Fall 2026 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!

Black Belt Cycle Day 44

Today I woke up around 8 in the morning being glad its still the weekends. After I woke up I got ready and ran my mile run. I was pretty happy I could start doing my mile runs and some requirements because my knee had healed enough. I got a time of 10:30 which was pretty decent. After I ate breakfast and chilled a lot. Around 1:00 I started to do a bit of schoolwork I had, so I did that. I rested a bit more and then I did some requirements for around half and hour since I had to catch up. I ate dinner later and then finished up the rest of the homework I had and went to sleep.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 41

Today I woke up around my usual time and got to work doing even more pushups before going to school. Today at school we had a pretty big science test so on the bus ride I prepared for that. After school I ate a light snack before going to King Tiger. I helped out today for some credit and did the sparring class. Sparring was pretty fun I was really tired after so my dad ordered some pizza for us and I ate that for dinner. After dinner I played some games with my grandpa and called it a night. Cya!

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Black Belt Cycle Day 40

Today I woke up at around 6:30 in the morning, I couldn't run since my knee and ankle were still injured. My mom put some medicine yesterday night which made it feel a little bit better. Anyways I headed to school and got my result for social studies test which I got a 100. After school I went home ate some chips and a bit of my birthday cake, after that I relaxed for an hour before preparing for my science test tomorrow. I prepared for an hour and then took a break. Since I was pretty behind for like 2 days because of my injuries, I decided that if I couldn't do any leg excersizes I might as well do some push-ups. I did 4 minutes of push ups 4 times so 16 minutes. My arms were pretty tired so I rested for like 25 minutes and ate dinner. After...

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Black Belt Cycle Day 39

Today I woke up early in the morning at around 7. Although I couldn't really do any exersizes other than pushups because I hurt my ankle while doing jump ropes yesterday. After I went to school and in PE while we were playing ultimate football I dived to make a catch but since the grass was still wet I slipped while doing so and fell on my knee which hurt really bad so I could barely walk pretty much the whole day. I also had 2 tests, On 1 I got an 100 and we didn't get the score for the other one yet. After I got home I relaxed because my knee was still pretty badly injured and that's what I did the whole time. My mom applied some treatment which hopefully makes it better tomorrow. Anyways good night!

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Black Belt Cycle Day 37

Today I slept woke up a bit late in the morning since I slept late at night. Also today is my BDAY! yayyy, Once I woke up I was way to worn out still to do anything so I just relaxed. In the afternoon, my dad and I went to taco bell and ate lunch there. To be honest I ate wayyy to much and I was stuffed, anyways later we had to go to another party so we relaxed a bit after coming home I did some walking to ease my stomach. After that we headed to the party and I met with all my friends which was really fun, we played soccer too, and had a good time. Although I was not feeling to well because of my stomach, the beans were too much I guess.. Anyways the pain let off a little over time. As we were coming...

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Black Belt Cycle Day 36

Today I woke up early in the morning to go to BBC. I didn't have enough time for my run so I just went, we worked with Master Evans, doing self defense and poomsae's which was pretty fun. After that my aunt was hosting a gather up so I had to spend my whole day there. After class I changed and headed straight to her house and helped set up everything. After that I enjoyed spending time with my cousins and friends. I played soccer with my friends pretty much the whole time. Anyways at like 9:30 we left to go home. After getting home I took a warm shower which felt really good and then went to sleep.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 33

Today I woke up around 7:00 and ran my mile. I was so happy since I got my new PR run time which was 9:18 and my run time for my pre test was 9:17. My dad also said that the reason I cant beat my first mile even though I'm improving is because I have to run on a straight hill so it takes a few seconds to turn around. I was glad because When I first started running on the hill I got a time of 11 something and now I am 9:18. Anyways I developed a new strategy for me. At first I went just pretty much slow the whole time and still had a decent amount of energy after my run. This time though in the first 0.10 miles I ran a pace of 8:18 and I stuck as much as I could to that pace I...

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Black Belt Cycle Day 31

Today I woke up at 7 in the morning and went for my mile run. Today the whole day for some reason my calves hurt a lot. Like when ever I walked or ran they just hurt and burned a little bit. Even though it hurt I still y pushed through the pain and ran my mile and got a little longer time of 10.30 something. After my mile I did my requirements and finally got my first 100 jump ropes in 1 minute and 30 seconds, my new PR. After I went to school and it was pretty fun and boring. We didn't really do much but after school I ate a snack and went to my robotics class. I got to the state tournament and my team and I placed 4th in the whole of North Carolina last year so I was hoping to win states and go to...

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Black Belt Cycle Day 30

Yesterday and the day before I'm pretty sure I forgot to journal but I think that's because I went to Atlanta. Today I woke up late since I arrived back home from Atlanta around 11 and went to sleep at 12. Yesterday my cousin sister came to visit us since my grandparents came so yeah. Today After I woke up I completely forgot to do my run and just did a bit of my requirements. Due to the Atlanta trip im a bit behind I think I should be able to catch up sooner or later. After I ate lunch and headed to concord mills with my dad and cousin sister. We went to a few stores then I got a mango smoothie. After we headed home and I started to do a lot of homework that my teachers game me. I worked on this thing called a one pager and...

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Black Belt Cycle Day 26

Today, I woke up early at 6 Am in the morning. I spend 30 minutes just prying my eyes open so at 6:30 in the morning I started running my mile I forgot my time but after my mile I was a bit behind on jump rope so I mainly focused on that. After my requirements I headed to school. School now feels really long but after I got home I ate a snack. Then played games for an hour. After that I headed to sparring class, for sparring we did something different where everyone found a partner then they lined up with their partner in front of them left to right. We sparred a little bit with each person. After we finished sparring with one person we moved to our left and sparred another person which we did 6 times total I think. After I got home I had some...

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Black Belt Cycle Day 26

Today I woke up early at 6:30 to start my day. Now instead of waking up late I have to be ready to go to school and do my requirements before school in the morning. So at 6:30 I ran my mile and got a sub 10 time getting 9:57. After that I did a few of my requirements got ready for school. In school at first I thought that none of my friends were going to be in any of my classes but turns out that actually a few of my old friends were in my classes. This was a big relief as I now had some friends also one of my best friends was in 4 our of 6 of my classes which was great. After school I dropped my things off and played soccer with my friends for 2 hours. After that I relaxed for a bit then...

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Black Belt Cycle Day 25

Today I woke up around 8 in the morning an d had breakfast. After breakfast I waited a bit then ran my mile. For today's mile I was able to get 30 seconds lower than yesterdays time and got 10:12 something. After that I quickly finished up the rest of my requirements, relaxed a bit then had lunch. After that I had to go to a doctor's appointment and then to a store to a took some time anyways I just prepared for my first day of school which is tomorrow. I am pretty excited but nervous, and sort of sad because I didn't get in any of my friends classes. Guess I'll just have to make new friends. Anyways that was pretty much it for today, Cya tomarrow!

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Black Belt Cycle Day 24

Today I woke up early at 7 and ran my mile. Due to the fact I didn't run yesterday I went a bit slower and also because it was really sunny. After I had breakfast and then starting doing a bit of my requirements, I still felt tired from the day before yesterday to it took some time. After that I kept spending time with my grandparents and gamed a lot today. That's pretty much all I did, looking forward to doing my white belt challenge soon!

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Black Belt Cycle Day 23

Today I was up early at like 6:45 in the morning and wasn't really in moon for a run. Since my grandparents came here for the first time and I haven't seen them in 3 years I decided to spend the whole day with them. In the morning since we woke up early we caught the sunrise. Then we had breakfast and caught up with them. We talked for a few hours then we had lunch. We chilled a bit more together than my grandparents went to take a nap. They napped for like 3 hours since they were very jetlagged and I rested too since I was "carlagged". After we went in our backyard picked some fruits that grew, after my aunt and uncle came over so we had dinner with them, desset, and then went to sleep.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 22

Today I woke up early to head to the Saturday black belt class. I wasn't able to get any requirements in the morning because was so early. In class we did this thingy where we only did poomsae's and kicks only with the same belt rank as us and the others had to step off the mat. This was pretty new for me but also pretty intresting. Anyways after class I had to go to Atlanta to go pick up my grandparents from the airport that came to stay with us for the first time from India. This was REALLY fun since It was a pretty good road trip and I got to eat taco bell for lunch and chipotle for dinner. I also got to relax the whole day in the car so yeah it was really fun. We got home with my grandparents around 12:00/midnight, I showed them around...

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Black Belt Cycle Day 21

Today I slept in a bit woke up and got ready to do my mile run. Today thought as I was running a little on the road close to my house there was a little rabbit that had gotten squashed by a car. I felt really bad for it since it died but I also got to see my first ever rabbit heart and organs. They were pretty disgusting thought and the smell the one of the worst smells I've ever smelled. Also since this stink was right by my house and right on the path I run it made me feel weird so it was a bit harder to run my mile taking me some more time. After that I got to stay home alone since my dad went out so I made the most of it. I got a soda and some snacks and gobbled it up hehe. It...

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Black Belt Cycle Day 20

Today I woke up earlier than usual then drank some milk and ran my mile I got a bit of a higher time with 10 secs more than yesterday. After I completed my requirements then. After that I started a quest to watch all the marvel movies so I watched the first Spider-Man movie which was really good. After that I got prepared for my Open House for school. It was good seeing my friends again after a long break and meeting my new teachers and classmates. Although I didn't get in classes with any of my friends but 2... I was dissapointed but that meant that I had to make new ones. Anyways after that I headed to the class before sparring and helped out teaching a student chil jang which was fun. Right after I attended sparring which was fun and we did this drill where we lined up...

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Black belt Cycle Day 19

Today, I woke up early again and completed my mile run and today felt very good since I got my first Sub 10 getting 9:52 my best timed run yet. i was pretty happy and got my requirements completed quickly after that my dad and I went to run errands again today. After that I finished this puzzle I was doing and then headed to my robotics class I signed up for. After it I stayed back played soccer with my friends then got back home. It was pretty late so I ate dinner, watched a movie with my family then went to sleep.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 18

Today I woke up early at like 7:30 and ran my mile which felt better giving me a time of 10:11 the lowest of the week. After that I did my requirements and also attempted to do a 1 hand push-up which I instantly failed in 2 seconds. After I went with my dad to run some errands. Then I starting gaming for a bit with my new monitor I got. After I ate dinner and slept.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 17

Today i didn't do much since I was pretty tired from going to party's for the past 2 days. Anyways I woke up at 9 in the morning and and ran my mile getting 10:27 a bit longer than the last two days. After that I did my daily requirements and that's all I pretty much did today.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 16

Today I didn't really do much, I woke up early did my mile run, requirements, and yeah nothing much because I was exited for something else. At 2 I left my house to attend my friends birthday party he's turning 10. We went to a trampoline park and had so much fun. I also learned how to do a "half" front flip on a trampoline. After the trampoline park we went to his house and we got cheese sticks at like 8, we also went on different trails in the woods which was fun a well. After I went home got some sleep at thats was it.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 15

Today, I went 15 minutes earlier to Black Belt Class and Grandmaster Evans was on a call with us helping us practice. After that I got home did my first mile for week 3 and then completed my requirements. I really had to focus on my double side kicks like Grandmaster Evans said so I was mostly gonna work on that for the week. After that I had to go to a party so I just went there hanged out with my friends and yeah.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 14

Today, I woke up late again, and then ran my mile. I was feeling bored so I ran another one why not. After I completed my requirements for the end of week 2. Then later in the afternoon I went to the little tiger's class which was fun to teach although I realized that teaching the younger ones requires a lot more patience and dedication than I thought but its alright. After the little tigers class I completed a mentor session with Master Chelley then went to Black Belt Class. In class we worked with our sticks and our Bo-staff which was fun. After class I felt tired so my parents and I got takeout and I called it a day.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 13

Today, I woke up late in the morning did my mile run for the day and then quickly did my requirements. After I helped my dad out with a few things then later in the afternoon I went to the class before sparring and did punches and kicks along with helping out getting of that knocked out. After that I joined sparring class and got my credit for that. 

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Black Belt Cycle Day 12

Today I woke up late around 9:30 then did my mile, the time was 11:30 because I kind of twisted my ankle right before my run so I had to walk a bit too. After I did my requirements and then in the afternoon I went to the 4:15 class did punches and kicks and taught. Same time for the next class as well. After I got home scheduled another session with my mentee tomorrow.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 11

Today, I caught up with my pull ups, and planks since I was behind a day. Also today I scheduled another session with my mentee on Sunday. In the morning I got up around 9:30 and ran my mile then did my requirements which made the time around 11:00. I took a shower after and was pretty exhausted since I had to do more than I was already used to I just took a break the rest of the day so yeah.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 10

Today I had to catch up a lot and do double of everything since yesterday I wasn't able to. In the morning I ran and walked a mile and then it took some time but slowly completed my exersises and then my poomsae's, self defenses, and kicks. After that I was really tired so I took a break. In the afternoon I helped my mom build a big cabinet which took like 2 hours. I ate a snack and went outside to play with my friend. After I had dinner and slept.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 9

Today I had the sleep over at my friends house and wasn't able to complete anything at all because I spend the whole day there with him. I knew that since I was not able to do anything today I would have to do double to work tomorrow but I was prepared because this would be a good challenge for me.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 8

Today was the first day of the second week where I was ready and prepared to tackle new challenges I went to Saturday BBC and attending my 2nd weekend BBC after that I got home and finished my requirements. I also had a sleep over at my friends house.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 7

Kinda forgot to journal again yesterday oops, but yesterday the was the end of the first week and I feel good and exited for the second week. In the morning I quickly completed everything and got my book signed by my parents for the first week. Also I attended 1 Friday BBC get 1 of each classes for my requirements complete. After that I looked at my book and saw that my mile run ahd improved a lot from the first to the last run I improved by 30 seconds. Anyways the rested the rest of the day waiting for tomarrow.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 6

Today was very rainy, which made me sleep in a bit. I was pretty tired and wanted to relax the whole day but I knew I couldn't do that so I ran my mile inside today on my treadmill then I completed my requirements. After that I went to 2 classes 1 which was the 5:45 Class and then the sparring class right after getting my first of the sparring classes done. Anyways since I got home at like 8:00 I ate dinner chillaxed for a bit and went to sleep.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 5

Today, was pretty boring nothing much I did. I started my day with the mile run which I hit a PR then I just quickly did my requirements and yeah. I decided to help out and take sparring class tomorrow. Exited to help class tomorrow and teach others but yeah I didn't really do much today because my friends weren't avaliable to hand out so just watched a movie and called it a day.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 4

The reason I'm doing this today is because I forgot to journal yesterday so Yesterday the 22nd I started my day off with waking up early and get my run in again beating the day before's time by 30 seconds which is insane. Anyways after that I quickly did my requirements I had left. After I got bored so I started working on a puzzle my aunt got me. So yeah that was pretty much yesterday.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 3

Today is the 3rd day of the Black Belt Cycle and I started my day off with getting my mile in beating yesterday's time. After that I took a little break and started to complete my requirements 1 By 1. I was able to do these without too much effort because my muscle tear from yesterday healed a lot. Anyways around lunch my mentee came over to my house and we were able to complete a session making it my first mentee session of 12. After he left I just kind of took a break the rest of the time and ate dinner early calling it a day. Excited to keep working hard and keep completing requirements for my Black Belt.

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Black Belt Cycle Day 2

Today I woke up and was pretty tired from yesterday's pre-test but I didn't let that stop me and ran my mile for the day.  Then I just completed my daily requirements and just chilled. I also saw the Fifa World Cup Final as Spain won. I was pretty disappointed as I wanted Argentina to win but It's alright. Anyways for the rest of the day I kind of just planned the next steps for my Cycle requirements and called it a day.

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Pre-Test

Today was my pre-test for my first cycle as a bocho. I was very exited and nervous but I did everything I needed to and finished. The rest of the day was pretty fine as I just finished the rest of my daily exercise.

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