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!

3/11/2024

Hello King Tiger Family. I was checking my tracking and for some reason the system says I only have 49 journals when I have 51 so I wanted to do another one just in case. I hope everyone is hanging in there. We are so close to the end! I am excited and nervous for the test this weekend for Harrisburg and next weekend for everyone. All I can do is do my best. I think I'm ready! Have a good night. 

  120 Hits

3/1/2024

Hello king tiger family. Even though I completed my 50 journals I wanted to stop by and say hi to everyone. This has been a good week for me. Yesterday we had had our Black History event at school and I was John Lewis for our wax museum. There were so many people and I got a little nervous at first. After the museum there was a performance from other classes and our step team performed. Everyone did a good job. Today I took a science and ELA test but only got my grade for the science test...a 95. I was happy about that. After school I came home and worked on my requirements for over an hour. I had to make up for yesterday since I did not have a chance to do anything other than run. It was hard and I was tired after but I got it done....

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  138 Hits

2/26/2024

Good evening king tiger family. Today was a great day. I got up and went to school and while i was in after school the step team came in the cafeteria and practiced and everyone was watching them even my friends mom who originally was ready  to leave but spent ten extra minutes watching the step team. After school I  went to taekwondo and after class i did a mentor session with master night and then I went home and finished requirements. These requirements are really hard to do. I cannot wait until next week where most requirements go down. That is all for today. Have a awesome night and a great day tomorrow.

  123 Hits

2/25/2024

Good evening king tiger family. Today was a good day. I started feeling a lot better. We decided to take the weekend to relax and get better so we did not got church.  I got up relaxed and watched tv and played Roblox. Then I worked on my requirements and washed my hair. 

  120 Hits

2/22/2024

Hello King tiger family. Today was a normal day. I got up, went to school, and came back home. Tomorrow the girls are going on a field trip while the boys stay at school and have a visitor come teach us about drones. I think its kind of unfair that the girls get to leave school. I came home, ate and finished some school work and then worked on my requirements. Now I'm about to relax. Goodnight.

  115 Hits

2/21/2024

Hello king tiger family. Today I woke up not feeling the best. My mom said I had to go to school so I took some medicine and had an okay day. I went to after school and then my mom picked me up and we came home. I relaxed for a while and then went to taekwondo for a class with Grandmaster Lee. I didn't feel my best but did not want to miss the class. We learned a lot of new self defense and practice for kicks and making sure we have good stances and blocks. I asked him to sign my black belt book so I can have his signature in my book. I am excited about that. I came home and ate dinner and took a shower. I played some video games and now I'm about to get ready for bed. Goodnight.

  125 Hits

2/20/2024

Hello king tiger family. Today was an ok day, at school I woke up and went to my class, but then the teachers said they were shuffling the classes and I ended up with the smallest one so yeah. Then I went to taekwondoe originally to just get a mentor session but ended up helping a class,being mentored and mentoring someone. While I was helping out with class I did requirements. That is all today so goodbye and good night.                

  132 Hits

2/18/2024

Good Evening King Tiger Family. Today was amazing because there was no school. I spent most of the day relaxing. I did my exercises, ran over a mile, and finished my book requirement. I went to the burg today and helped out in junior tigers and took class. Today we learned how to use power in our kicks and we did a lot of drills. We also worked on red belt self defense. After class we did black belt curriculum and worked on stick forms. I stayed for a mentor session with Master Foster and he helped me with more stick training and went over some poomsaes. He gave me a lot of good advice and tips. I ate dinner when I got home, took a shower, and relaxed. Goodnight!

  122 Hits

2/18/2024

Hello king tiger family. Today was a great Sunday. I woke up, went to church, played video games and watched tv, went to the grocery store and did requirements. After that I did 2 essays and my mom typed it for me (by telling her what to type) then finished requirements and relaxed for the rest of the night. Right now I am about hop into the eat dinner and enjoy the rest of the night so have a good night and see you tomorrow if you go to the burg.

  110 Hits

2/17/2024

Hello King Tiger Family. Today was a good day. I got up and went to sparring class. I helped out in junior and senior tigers. I led exercises in senior tigers and worked with a new high yellow belt on her self defense. I did a mentor session with my mentee and another high red belt joined us and I got to help both of them with red belt self defense. We had leadership and I worked on the leadership poomsae. I came back home and my grandma came over to visit. I showed her some games on my playstation. We had lunch and I finished up my requirements a couple hours later. I am about to relax and play roblox before I have to work on my essays. I agreed to work on 2 today and finish my last one next week.

  119 Hits

2/16/2024

Good Evening King Tiger Family. Today was a great day. We had our awards ceremony at school today and I got A honor roll and multiple awards. I expected some of the awards but not all. I took pictures with my friends and then we ended the day normal. I didn't go to after school today and came home so I could get ready for my black belt class. Class was went pretty well. We practiced O chang, koryo, and bocho specials. We got tips on on how to make our poomsaes better and what we should be working on. We had dinner after class and I brought the cookies I baked for my new skill for everyone. We played tiger ball after we ate and it was a lot of fun. I came home and finished up my requirements and played City Skylines. I think its the best game and...

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  122 Hits

2/15/2024

Hello King Tiger Family. Today was a good day. I woke up and completed some requirements in the morning and then went to school. School was normal. I had P.E and was able to run laps and finish my exercise requirements because the other 5th grade classes ruined P.E for us because they were not listening. We were only allowed to to run laps and read a book for P.E. My teacher allowed me to work on my exercises instead of reading. My mom picked me up early from afterschool early because I had to get a haircut. When I came home I finished my requirements and practiced stick forms...well what I could remember. I just finished dinner and now I'm about to get ready for bed.

  125 Hits

2/14/2024

Hello King Tiger Family. Today was an early release day at school so we only did our Black history project presentations. I did amazing on my speech and feel like I had one of the best board. After presentations we went music and then lunch. I went to after school and ran 2 miles and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing with my friends. My mom picked me up and told me that we were having black belt practice for candidates so we went home to pick up my uniform and head to King Tiger. I completed my exercises and worked on short sticks. I also had a mentor session and worked on staff form and more short stick forms. Me and my mom stopped by Chickfila for dinner and then came home. I worked on self defense and rolls and finished the rest of my requirements for the day. ...

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  135 Hits

2/13/2024

Hi King Tiger Family. Today was a good day. I went to school and took my ELA test and I think I did good. We have to give our speeches tomorrow for part of our Black history project and I think we are doing them all day because it is early dismissal. I am excited about the half day. I ran for 20 minutes during recess. When I came home I worked on my science book creator project and then finished my requirements. After dinner I practiced my speech and then took a shower. Now I'm about to read before bed. 

  123 Hits

2/12/2024

Good Evening King Tiger Family. Today was an ok day. I got up and did my exercises and then went went to school. I turned in my Black history project that I was talking about a few days ago. I'm glad I finally got to turn it in. It took multiple days to finally get it done. During my school day I started to feel a little sick and had to go home early. I came home and relaxed for a few hours and started feeling a little better. I did not feel well enough to go to my class tonight. I'm upset because I missed a lot of credits. I finished the rest of my requirements and I'm glad I was able to run laps at school before I started feeling sick. I'm about to work on a couple of activities for my book requirement so I can knock out...

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  111 Hits

2/11/2024

Hello king tiger family. Today was a normal Sunday. I got up and watched tv for a few hours, went to the grocery store, washed my hair, did requirements and got ready for the super bowl! It is really exciting to see it again and I hope you are ready! I am rooting for the chiefs, who are you rooting for?

  133 Hits

2/10/2024

Hello king tiger family! Today was my grandmas birthday so after sparring class this morning at 9:00 am (Yes, that is very early) I left my dojang and went to cracker barrel and my cousins and aunt came too. After that we all went to my grandmas house and had a great time. When me and my mom left, we came back to our place and started working on a social studies project around 4 pm. And we are still working on it as of right now so I am going to get back to helping her. Have a good night!

  118 Hits

2/9/2024

Good Evening King Tiger Family. Today was a normal day, went to school and received some things I should have gotten yesterday inside of my Thursday folder. They also revealed that we are having an award ceremony soon. I had to make up my math MAP testing and I think I did well. I cut my finger open in art class. It was a small cut and as long as I'm not rough with it and let it heal it will be okay. We were cutting out things for our art project for black history month. After school I went to taekwondo class. We practiced high yellow and green belt poomsae and self defense. We also worked on kicks and rolls. I didn't stay for pizza and came home and relaxed and then finished my exercises. I'm about to shower and get ready for bed. I have sparring in the morning...

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  138 Hits

2/8/2024

Hello King Tiger Family. Today I went to school and had a normal day, we got  Thursday folders and report cards. I got all  A's so here come my blue pants! Well I got an A average last quarter too though. After school I went home and did requirements and now I am relaxing. Tomorrow is Friday so yay!

  129 Hits

1/7/2024

Good Evening King Tiger Family! Today was a great day. I went to school and had a normal day. I was able to do some requirements at school in p.e and during recess. After school I went to taekwondo class. I was excited to learn about all of the credits I received because I attended jr instructor's camp. After high belt class we had black belt curriculum class and worked on sticks and staff forms. I learned that I need to practice my sticks more and I did pretty well with staff form. I came home and finished up my requirements and took a shower. I'm about to watch a little tv before heading to bed. 

  132 Hits

2/6/2024

Good Evening King Tiger Family! Today I woke up feeling better. I woke up a little later than normal and I did not do any requirements before school. School was normal except when I got there I found out someone took my headphones out my cubby. No one admitted to having them and I had to borrow some from school. I was not happy because I just got them for Christmas. They are going to look into it tomorrow. I have another pair at home that mom my said I could take and bring back home for now. Other than that my day was good except now we can't play with other classes during recess because some kids don't listen. I spent most of recess running laps. We picked up chikfila for dinner when my mom picked me up and I did my requirements after that. I'm about to play video...

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  108 Hits

2/5/2024

Hello King Tiger Family! Today when I woke up I felt sick so I could not go to school. I took the first few hours of my day to just relax and rest. Then around noon I had breakfast and watched tv. Later in the day I knocked out my requirements and did some Grit workbook activities. After I took the rest of the day to myself and then I had dinner later. Now I'm about to hop in the shower and wind down for the next hour I have. Tomorrow I have MAP testing so wish me good luck. Good night. 

  133 Hits

2/4/2024

Good Evening King Tiger Family! Today I went to church and saw a bunch of kids from my school. After church we went to the store to pick up supplies for my Black history project. I am John Lewis for our living museum so I have to write a speech to present in class and at the museum and also make a tri fold board about him to display. The board is the last part of the project I have left to do. I started typing some facts and accomplishments to use for the board and just have to work on printing pictures and putting it all together later this week. My mom bought me a suit to wear for the final presentation. I feel really excited about this presentation and can't wait until I get to present my project. I learned a lot about John Lewis and new things about...

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  128 Hits

2/3/2024

Good Evening King Tiger Family! Today was another good day. I finished jr. instructor's camp. This was my second time going and so far my favorite one because it was more about fundamentals. I also got to see some familiar faces from summer camp and my tae kwon do aka the burg. It was a really good time overall and to come home I felt sad and relief at the same time because I got to rest in my own house. I worked on a few requirements but have a slight headache so will probably spend the rest of the night winding down. 

  107 Hits

2/2/2024

Today was an amazing day! I got up and did requirements. Then I went to school and had early dismissal After that I went to my house and started to relax and then I started to type this. In a few mins I will go to jr. instructors camp so I have to finish packing.

  106 Hits

2/1/2024

Hello king tiger family. Today was a good day. I first woke up and ran then went to.school. Then I went to school and in art class we used Indian ink. My teacher warned to be careful because it was hard to wash out. Of course I got some on my new sweatshirt. My mom was not happy. After achool I came home and ate dinner. I had to wash my hair because I got red fuzz in my hair from my hood. Everyone kept asking if I dyed my hair at school and I was confused until I looked in the mirror. I finished my requirements while I watched tv.   

  117 Hits

1/31/2024

Good Evening King Tiger Family. I'm glad to tell you that today was a good day. Today I woke up and did my exercises in the morning and went back to sleep for a little while. After that I went to school and had a great day. I tried to tell my principal about the community service project but she did not come in until the afternoon and I was told that they would let me know when she arrived. I never got a call to the office and did not have a chance to ask to go back to see her. I will try to talk to her tomorrow. After school I went to Tae Kwon Do and helped out in junior tigers and then did a mentor session with my mentee Caleb. He is a really good mentee and we had an awesome time. Caleb listens and knows a...

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  125 Hits

1/30/2024

Good Evening King Tiger Family! Today was a great day. I woke up and ran and knocked out some other requirements. I went to school and we finally had our donut celebration for finishing our 50 states project. Besides that it was a normal day. I came home and finished my other requirements and did a couple activities in my book. I had to run 2 miles today and I hated it. I wish we didn't have to run a mile everyday but they did say getting your black belt was not going to be easy. After that I practiced poomsaes, self defense, and kicks. We had tacos for dinner and I came upstairs and took a shower. After I finish this I am going to bed. Good night. 

  101 Hits

1/29/2024

Good Evening King Tiger Family. Overall today was a great day. I overslept this morning and did not any requirements done before school. School was good today. I was disappointed that we did not have p.e. today because they decided to do a schedule change for our connect because of the teacher workday last week. They never did this before. We had music instead. I presented a music project with my group and one of our members went rogue and tried present his own project as ours. We were able to inform the teacher that was not what we completed and we played the real one. Lots of people like our project. The rest of the day at school went as normal. I went straight to King Tiger after school and helped out in junior tigers. I then took my weekday black belt class and had a mentor session with Master...

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  116 Hits

1/28/2024

Happy Sunday King Tiger Family! Today, I got up but I did not get to go to church today so me and my mom watched virtually because she was too tired to go. I completed some of my requirements while I was watching Ukids in my room. I cleaned up my room and then we went to pick up groceries. When we came back, my mom made breakfast and we ate. Then I helped set up our new treadmill with my mom and grandma. I did a little over 1.6 miles after we set it up. I relaxed and listened to music after that and then practiced my poomsaes, self defense, and kicks. I also knocked two essays which I did not want to do but I was happy when I completed them. Later I played Tekken with my mom and ate dinner after. I was able to complete two activities...

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  110 Hits

1/27/2024

Today I got up early and went to sparring class. After class I realized that I left my uniform top at home and my friend Declan let me borrow his. He saved me from a long drive back home. I am thankful for Declan and his help today. I helped out in junior tigers and did a mentor session with Caleb. After that I took a class as a white belt and stayed for leadership class.  We talked about being thankful and finding something we can do at home to help out. I'm still trying to think how I can help out at home. I stayed for the ninja gym reopening and play with some friends and offered to clean up after. I came home and finished my requirements and now I'm about to rest before working on my school project and some essays.

  114 Hits

1/26/2024

Overall today was a really great day. In school we had our birthday celebration and our character parade. The person I voted for best character of the month won. We got cupcakes, cookies, chips, and juice for the birthday celebration. My mom came up to volunteer and she brought the chips again this month. We also took a science MVPA test and got to go outside for recess. My shoes got muddy and my mom was not happy when saw them. I went to get a haircut and then attended my Black belt class. There were not as many people tonight. We practiced a lot of self defense and board breaking. I did okay with both and have to keep practicing some things. We had pizza after thanks to Master Foster and Instructor Conner. I came home and finished my requirements. It was torture but I got them done. I'm about...

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  120 Hits

1/25/2024

Today was a teacher workday so I went to after school the entire day. Besides that it was like any other day. I went home did my requirements and relaxed  

  116 Hits

1/24/2024

Today was a normal day. I did not want to get up for school and get there a little later than normal. School was okay. We did a reading MVPA test today. I think I did good on it. I happy because tomorrow is no school. I get to play with my friends. After school I went to my taekwondo class and helped out in junior tigers. I also got a mentor session and went over poomsaes. My mentee did not come before class today so we have to do it another day. I did a black belt class later and came home to finish my requirements. I'm tired so I'm about to relax.

  109 Hits

1/23/2024

Today was another normal day. I woke up, wen't to school, and came back home and did my requirements. I also did well on my science test and now have all A's again.

  125 Hits

1/22/2024

Today was a pretty normal day. I got up and went to school. We took our MVPA math test but didn't get our scores back yet. Besides that it was a normal school day and I went to after school. I cancelled my taekwondo class today because I had to study for my science test. I went over the study guide and feel like I am ready for the test tomorrow. After I finished studying I did my exercises and I will have to double up tomorrow on my poomsae and self defense. I'm about to relax and play Tekken before I go to bed. 

  140 Hits

1/21/2024

Today I tried to go mute but ended up talking a million times. Besides that all I did was do requirements, go to the grocery store and relaxed.

  116 Hits

1/20/2024

Today I got up and went to the usual 9:00 am sparring class. After I stayed to help out with jr. tigers, take a regular class and leadership. We played a round of tiger ball and I got out right before the last 2 mins. Of course when I got home I was extremely tired and finished requirements and winded down 2 hours. Then i had to work on a school project. After that I just relaxed for the rest of the day.

  104 Hits

1/19/2024

Today I woke up and knocked out some requirements this morning. Then I went to school and had a normal day, nothing exciting. My mom picked me up and I went to my black belt class. After we were done we had a potluck and after we ate I played with my friends. I also practiced rolls and falls with my friend Declan and then I came home and finished my jump rope and pull up requirements. I forgot to mention on yesterday I found out that my art teacher submitted my artwork for festival at the park and gave me a certificate. 

  115 Hits

1/18/2024

Today was a normal day. I got up and went to school. Today I had a math test and got a 90 on it. We had a computer science showcase and my group got to show our weather forecast robot. I did the coding part for the robot. When I got home I did my requirements and read a little. It was a good day.

  104 Hits

1/17/2024

Back to usual days. I woke up early so I did some exercises and played my video game for a while. I went to school 1 or 2 hours later. After school I went to my aunt's house to run on the treadmill for my mile. It was too cold to run outside today. I miss the hot temperatures in Jamaica already. Later I went to taekwondo class and let warm ups. I also did a mentee session and had another mentor session.  Then I went home after stopping by Harris Teeter. I finished my homework, ate, took a shower, and now am about to head to bed. 

  116 Hits

1/16/2024

Today, I spent the entire day traveling back to the U.S./ Charlotte. I am tired and did not get any requirements done so I have to double up tomorrow. 

  103 Hits

1/15/2024

Today was the last day on vacation. I got up and went to breakfast and after that I went to the gift shop and got a snowglobe. Then we went on a glass boat tour and came back and went to the waterpark. Hours later we came back to our room and washed my hair. Then we went to see some stage shows which really entertained me. This has been an wonderful vacation and I wish I didn't have to leave.      

  304 Hits

1/14/2024

Still on vacation. I got up and went to the gym to run. Then came back to the room and got ready for breakfast. After breakfast my mom took me to the souvenir shop against my will and eventually I got something. We went to the beach after. We later came back to the room and I finished some requirements and got ready for dinner. We stopped to get a milkshake on the way. Dinner was good. 

  110 Hits

1/13/2024

Today was the second day of my vacation and my first day waking up in Jamaica. I started the day doing some requirements on our balcony while at the Carribean Sea. Then after that I had breakfast and went to the water park for 2 hours. The slides there were fun but oen of them were pretty scary. After that we had lunch and now we are about to head to the beach. I plan to work on some poomsaes and self defense on the beach. 

  106 Hits

1/12/2024

Today was the first day of vacation so I do not have much to say. First I got to the airport and got on a plane 3 hours later. Then I arrived at Jamaica 2 hours later. Then rode the bus for 2-3 hours. The I finally arrived at the resort and went to my room and started typing this.      

  114 Hits

1/11/2024

Today was a usual day. I got up, did some requirements. Went to school and did my classes. Went to after school. Then I went home, finished the requirements and packed up for my vacation. I have to wake up at 4:30 Am so yeah. I am in bed now and just winding down.

  112 Hits

1/10/2024

Today school was delayed for 2 hours. This made me happy because I had more time to practice, run a mile and enjoy myself. When I arrived at school I went to class and talked to my friends. After that we soon started class when we switched classes we found out P.E was only 5 mins due to the two hour delay of school starting so we just played one round of silent ball. When we switched for the 2nd time my classmates would not stop talking in the hallway and the teachers took all our recess away since we had "P.E" today. When we switched back to our homeroom we packed up and went home, but I went to taekwondo class. I found it more exiting than usual because today was my first day mentoring someone. After that I took class and went home. I then took a shower and...

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  116 Hits

1/9/2024

Today we had no school! My day started like any other, staying in bed for an hour after I woke up and watched TV and played some video games. A few hours later my mom said it was time to do some school work. But it was not that hard since the school websites were down. So I started doing exercise and the other cycle requirements a few hours later but while I was doing that, i got a tornado warning. My mom said it was fine but if I hear strong winds to let her no and she will tell me what to do. But even more later the power went out for hours so when I finished I just sat down in silence. The power came on later and I moved on with my day.

  114 Hits

1/8/2024

It was time to go back to school... I tried my best not to sleep too long. When I got up me and my mom went outside and ran a mile. When we got back we felt our ears explode due to the change in temp. I knocked out some of my exercises and got ready for school. When I was at school I found tomorrow was going to be the best day ever because school is out. I went to Taekwondo class and helped in Junior Tigers. I then had my first mentor session with my mentor Instructor Conner. It went pretty good. I came home and finished my self defense.  Today was a long day and I can't wait to wind down.

  127 Hits

1/7/2024

I survived the shopping trip of 1/7/2024. It all started when I woke up and got in my car to drive to a nearby school's track. Me and my mom arrived around 10:00. We both ran a few laps and finished at a decent time for my first time running. But then that was when the terror began. My mom had said we would go to a store to get 1 or 2 items. So we went in to a Marshals and found half of what we needed to get but then they were out of stock for one of the items. So around an hour later we went to an Target and grabbed some Starbucks. I sat down and realized that we have been out the house for around 3 hours. So we went shopping but we did not find the item we were looking for but bought at least...

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  116 Hits

1/6/2024 (journal entry)

Today was the day of the black belt cycle pre test. I was exited but at the same time worried. I woke up and fell back to sleep to hear my mom saying stop oversleeping. I got ready put my dog in her crate and gave her a dog treat and got in my car. I stopped at chick-fil-a to get a biscuit and hashbrowns. I arrived at Grand Master Evins dojang and my mom told me that breakfast was over. I got out and entered to see a lot of familiar faces. I practiced with one of my friends on self defense and we soon started the pre test. We first warmed up with exercise, then went into the written exam (which I think i did horrible on). After that we did poomsaes and i think i did really well on them. My mom soon picked me up and I...

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  269 Hits