Candidate Journals

Today was quite a struggle. I started my day at 4:30 AM to knock out my run. All was good until I stopped running. Once I finished my 4 miles, I was cooling down a little bit and then my knee really started to hurt. I didn't really think much of it until I was getting ready for school, that's when my knee really started to hurt. This was not really any ordinary pain, I could tell it wasn't my bones or my cartilage, it felt more like my tendons, and ligaments. It was really strange because if I was standing normally, everything was fine, but as soon as I twist or bend my knee, it feels like every fiber and every connective tissue were screaming to quit moving. although like I said it was very strange because I could stretch and turn my knees as long as my knee was...

Today was almost identical to yesterday. I woke up, went to school, all the regular things happened at school, my school days remain being relatively uneventful. I came home and did the daily goals, (requirements). I have really started to practice my tornado and 540 kicks. The only thing holding me back is dizziness. I will get extremely dizzy only after a few kicks. Hopefully the more I practice, the better everything becomes. All was good for the rest of the evening. - Lucas

Today I woke up and went to school. Nothing spectacular happened, Just a regular day of learning. When I came home, I got through with the daily requirements. It is almost like a mental brain break to come home and be active before jumping right into homework. After all my requirements were finished, I did homework / studying. The rest of the evening had nothing eventful to it. - Lucas

Today I woke up at 9:30, this is very much sleeping in for me, usually I wake up rather early on weekends. When I woke up, I wasted no time getting to my requirements. I got those knocked out pretty early in the day. That means the rest of the day was left for completing homework and recovery time. Nothing else eventful happened, the rest of my day and night was pretty lowkey.

The day started at 5:00 for me. I was at the track by 6:00 to start my run. surprisingly I actually like running in a neighborhood with hills rather than on a flat track. I feel like my lower legs got fatigued easier when they hit that ground at the same angle every time. In a neighborhood, there are hills which prevent this from happening. Anyway, the pretest was continued, we finished up the physical requirements, and then went directly into class / pre test poomsae test. After all of that, I came home, grabbed something to eat, and then started with the rest of my physical requirements that the pre test did not cover. After all was complete, I had a pretty leisurely rest of my day and night. Until next time, - Lucas

Today I woke up like normal and went to school like usual. I went on with my day until I got to chemistry. We had a test in that class as I mentioned in my previous journals. I thought it went pretty ok, I got my score back later in the day, I got a 106% (all questions answered correctly + extra credit questions.) I was super stoked about that. I finished my school day with a smile and when I got home, I started with the daily requirements. Got all those knocked out and then headed over to King Tiger for the weekly black belt class. I got home and relaxed for the evening because I will be at the track at 6:00 AM for my pre-test run. Good luck to everyone on the pre-test tomorrow. - Lucas

Today was extremely eventful. My day started at 4:30 in the morning. I got up this early because I planned to knock out my miles before school. I decided that I am only running in 4 mile increments a couple times a week, because that is the distance I will be required to run for the pre and final physical test. I ate a bit of fruit and then began running. I finished up at around 5:40. I got myself prepared to go to school and then off I went. School was nothing fun, just teachers doing their thing (assigning assignments). I got home, and got to work on my requirements. After a little while, I went to sparring class, it was a blast. After sparring I was left with a couple hours to study for my chemistry test tomorrow.

Today was almost exactly the same as yesterday. I woke up at 6:00 and went to school. Nothing interesting happened their, just the usual things. I came home and that is when I started on my requirements. I like to start with them as soon as I get home from school so I can have the rest of the evening to do things that need to be done that is not related to TKD or school. I do not really have much homework ever because I took a study hall this year and was lucky enough to have the period towards the end of my school day in which if I were to get homework in one of my classes, it will have been already assigned making study hall at the end of the day helpful. While I was doing my requirements, I found out that if you keep your face...

Today was the first day back to school from winter break. The teachers decided to not make it easy for the students as I was greeted with a chemistry test on Friday. Other than that, everything that usually happens at school, happened. When I got home I began with the daily requirements. After I finished nothing else really went on. I am no longer sore from the initial brunt of the cycle. I heard that the flu has been rapidly spreading so I hope everyone stays healthy. - Lucas

Day 3 has arrived. I woke up early today to immediately begin with my requirements. Most schools start back up from winter break today, however, my school does not start until tomorrow. I do not really have much to do today because I finished everything I need to do today by 10:30(AM). I guess that means more time for recovery. Most likely will be playing chess for a while. until then, can't wait for school tomorrow. - Lucas.

Hello Everyone, my name is Lucas and I am on my audit cycle and will be testing for my fourth degree black belt at the end of the cycle. Yesterday was the first day of the journey, I woke up and went to the weekend black belt class. After that, I  went home knocked out the daily requirements. The first day is always a wake up call because you know the next day you are going to be sore, and if you aren't, then that means you probably need to fix your form while doing exercises. On the days you do not feel like completing your requirements, just tell yourself, the minutes that you spend training add up to less than 45 minutes (Not including your run). Today, I woke up early and starting completing all of the daily tasks. Can't wait for what this cycle bring. Until next time - Lucas.