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!

2/8

I'm really excited that there is a black belt class today for requirements. I'm dying my hair today! We bought the purple dye yesterday and I'm going to have streaks in my hair. I'll see everyone in class.

  505 Hits

2/5

I had a really good day today. School wasn’t difficult and I didn’t have much homework. After all of my daily afternoon stuff and tkd classes (which were really fun) I got to go home. My dog for a while has been very shaggy so today she got a haircut. The hair stylists pretty much shaved her and she is super soft now. I’m also jealous because of the shampoo which smelled amazing. Anyways today was great and I love my dog.

  528 Hits

2/3

Today was awesome. I got to sleep in and when I woke up we had donuts for breakfast. After that I made brownies. I ran 2 miles this afternoon and then spent the next two hours doing requirements. All was god and I even got my nails painted. Now I’m at tkd and I’m about the take class!

  471 Hits

1/30

Today was kinda tiring but I really enjoyed sparring class. My school work is starting to get tougher as we begin EOG prep and enter new topics. I have to study a bit more on scatterplots just to make sure I'm using the calculator correctly. I've been doing well on my requirements and I almost have all of my leadership 2s done. Have a good night everyone!

  470 Hits

1/28

My grandparents are here this weekend! I was super excited and got to hang out with them on Sunday. The other thing I did was go for a six-mile run. I went with my dad and we split it into two parts running 3.25 twice. I really enjoyed talking with him and I'm really happy that he is running again. I have to go to bed now so I'll be back in class tomorrow.

  490 Hits

1/21

I ended up pretty tired by class today but teaching the younger kids is always fun. In my English class at school I have been assigned and interesting project. In class when we work on certain topics I've already mastered, I will get to work on an author study. An author study is basically where you compare two or more of a certain author's work and look for similarities and differences. I think I'm going to pick a classical author along the lines of Oscar Wilde or Jane Austen. I want to get more into classics and both of those authors . have been recommended multiple times. Anyways I hope everyone has a goodnight!

  512 Hits

1/20

I had a great day today! I got to sleep in until around eleven and then had a donut for breakfast. After I hung around and did requirements between drawing and playing a couple of games. Later in the afternoon my mom, sister, and I went to Barnes and Noble. I picked out a book we got drinks and read for a little bit. My family had salad for dinner and I packed for school tomorrow So today was a lot of fun even though I dread school tomorrow. Anyways goodnight and I'll see everyone at class!

  481 Hits

1/16

I get a four day weekend starting today! My run was nice and the weather was only slightly breezy. After running and eating dinner I went to sparring class and did a mentee session. Then I came home to my puppy fresh

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  488 Hits

1/15

Today was very tiring for me. I had a science test, homework, and I didn’t sleep well last night. Hopefully tonight I will be able to sleep better. Class today was very good and I like working on my knife self defense a lot. Anyways have a good night everyone!

  457 Hits

1/11

So today was the Black Belt pretest. I did well on most of my physical requirements but I hope to improve especially on my running time. During the Black Belt class we focused especially on both front kicks and talked a lot about back stances. I will be putting more time and effort into my back stances because I know that sometimes when I don’t think about it I slip side ways without noticing.

  426 Hits

1/7

I went to a Tuesday black belt class at Master Evans today. I really enjoyed it because we mainly focused on kicks, specifically sidekicks. I love working on little things like that because then it translates into everything else we do. School isn't any better and I'm studying a lot for math especially because for me it is a harder subject.

  452 Hits

1/6

This was my first day back at school and I didn’t really enjoy it. I was happy to see my friends but I now have to study for midterms. I’m back on track with my requirements and I ran 2 miles this afternoon when it was sunny. 

  470 Hits

1/5

For the past few days I have been catching up on BBC requirements. Now I will be going back to normal and doing the set amount of requirements. School starts tomorrow and I am not looking forward to it. It is not that I dislike learning because I love learning and reading, I just hate school. Only half a year left and I'll be done with it. Anyways I hope everyone had a good day!

  442 Hits

1/1

Happy New Years! I hope everyone had a good celebration to welcome 2020 and remember the last decade. I got to stay at a friends and watch the ball drop. My resolutions this year will be simple. I want to learn how to manage my own money, complete the BBC, and work on my school grades. Making resolutions to hard or unrealistic annoys me and so we’ll keep it simple this year. This decade is when I’m going to grow up so I really want to make it a good one!  

  403 Hits

12/31

In the past week over Christmas I have been slacking a lot. Today I hope to discontinue that and pick up the pace. I got to see my extended family and ski over the holidays and it was great to visit all of my cousins. I’m flying back today so I’ll see everyone in the new year.

  441 Hits

December 24

Today my family and I will be flying up to Boston for Christmas. I’m very excited to see all of my cousins! I hope to practice falls up there as there is a lot of snow to fall into. I’m also very excited because after Christmas I will be going skiing with some old friends.

  367 Hits

April 5

Tonight is the night before testing tomorrow. Ive decided to take Friday off school to prepare seeing as no important academic events will be happening. I could barely focus at soccer tonight! Hopefully I will calm down before testing!

  572 Hits

April 1

So I haven't journaled in a while and this journal is to tell you about my spring break. We travelled by plane out to Colorado and landed in Denver. Our actual vacation happened at Vail which is a ski resort up in the mountains. We skied for three days with a break in between. It was awesome because of the heavy snow cover and the sunny skies. Our last day there we skinned up the mountain and ate smores before sleding/skiing back down. Overall it was an awesome vacation and I got my hair dyed!

  597 Hits

March 17

Today I got to go to Emma's house and we did some requirements. After our run Master Chelley came over and talked with my mom and Mrs. Lauren while me a Emma worked on our BB stuff. A lot of time was spent fooling around but we did get some done. I also am cleaning and changing my room a bit. I'm moving some furniture and cleaning out old toys to donate. Anyways I had a good day and I hope everyone else does as well.

  550 Hits

March 12

So as I mentioned in my last journal I haven't been sleeping well lately and today was exhausting. I didn't even do much but just running one mile for me was hard. I think some of it is due to my developing cough but hopefully I can fix that up and try to sleep a little more. The only things I am lagging on right now are my basic kicks (easy) and my pull ups (also easy). Anyways I hope I feel better and that no one else is getting what I have.

  570 Hits

March 12

Today was pretty regular and nothing particularly exciting or fun happened. I didn’t feel great mostly because I haven’t been sleeping well recently. In my STEM class we started a new project which seems kinda but also complex. Anyways that was my day happy Tuesday.

  576 Hits

March 9

So today was the BBC physical and written test and I believe I did good. The only thing that I didn't beat was my sit ups which was disappointing considering that I am good at those. I am a little bit mad at myself because I forgot to bring my book and that was very irresponsible, I hope I can fix it. I beat my running time by almost a minute which I was really happy about. I think that after the cycle ends I will still continue running, maybe not as consistently but definitely over the summer.

  562 Hits

March 5

So recently two of my good friends had an argument over a small problem but I think that today fixed some of it as they talked and smoothed things over. Other than that the rest of my day was pretty normal. I didn't get to run today and I was a little sad because it was so beautiful out. Anyways hope everyones day was good.

  590 Hits

February 26

Tonight I will wake up at around 1:00 to go the D.C. and I'm super excited. We are going to multiple museums one of them being my favorite, The National History Museum. I hope that I have a good time and a good day group. I got ahead and did extra to catch up for my absence on the BBC. I have to run extra this afternoon so have a good day.

  541 Hits

February 25

Today was pretty normal and nothing extraordinary happened. I had a good class tonight and have been ahead on my requirements for a while. I leave for Washington DC on Wednesday at 2:30 in the morning. We get back on Friday at around midnight. The drive is six hours long and probably exhausting. Hopefully I get into a good group for the day tours. In other events today I got an A on my math quiz and had a good day, hope everyone feels the same.

  517 Hits

February 23

So today was really fun and I had a good time. In the morning I slept in and woke up in a good mood. After breakfast I went early to Master Evins North Charlotte location and worked on requirements. Then I took BBC class and ate lunch on the way home. At home I changed and worked on one of my last essays. I only have one left! Next me, my dad, and my little sister drove to drop my sister off at a friends place. Me and my dad went to a soccer store and bought me new cleats and shinguards for my upcoming season. Finally we came home had dinner and watched a movie with some popcorn.

  520 Hits

February 20

My friends sometimes come to me for moral support so today I had a friend who just started a volleyball camp. She has to go three times a week two hours each and she was really sore today. So I carried some of her things and listened to her complaints. It was kinda hard to not tell her that I am here almost all week like the rest of the BBC testers and tell her about my problems but she felt a little better at the end of the day which made me happy. In other aspects of my life I am finished with mentee sessions, sparring, and I have 3 sparring rounds left. I still need to pick up my basic kicks and jump roping but otherwise I am doing well. Hope everyone has a good Wednesday.

  570 Hits

February 19

I love the rain. Even though you can't go outside and play it is really relaxing and to me a great way to train. Mostly because everyone else doesn't like it and are all inside. Rain means that the roads aren't as full and there isn't as much noise which is very calming. On another note my second soccer tryout was cancelled and I went to train my mentee. But I forgot to get my book signed so I have to get that tomorrow. 

  520 Hits

February 18

So soccer tryouts were today and I think I did pretty well. We warmed up passed the ball a little then played a possession scrimmage which is like a game but instead of scoring you want to acquire a number of clean passes to your team. I played ok and I think I do have a chance to make the team. As for the BBC I am caught up and a little ahead in most things although I need to find time for more basic kicks. Otherwise everything is pretty much the same.

  552 Hits

February 17

For breakfast I had a burrito with eggs, cheese, and sausage. Today I practiced soccer with my dad and friend even though it was rainy out and worked on goal shots.My soccer tryouts are tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday. In the afternoon we went to see the new movie Alita. It ended with a horrible cliffhanger and my sister was furious about it all the way home. Anyways hope everyone has a great day.

  564 Hits

February 13

So I got to stay after class today and was able to get ahead on most of my requirements. Soccer started as well which may complicate things if I make the team. But otherwise I am really excited to try out, soccer is the only other sport I play outside of TKD. I am really good at defense and have the unique ability to get the ball and knock people down without getting a penalty. Hopefully I will be good enough to be of good use on the team. That is all for today.

  529 Hits

February 12

So today in science class when me and my friend finished the assignment we created a document solely for the purpose of typing random song lyrics back and forth. So that was really fun and in the afternoon I ran two miles with my mom. Halfway through the run though it started to pour so we both were soaked. My hair dried and frizzed up into a giant knot!

  495 Hits

February 11

I have been slacking off on my journals recently and I need to work on that. Today was okay but it was pretty boring. Although in the afternoon I made chocolate ice cream sandwichs and they were delicious. I am pretty much done with most of my classes and I am ahead in almost every category. Hopefully I can keep it up.

  525 Hits

February 7

I am almost done with my sparring classes which will be a relief because soccer tryouts are coming up soon. If I make the team I will be practicing on Mondays and Wednesdays. On top of that we will have games on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Hopefully I get most of my stuff done. I am going to ask Master Chelley whether I can count my soccer as a mile or not. 

  536 Hits

February 6

In class today we worked on short sticks and I had a great time. I also got in a mentor session but I need to get a lot more of those and journal a lot more too. Master Lloyd took me home from kickboxing today because my dad is out of town and I was very grateful for that as well. My dad will be coming back this Thursday. 

  531 Hits

February 5

So with the black belt cycle it is making it hard to find time outside of class for a social studies project. All of the work is done outside of class so we must find a weekend time that works and finding time in between Saturday black belt classes and church on Sundays is going to be a challenge. Otherwise I think that I'm getting better at pushups and my mom is helping me correct my form. Happy Tuesday!

  573 Hits

February 4

So in STEM class today we split up into pairs and I got paired with Maddux. He is a really nice and funny guy, we will be researching a crank and slider gear type. The logistics of it are really cool because basically you turn a wheel which is hooked up to a piece of metal through an axel and the piece move back and forth. Hope everyone has a good day!

  569 Hits

January 31

This is the last day of January and I am sort of dreading February for some reason. I don't know why but I've never liked February and it always seems dismal and cold to me. In class today we did this thing where you read an article on something random so I looked up string theory which I though was cool. String theory is a basic physics theory that could explain why atoms stick together. It could, if proven to be true, could explain dark matter and other things in space we really know nothing about. Anyways that was day.

  581 Hits

January 29

I had a really great day today. The interest meeting for the school soccer team was during lunch today, so now I have all the soccer info I need and I got to have the afternoon to myself. (after requirements of course) I just had a good day today and I finished one of my projects while I progressed greatly on the other one. Hope everyone has a good day!

  515 Hits

January 27

Today I did my empathy training and wrote the essay on my white belt challenge. It was kind of unnerving not hearing your own voice and I messed up a couple times. My essay I wrote in the afternoon then I tried to run but my leg has been tight for some time and it locked up. So I only ran a half a mile because of the muscle knot.

  493 Hits

January 28

Today is the day after my empathy training and I started my essay on it. I also got into two different big school projects which might be difficult to juggle around with TKD. Hopefully I get it all done. Wishing everyone a good Monday.

  551 Hits

January 25

Today I get to have a sleepover with my friend who goes to my school and also is on the black belt cycle. Ritika is spending the night then we will drop her off at sparring/black belt class. Today was a pretty decent day, I got to kickboxing class which is interesting and definitely a work out. That class gives me 30 sparring rounds and its really helping since I don't have much time at home to work on those.

  534 Hits

January 18

Yesterday I got to go to TKD all

  540 Hits

January 19th

Today was the pretest and I felt good. I ran my mile in 10:35 minutes and my best physical requirement was my situps, I got 43 of those. My pullups weren't good and I didn't get the greatest shot at an arm hang so I'm going to work on that. I also need to work on rolls and falls which I am definitely bad at. My shoulder rolls need a lot of work specifically. I am also trying to work with my mentee more.

  567 Hits

January 15

Today in class I had to finish my art project. We have been working for a long time and I am better at watercoloring now. I drew a bubble in which our universe resides and a person reaching out of a ship to break that bubble 

  571 Hits

January 14

Today I’ll try not to ramble as much but it is a little tough launching right back into life. Going back to school wasn’t horrible. I got to see my friend that has been out all last week as well because of the flu. It wasn’t to interesting and I don’t really have random thoughts to tell you today. Other than the question who taught the first teacher? 

  529 Hits

January 13

So today is the last day before I go back to school and restart a lot of the things I took a break on while I was sick. As I was going through everything I have to do this week I was like "wow I do a lot". Then later today I thought of all the other things people do each day and how they don't get breaks even when they are sick. It kinda made me think about how tiny everyone is in this universe even all combined. Lie is sort of actually a mess up that whatever runs this thing didn't intend for. Think about, there is nothing like our form of life that we have discovered. The universe has repeating of many things even stuff that we consider anomalies, but life is just random noting else like it. 

  552 Hits

January 11

So I have been sick with the flu for the past four days. This really stinks because I am now a week behind on school work and taekwondo requirements. I have a lot to make upon and classes that I have to fit in extra of now. Luckily my mom who is taking the cycle next year is really helping me out by working out plans with me and making all the extra I have to do much much easier. 

  533 Hits

Sunday/5

Today I went to church with my mom and my little sister. The speech was about equality and acceptance in-between everyone, no matter where they come form or who they are. I though this was interesting because the the priest put it, it was so poetic and perfect but this is much harder to achieve in real life. The speech was nice and pretty but it was about an ideal world to which we are working towards, not the present day. I just thought this was interesting and wanted to write it out. Have a good day.

  519 Hits

Christmas Break

So today is the second to last day before break. I have been trying to keep up with my physical requirements and I haven’t been sore or tired yet. But I’m scared that a little while in I’m going to be extremely sore. So for Christmas break my grandparents and uncle are coming to our place and we are having ribs, roasted broccoli, and a cornbread casserole for dinner. I’m excited because I love ribs and we are smoking them.

  544 Hits