Candidate Journals

I went to dojang today and went over some poomsaes, self-defenses, basic kicks, and Staff #1 by myself.  I also tried out some kicking combinations on the heavy bag in anticipation of sparring class this week.  After I left from there, I went to the Harrisburg Y and got in my requirements.  I was also able to get in some extra work with someone who goes to another TKD school in Harrisburg.  I told him I was going through the Black Belt cycle and some of the requirements.  He's a 2nd Dan, so he was able to critique my kicks and Koryo poomsae.

This morning, I attended Master Evins' Black Belt class, and it was a valuable learning experience for me.  Master Evins is a great teacher.  There were Bocho Dans, 1st Dans and 2nd Dans in the class, and he was able to teach all three groups simultaneously.  By himself.  I learned some of the finer points of Bocho Dan Special Self-Defense and Koryo from him.  He's not having class next Saturday due to Master's Testing in Greensboro, but I'll be back to his class when they start back the following weekend.   This afternoon, I attended a fund-raising golf tournament at the Rocky River Golf Club, which is about a mile from the Charlotte Speedway, given by my fraternity as a fund-raising event.  I can't golf to save my life, but I enjoyed the opportunity to hang out with some friends I don't get a chance to see too often.  

Went to sparring practice tonight, and I have to say there's been a noticeable improvement between weeks 1 and 3.  The students are moving their feet and sliding a lot better, and everyone's stamina is improving, probably because Master Foster has us constantly moving and switching partners the entire time we're on the mat.  At the rate they're improving, I almost dread to see what they're going to look like at the end of week 10!

I woke up at 5:00am this morning to take my daughter to the airport to catch a flight.  I was wearing a t-shirt with my high school's name on it.  As I was walking out of the airport, with all those travelers in it, I heard someone yell, "Hey! You went to Westover?!"  In that split second, I just started laughing.  I graduated in 1981 and she graduated in 2016.  What are the odds of me seeing someone from my high school in Charlotte, NC?  Westover High School is located in Albany, GA, which is about 425 miles from Charlotte in Southwest Georgia, about 90 miles north of Tallahassee.  Like the Disney song says, it's a small world after all. As for tonight's classes, I've noticed that ever since the week of July 18th, we have been getting a lot of new members at our dojang.  I've welcomed 4 new people...

I decided to change up my workout routine a little bit today.  In addition to the push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, etc. (which can get monotonous, but they have to be done) I decided to attend a yoga class at the Y.  I get in enough strength training, which targets power and durability, and running and elliptical work, which targets endurance, but, as I get older, I feel the need to focus more on flexibility, joint health and recovery.  That's where the yoga comes in.  I'll be attending these classes at least until the end of the cycle.

I was able to assist the Senior Tigers class tonight (ages 8-12) before attending my regular weekly class afterwards.  I enjoyed teaching them the basics (for example, why it's important to chamber before executing your kicks), teaching them how to properly tie their belts so they'd stop falling off during class, and helping them prepare for their next test, which will be held in September. I have to admit, their enthusiasm was infectious, so much so that I was able to carry that with me into my class.

It's the first Sunday of a new month, which means it's Communion Sunday at the church I attend.  After church, I got in about an hour at the Y.  I don't know if I got kicked in my left calf from sparring practice or it's just strained from running so much these last 3 months, but it was on fire today, so I had to slow my pace down some.  After the Y (and a shower), I went to go see "The Odyssey".  Since I'm such a big fan of the 1997 version of the movie, I was really just curious to see how different this version would be.  In my opinion, while this version of the movie was okay, the original was better (as is the case with the "original" anything a lot of the time).  

After getting in my requirements today at the Harrisburg YMCA's weight room, I attended the end of summer barbecue being given by my fraternity at one of the pavilions at the Harrisburg Park.  It was well-attended, the weather was not as hot as it's usually been this summer, and I made a couple new friends.  Although the pitmasters did the majority of the grilling, I have to give a shoutout to the wives who brought some of the food.  They are welcome at our events any time!

This is what our instructor to us a few years ago when I was a white belt in SKA at Summer Special Training.  That same thought was going through my mind during sparring practice tonight, which was held right after black belt practice.  I felt a little better after discovering I wasn't the only one still trying to recover from last Friday's black belt practice/ sparring practice sessions.  I came home and made a beeline straight to the tub and some Epsom salt.  

Tonight was testing night at the dojang.  As a group, Masters Knight and Foster were both happy with everyone's progress, but there was one young man who stood out.  He was initially told by both of them that he wasn't ready to test, but he wouldn't take no for an answer.  He was determined to test.  He put in the extra work he needed to, so much so that Master Foster recognized him to the parents and students after testing was over.  Listening to Master Foster talk about this young man reminded me of a quote I read by Calvin Coolidge a few years ago that has always stuck with me.  It concerns the importance of persistence.  You can google the quote if you aren't familiar with it, but, in a nutshell, he says, "Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common...

I arrived at the Harrisburg Park track this morning to run with my group.  To be honest, it was a little bit of a struggle.  But at times like that, I remind myself of 1) why I'm going through all this, and 2) just like pledging a fraternity or going through ROTC Officer Basic Camp or Airborne School, as hard as going through something like that is, it always ends.  It doesn't last forever.  After I left the track, I went to the weight room and got in some weight training, pull-ups (someone was able to show me a better way of doing them), planks and ab work.    

After going to the gym this morning, I went to the dentist for my annual check-up.   This afternoon, I visited a couple of car dealerships with my niece, who's beginning her junior year in college in 2 weeks.  Tonight, in our regular class, I was able to snag some much-sought-after leadership credit and class assistance.  We are conducting testing on 7/30/2026, so I was able to help a couple of students with their poomsaes, board-breaking kicks and self-defenses.

I attended my 2nd weekday Black Belt class today.  As intense as they are, I'm really getting hooked on them.  I was able to lead the students in the Crescent Kick, and, for the most part, they did pretty well.  I stressed the importance of turning the foot on the non-kicking leg so as to not twist the knee (something I learned the hard way some years ago).  Before and after class, I was able to get in some yellow belt and high yellow belt self-defense with Trent Foster.  He told me an easy way to remember what stance to use as the defender: other than white and high white, the solid color belts (for example, yellow belt) are in the neutral stance, and the striped belts (high yellow belt) are in the sparring stance.  When he told me that, it was like a weight had been lifted.  Now I don't...

I went to the dojang this afternoon and practiced alone from 1:00pm-2:00pm.  I did all the poomsaes from Il Jung to Koryo, the self-defenses up to high yellow belt, the basic kicks (I added crescent kicks as well) and staff #1.  After that, I went to the Harrisburg Y and, in addition to it being leg day for me, I worked on my pull-ups and planks.  I got home around 4:00pm and helped my neighbor with her yard.  She'd been gone for the last two weeks, so her yard needed some work.  It wasn't too hot today and I was trying to kill time until "House of the Dragon" came on at 9:00pm, so it all worked out perfectly.

I woke up at 5:00am and traveled to Durham to meet with some friends of mine and practice at The Duke School.  Since I'm not in SKA (Shotokan Karate of America) anymore, my practice was limited to the basics (kicking, punches and blocking).  I was able to show them some of our poomsaes (in karate, they're known as katas) and practice a couple of self-defenses (since I needed an attacker).  I got back home around noon.  Around 2pm, I went to the Harrisburg YMCA to get in my run, pull-ups, and ab work.  I'm going to sleep well tonight.

I attended my 2nd Black Belt class of the week tonight.  I'm no expert (obviously), but it seems to me that we have some good students in the cycle.  My regular classes are held on Tuesday and Thursday nights, so some of the students in the Wednesday and Friday night Black Belt classes are new to me and I'm still learning their names, but from what I can tell so far, they're a good group and they're only going to get better.   After the Black Belt class, I went straight to the sparring class.  My goal as far as sparring goes is to learn how to control my breathing better.  Going too fast in the first couple of rounds is just asking for trouble by the time I get to seniors like Alli ("Jaqui Briggs") Oates and Trent Foster.  I'll figure it out though.       

At 6:30am every Wednesday morning, I run 3.24 miles at Harrisburg Park with a group of runners I joined a little over a month before the pretest we had on July 18th.  That's 6 laps around a track that measures .54 miles.  Running with them helped me prepare for the test, but I should have skipped it today because I attended my first Black Belt weekday class tonight.  I found it to be a little more intense than our regular classes on Tuesday and Thursdays.  After finishing the class with 90 seconds of burpees, I feel like I've been beaten with a baseball bat.  I probably would have been ok if I was 23, 33, or even 43 years old (I can't even remember when I was 13), but when you're a member of the AARP crowd, recovery takes a little longer.  I'll figure it out though.

My mentor is out of town for the week, so I was able to work with two other seniors before and after today's practice.  They showed me exactly how the gap between ranks isn't just about remembering the moves of poomsaes and self-defenses.  The gap between Bocho Dan, 2nd Dan and 3rd Dan aren’t just separated by 2 and 1 belt each, respectively.” They’re separated by constant repetition and practice to the point where everything up to that point is 2nd nature, almost like breathing.  Where I'm still trying to remember everything, they just know it.

Today, as with every morning, I began by going over the Instructor's Manual and the Black Belt test questions we were given last week. This afternoon, I worked with two of my mentees (a Red Belt and Blue Belt) on their poomsaes and self-defenses in preparation for their exam on July 30th. They are making good progress because they have been practicing on their own at home. After that, I went to the Harrisburg YMCA for an hour and worked out with with thoughts of September 26th constantly on my mind.