and sparring class. On Saturday, we went to Pilot Mountain to go camping with our friends. There, I did my digital detox challenge. We had a good time. On Sunday, we had to pack up and leave early because of the rain. After that, I could finally use electronics again, which was nice. Have a good night.

  16 Hits

Ben Karki Day 48

Today, I woke up for robotics and went to school. After school, I finished my requirements and ran for 2 miles. Also, I am going camping for Labor Day weekend. Have a good night.

  94 Hits

Ben Karki Day 47

Today, I woke up, did my requirements, and went to school. After school, I finished my homework, assisted a junior class, attended a black belt class, and got a mentor session done. After the classes, I went home and got other requirements done. Have a good night.

  16 Hits

Ben Karki Day 46

Today, I had to wake up earlier than usual to go to robotics. I normally get my requirements done in the morning, but I woke up to late today. After school, I did homework, did my requirements, and ran for 2 miles. Have a good night.

  18 Hits

Ben Karki Day 45

Today, I woke up, did my requirements, and went to school. After school, I wore my white belt and assisted a junior tiger class and attended a weekday black belt class. Have a good night.

  16 Hits

Ben Karki Day 44

Today, I woke up and went to Frank Laskie Park for a 2-mile run. After that, I finished my requirements and worked on my living hero profile essay a little, and the rest of the day was mostly uneventful. Have a good night.

  21 Hits

Ben Karki Day 42-43

On Friday, I did my requirements and went to school. After school, I attended a Saturday black belt class. After the class, I went to Harrisburg Park and ran for 1.6 miles. On Saturday, I went to sparring and helped out a junior tiger class in the morning. After that, I finished my requirements, ate dinner, and went to bed. I am starting my white belt challenge from tomorrow. Have a good night. 

  20 Hits

Ben Karki Day 40-42

On Tuesday, I woke up, finished my requirements, and went to school. After school, I did my homework and ran for 2 miles. On Wednesday, I woke up to late and went to school. Then, I spent a very long time doing homework. I was also not feeling very well, so I couldn't complete my other requirements except for running 1.5 miles. Today, I felt better and woke up at the usual time. After school, I caught up on all of my missed requirements from Wednesday. Have a good night.

  23 Hits

Ben Karki Day 38

Today, I woke up, got some requirements done, and went to school. After school, I attended a black belt class for my last weekday black belt class credit that was required. Of course, I will still try to attend all of them. Have a good night.

  21 Hits

Ben Karki Day 36-37

On Saturday, I woke up and went to sparring class. Then, I assisted a junior tiger class. After the classes, I went home and finished my requirements, then I had to go to a party. On Sunday, I had no classes. I finished my requirements and only ran 1.15 miles in the evening because it started to rain. I also started my nutrition challenge of at least 2 fruits a day and at least 2 cups of milk a day. Have a good night.

  26 Hits

Ben Karki Day 35

Today, I woke up, did my requirements, and went to school. After school, I attended my black belt class. I decided not to go to sparring today, as I was a little ahead on my sparring credits. I then ran for 2 miles and ate dinner. Have a good night.

  25 Hits

Ben Karki Day 34

Today, I woke up, got my requirements done, and went to school as usual. After school, I assisted a senior tiger class and got a mentee session in. After the class, I ran one mile, ate dinner, and went to bed. Have a good night.

  27 Hits

Ben Karki Day 33

Today, I woke up early to finish my requirements before school. Today was my second day, so thankfully there was not much work. After school, I assisted a junior class and attended my black belt class, in which I led the warmups. After class, I got a mentor session in. Then, I ran for 2 miles, ate dinner, and went to bed. Have a good night.

  22 Hits

Ben Karki Day 31-32

On Monday, I finished my requirements in the morning. Then, I assisted a senior tiger class and attended my black belt class. Tuesday was my first day of school. I had to wake up very early to get my requirements done. After school, I assisted a senior tiger class and finished my Taekwondo application to life essay. Have a good night.

  24 Hits

Ben Karki Day 29-30

On Saturday, I went to sparring class and assisted a junior tiger class in the morning. I then finished my requirements after lunch. On Sunday, I finished my requirements after lunch and worked on my Taekwondo application to life essay. Have a good night.

  31 Hits

Ben Karki Day 28

Today, I finished my requirements after lunch. Then, I went to my Saturday blackbelt class. After that class, I did my sparring class. After the classes, I went home and ate dinner. Then, I ran outside for 2 miles. Have a good night.

  27 Hits

Ben Karki Day 27

Today, there was a storm with hard rain for almost the entire day. There were no classes for me today. I finished my requirements after lunch. After that, I ran outside for 2.2 miles after the storm. Then, I ate dinner and went to bed. I will see you on Friday.

  31 Hits

Ben Karki Day 25-26

On Tuesday, I woke up and completed my requirements after lunch. I then assisted a senior tiger class. After assisting the class, I ate dinner and ran for 2 miles. On Wednesday, I woke up early at 7:00 to begin getting used to waking up early. I also got all of my requirements done in the morning. Then, I ate lunch and went to my open house. I am not exited for 7th grade. Afterwards, I attended my black belt class. Finally, I ate dinner and finished my role model essay. Have a good night.

  34 Hits

Ben Karki Day 24

Today, I finished my requirements after lunch. Then, I assisted a senior tiger class, had a mentor session, and attended my black belt class. After class, I ate dinner and went to bed. Have a good night.

  31 Hits

Ben Karki Day 22-23

On Saturday, I went to sparring class in the morning and assisted a junior tiger class. Then, I did all of my requirements and had to go to a party. On Sunday, I did not have any classes. I finished my requirements after lunch. I then ran for 2 miles and ate dinner. I will see you on Monday.

  31 Hits

Ben Karki Day 21

Today, I did all of my requirements after eating lunch. Then, I attended my Saturday black belt class and my advanced sparring class. After the classes, I ran for 1 mile. I will try to run for 2 miles next week. I will see you tomorrow.

  30 Hits

Ben Karki Day 20

Today, I finished my requirements after lunch. Then, I assisted a senior tiger class and lead the warmups there. After the class, I ate dinner and ran 1.5 miles. Have a good night.

  35 Hits

Ben Karki Day 19

Today, I went to my sister's last eye appointment in the morning. Then, I ate lunch and finished all of my requirements. I then went to assist a senior class, had a mentor session, and attended my black belt class, which I lead. After the classes, I ate dinner and ran for 1.5 miles. Have a good night.

  28 Hits

Ben Karki Day 18

Good evening. Today, I completed my requirements after lunch. Then, I went to assist a senior tiger class, in which I lead the ground warmups. After assisting the class, I ate dinner and went to bed. I will see you in tomorrow's black belt class. 

  21 Hits

Ben Karki Day 17

Today, I finished all of my requirements before assisting the senior tiger class. I then did my mentee and mentor session before my black belt class, in which I lead the warmups. After the class, I ate dinner and ran for 1 mile. Have a good night.

  28 Hits

Ben Karki Day 16

Today was uneventful, and I had no classes. I finished all of my requirements after lunch. Then, I went outside and ran for 1.5 miles. After the run, I ate dinner and went to bed. I will see you on Monday.

  27 Hits

Ben Karki Day 15

Today, I went to sparring class in the morning. After sparring, we went to the park for a 1.5-mile run. When we came home from the run, I finished all of my requirements and helped my dad cut the grass. Have a good night.

  28 Hits

Ben Karki Day 14

Today, I watched the Olympic games ceremony at 1:30. Then, I finished my requirements and went to my black belt class and advanced sparring class. After the class, I rested and ran for one mile. I will see you on Saturday.

  25 Hits

Ben Karki Day 13

Today, I finished my requirements before assisting a high belt class. I got both a leadership credit and a class assistance credit. After the class, I ate dinner and ran outside for 1.5 miles. I am considering running outside in the morning instead of the evening. I will see you on Friday.

  32 Hits

Ben Karki Day 12

Today, I finished all of my requirements after lunch. Then, I attended my black belt class and had my first mentor session. After the class, I ate dinner and ran for 1.5 miles. Have a good night.

  29 Hits

Ben Karki Day 11

Today, I went to my sister's eye checkup in the morning. After the checkup, I ate lunch and completed my requirements. I then assisted a junior tiger class and attended a senior tiger class. After the classes, I ran for one mile and created a rough draft of my role model essay. Have a good evening.

  34 Hits

Ben Karki Day 10

Today, I finished all of my requirements before attending my black belt class. At the class, I lead the kicks for a leadership credit. After the class, I ate dinner and ran outside for 1.3 miles. I will try to assist a class tomorrow. Have a good evening.

  36 Hits

Ben Karki Day 9

Today was mostly uneventful and relaxing. I did, however, finally buy a pull up bar and posted the video of me hanging on it for as long as I could. I completed all of my requirements except for running, for it was raining outside all day. I will try to start working on my role model essay tomorrow. Have a good evening.

  34 Hits

Ben Karki Day 8

Today was the pre-test for the black belt cycle. I believe that I had done decently on my poomsaes and physical exam, though I will need to do much more practice on them. I had done very poorly on my written exam, for I had studied the study guide of a different school on a separate website. Also, I had no clue of what to expect on the written exam. After the pre-test, I finished all of my requirements and slept early since I had not gotten enough sleep the previous night. I will see you on Monday.

  41 Hits

Ben Karki Day 7

Today, we skipped summer camp due to my sister's eye injury. I completed my requirements early so that I would have more time to prepare for the pre-test. I went to my Friday black belt class and practiced all of the poomsaes and self-defenses I knew so far, as well as the new ones that I had just learned. After class, I practiced the poomsaes and self-defenses once again, then studied for the written test and went to bed.

  39 Hits

Ben Karki Day 6

Today, my sister got poked in the eye by accident at summer camp. We left early so she could get a checkup. The doctor told us that her eye would heal on its own in a few days. After the checkup, I assisted a junior tiger class while my dad went to buy a jump rope. He did not find any pull up bars at the store. Afterwards, I completed all of my requirements and ran outside for 1.5 miles. I will see you on Friday.

  43 Hits

Ben Karki Day 5

Today I went to my YMCA summer camp, as usual. When I came back home, me and my sister went to our Wednesday swimming class. After that, I completed all of my requirements and ran outside for one mile. I was still getting used to running, so I was very tired when I came back inside. I will make sure to buy a jump rope and a pull up bar tomorrow so I can complete those requirements. Have a good evening.

  38 Hits

Ben Karki Day 4 Journal

Today I  went on a field trip in my YMCA summer camp to a bowling alley. I did not have a Tae Kwon Doe class. I will try to sign up for more classes in the future. I have completed all of my requirements and have run one mile on my treadmill, for it was raining outside. I will try to run for more miles this week and complete the seven mile total that is required. I still do not own a pull up bar or a jump rope, and I am hoping to buy them soon to complete those requirements. See you on Thursday!

  31 Hits

Ben Karki Day 1-3 Journal

Good evening, My name is Ben Karki. I am a Bo Cho Dan and  I am trying to become a 1st Dan Black Belt. This is my first black belt cycle.  On my first day, I went to my Saturday sparring class in the morning. This was my first required class for the black belt cycle. Afterwards, I completed my requirements at home. I did not yet own a jump rope or a pull up bar, and thus I could not complete those requirements. On my  second day, I did not have any Tae Kwon Doe classes. I completed all of my requirements at home (except for the jump rope and pull ups, as I still did not own them). On my third day, I went to my YMCA summer camp from 8am to 4pm. In the evening, I went to my first weekday black belt class. After my class, I...

Continue reading
  34 Hits