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!

Why are the months called what they are?

In one of my classes we learned that the word September comes from the greek word Sept which means sixth. The funny thing is that September is actually the ninth month in the year. Also Oct means eight but October is the tenth month. Did you know that two months were added in the middle of the year? July and August were added by Julius and Caesar Augustus . Just thought you should know.

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Written and Physical Test

On Saturday I took the physical and written test for the black belt cycle. On the physical part, I did four pull-ups which is really big for me. It took me 8 minutes and 25 seconds to run my mile. My best is 7 minutes and 42 seconds. I had to do push-ups, sit-ups, and burpees as well. On the written test I got a grade over 100. I got 104% because of the 6 bonus questions. I am happy that I got that grade because only one person got higher than me. It was one of the second or third degrees. I am excited about the last few weeks of the cycle.

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Playing TF2

Tonight I was playing TF2 and I was one of the best players on the team. TF2 is Team Fortress 2 and is a first person shooter with 9 different classes with 3 different people in each of three sections, offense, defense, and support. On Offense is the Scout, the Soldier, and the Pyro. Defense is the Heavy, the Demoman, and the Engineer. Support guys are the Medic, Sniper, and Spy. I was playing as the Demoman and right when I was playing it I was playing as the Sniper. Sniper, Scout, and Demoman are my favorite classes. I like Sniper because they're are a ton of different weapons and you start out with a regular sniper rifle. As you get better you'll earn items like the Cindy Sleeper, the Hitman's Heat Maker, and my favorite, the Awper Hand and the Festive Huntsman...a bow and arrow. As Demoman my favorite loadout...

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Helping out at Chik-fil-A

Today me and my dad had lunch at Chik-fil-A. After we ate, I wanted to go into the kids area because I still like it a little. I was just under the height I had to be to go in. When I went in there were a lot of toddlers who couldn't get up the big steps to the slide. So I decided I was going to help. I helped out at least 6 different kids get from the bottom to the top. I also helped them get to other places that had big steps. I was so busy helping that I didn't get to do what I wanted to because I was just going around getting them to where they wanted. I put others before myself and enjoyed doing it.

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Leaving Early

Today at school I got to leave early so I could come to Starbucks and get a snack and get two of my essays done. I did the Bo Cho Don Essay and my New Skill Essay. I am nervous about the written and physical tests this Saturday. I am more nervous about the written test because I don't have enough facts ready to go in my mind. I still need to learn a few things. I want to know more about Korean words and what they mean and how to say them so I'm not saying them wrong. I feel like. I know the 10 senior belt codes and the ordinal numbers. I also know why we wear a white uniform. We wear a white uniform because it allows our Sa Bum Nim to write knowledge on us as if we were a blank sheet of paper.

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Lap Dog!

My dog is laying on me! I love it. He is bigger than a lap dog but not as big as great danes. When my parents asked me what type of dog I wanted I said a dog that would lay in my lap. He is a mix between lots and lots of types. I think he might be part dalmatian, part basset hound, and part beagle. 100% mutt. And 100% adopted. :-) He is such a good dog I don't know why he was given to the shelter. He doesn't pull hard on the leash and he gets along with the cat but he sometimes thinks she is playing and he runs at her. She doesn't like that much. He seems to like it quite a bit.

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Lacross vs Golf

Today me and my dad got Lacrosse sticks. After we got them we played with them in the driveway and with the new ball. The new ball is one of the bounciest balls ever. My dad got one of the goalie sticks which has a wider net. I got a regular stick. When my dad went to catch the ball he usually got it. When he threw it to me I would miss it. Yesterday I got some practice golf balls. I haven't been able to hit those yet because of the weather. I have my own golf tee that I did get to use with real balls the other day. Dad and I hit them around our yard. I want to start playing both of these sports but I will get through my black belt cycle first.

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I just woke up...

...and my parents are making me do a journal. I wanted to go watch TV but I have to do this first. The benefit to doing it now is that I don't have to come back and do it tonight. I had fun sleeping. I feel like I slept nicely. I don't remember any dreams from last night. I'm still in my pajamas and I can't believe they are making me write this so early. I don't know what else to say. I'm not all the way awake yet. Bye bye. I'm tired.

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Trying to be Mute

Today I was doing the mute challenge and I was so close to finishing. I was playing a game and there were a lot of cheaters so I started yelling at them. I was at King Tiger and a girl heard me so started yelling that I had talked. Mrs. Debbie heard this and told Mrs. Jen. Since I didn't make it I'm going to try the one hand challenge for half a day. I think I'll do that challenge tonight while I sleep. Good night.

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Going Mute Tomorrow

So I am going mute tomorrow as my disability for the day. My school teacher said that I could just write down what I need to say on a piece of paper. I'm nervous because I think it will be hard to for the whole day. My brother mentioned that he remembered a girl named Miranda going mute for her black belt cycle. I think I will miss talking the most at lunch and recess. All the other parts of the day will be pretty good except for when I work in a group if I have to explain things to other people.

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39 Clues Book 2- One False Note

Today I started reading the second book in the series 39 Clues. I did not know this but the 39 Clues Books are written by different authors. The first is written by Rick Riodan. The second is written by Gordon Korman. The third is written by Peter Larengis and is titled The Sword Thief. So far in book 2 Dan and Amy Cahill have gone into catacombs but not like spooky scary bone catacombs. More like narrow hallway maze catacombs. They eventually found their way out by following a light source. They did not know what it was at first but it lead them to a room with lots of drums. The tried to move a drum but they were stuck in place. They found a metal ladder blocking the way out. They heave-ho'ed and brought it down. On the other side there were lots of figures in black robes. Da...

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BOOOONNNNNEEEESSSS

Tonight when I got home Mom was watching another episode of Bones on Netflix. It is about a woman named Temperance Brennan who is a forensic anthropologist and a man named Seeley Booth who is an agent in the FBI. They work together to solve murder cases. There are 9 seasons and we are on Season 8. There is a lot of science in the show which is part of why I like it. There is also some mystery and action which I like too. In the last episode someone tried to kill Temperance with a bullet made from frozen blood. A man named Hodgens is my favorite character. He is a scientist who studies bugs and wood and slime. I don't know exactly what he studies but I like him.

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Kickboxing

Today I went to kickboxing. Holden, Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson and Master Chelley were there tonight. It was really fun. I liked the music a whole lot. I got 21 sparring rounds and my Dad participated. My dad was doing really well on his kicks. He got really tired and almost passed out. In fact I had to drive him home he was so tired. Now I need to go put him to bed with his stuffed animals. Good night.

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My New Dog!

Today I got a new dog! At first his name was Ford and I liked that one but we renamed him Luke. We were deciding between Ford, Luke, Roy, and Link. I like Luke because he is named after Luke Skywalker. His name was Ford because he was brought to the shelter in that type of car. We got him from the Mega Adoption Event at the Metrolina. We were the 237th family to adopt a pet at the event this weekend. I hope that all the other pets get adopted. They had cats and kittens there as well. I really wanted a new kitten. They cost $5 and I had $5 in my pocket. Mom and Dad asked me which one I wanted and I said we would go for the Dog. I also saw 5 camels but I don't think they were there to be adopted!

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It's late and I'm tired and I don't know what to write.

I want to get a journal done before I go to bed. Mom says I stink so I still need to get a shower. I just want to lay on the sofa and go to sleep. My nose is stuffed up. We just finished watching a Bones. My mom found the series on Netflix and has been working on watching them all. I think the show is ok. I like all of the characters equally. My favorite episode was when they talked about Chupacabras. This was my favorite part because they are mythical creatures with two fangs pointing down and one fang pointing up. That is why this was my favorite episode.

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Grandma

Today my parents celebrated their anniversary so I got to spend the evening with Grandma. We went to dinner at Outback and I got ribs. Mmmm, yeah. I ate too much. We split a fudge Sundae with raspberry sauce for dessert. I got unlimited shrimp with my meal so had two shrimp as well. It was one of the best meals I have ever had.

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Pictures

Today was picture day at King Tiger. I was one of the last people to go. I did several poses and used a few weapons. I used the sword, the dagger, sias, and comas. The picture I liked the best was the one where I had one hand on my waist and one hand in a backfist. So my favorite picture was one without a weapon. One of the bad things though was the fact that my mom didn't let me let the background I wanted. I wanted one with two dragons, one blue ice dragon and one red fire dragon. Mom made me chose between a background with a twister in the back and a background with blue smoke. I picked the blue smoke and a second one with the earth disappearing behind me. That is how my picture day went!

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American Ninja Warrior!

Tonight I watched the Finals of American Ninja Warrior. No one had ever beaten stage 3 before in all 7 seasons. But tonight it was different. Tonight 2 people got to the end of Stage 3. The two people were the modern day Popeye, Geoff and part of the Wolf Gang, Isaac. Both made it to the top of Mount Midoriama. Geoff was the first to climb and he climbed 75 feet straight in 30 seconds. He had 0.35 seconds to spar. Geoff was the first American to ever beat 'the mountain'. Isaac climbed next and made it in just over 26 seconds. So Isaac was given the title American Ninja warrior and he won $1,000,000. In the beginning ,there were 38 contestants that got to try Stage 2. Then there were 8 that got to try Stage 3. Only two made it to Stage 4 and both of them made...

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Sleepover

Last night I had a sleepover with my best friend Carter. We got to stay up really late and had a whole bottle of root beer each. We stayed at Carter's house. It was really fun because we played MineCraft. On the second day Of the sleep over we were going to the Nether (in MineCraft!). Carter was kind of always messing up. He died over ten times within two hours. We made it to the Nether and I got to experience level ten. We had root beer tonight but I liked Carter's better. I'll have to ask him which one he buys. That is why I enjoyed my sleepover with my friend.

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8bithero on Etsy

Today my dad got a really cool sticker in the mail. It was a super hero sticker of the Justice League but they were done in 8 bit style. Dad found the sticker on Etsy which is a place where people sell things they have made. I want to search Etsy sometime to see what else is on there. Here are the heros that are on the sticker: Black Canary, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Plastic Man, Zatana, Flash, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Atom, Red Tornado, Aquaman, and Firestorm. Out of all of these my favorite is Flash, Atom, Firestorm, Green Arrow, and Batman. Don't forget Green Lantern. That is why I asked dad if I could get one of my own. This is also why I like 8bithero.

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Chipped Tooth

I was playing soccer today at school. I was going to headbutt the ball but another kid ran up in front of me, jumped up, and punched me in the face. I didn't tell on him but it hurt really bad. He didn't say he was sorry. Worse of all, it chipped my front, bottom tooth. I don't like talking about it because it was surprising. He chipped my tooth and doesn't care whatsoever because he didn't apologize. He should have been aware that I was going to get the ball, and he should have been aware of his surroundings. It makes me really sad that he didn't say he was sorry afterwards.

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39 Clues

39 Clues is a book series written by Rick Riodan. I just read the first one and it is called The Maze of Bones. I liked the book because it has action and suspense. It was one of the best books I have ever read. I plan to read all 39 books in the series. The main characters are a boy and his sister. Their names are Dan and Amy. Amy is older than Dan but Dan seems smarter. Their friend Nelly is taking them all over the world. Their parents aren't the ones doing this because they died in a fire. Their Grandma Grace died and she left them the 39 Clues. But the some of the Cahill family was competing against them. They were competing against them because after the 39 clues are found, that team or person will become the more powerful Cahill in history. According to this...

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At The Lake

My Grammie lives on Lake Gaston. It is half in NC and half in Virginia.She lives in NC yet is very close to the NC line. We ride the boat or jetski over it all the time. I like the jetski better because I can go knee boarding, tubing, or just jumping waves. I like kneeboarding because that means I can try something new. I've even gotten all the way on my feet. It's fun because it's hard to do and it challenges me. Even though I'm pretty experienced it's still hard to get on my feet. My uncle lives here with my Grammie and he has the original XBox with Halo 1 and 2. So when we are not playing in the lake I can play on the XBox. Always a good trip!

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Stan Lee's Super Humans

I was watching this a TV show that shows people with super human abilities. One could sniff like a dog. Another one could climb using only her fingertips. She climbed a 50 foot rock face in 13.4 seconds. There was also a man who could hold two planes in place and keep them from taking off without getting ripped in half. If I had a super human ability it would be to jump really far. Too jump really far for football would help me with interceptions. I also want to jump really far for Parkour.

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Sooooooo....

Today I played soccer at recess. My team lost because our goal was five times bigger than the other team's. But before I was on the losing team, I was on the winning team. I was switched from one team to the other. I was switched because the teams were uneven. People called me Mr. Headbutt. They called me that because I made amazing headbutts every game. My amazing headbutt this game was when I was on the winning team. This is how I spent my recess.

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Pre-Test

Yesterday I took my pre-test along with everyone else on the cycle. It was fun and hard at the same time. It was hard because it was non-stop working which I'm used to. It was fun because I wasn't that tired after the run. I was happy to do more training and I felt like I would be super tired after the pre-test. I just found out I got a 75 on my written test so I barely passed. I am so happy that I passed because that meant I was one step closer to becoming a first poom. That made me really happy.

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I can't feel my hands

Today at PMAA class I worked for 20 minutes straight on Cinawhilies(sp?) without stopping. After I couldn't feel my hands. I had to wait for about 5 minutes for feeling in my hands to come back. After it came back, it stung for about 2 minutes. Then it felt normal. I knew the feeling would return because something similar has happened to me before. Stick class was fun though.

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After My First Day of School

My first day of school was a pretty good day. I met my teacher and all of the new kids in my class. There are 6 other kids from my class last year. Unfortunately none of them were my best friends. My favorite part of the day was music because I like music. When I was called upon to explain the rules for music. There was 'Be A Good Listener.' This is one of the easy ones to remember because it has two eighth notes and two quarter notes. A quarter note is one beat and an eighth note is two beats on one note. My music teacher said I was spot on. After that we learned a song. I forgot what it was called. I'm pretty sure it went like this... "oooh goodly thing if the children of this world could dwell together innnnnnnn peeeeeeaaaaaace."

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Last Day of Freedom

I feel scared yet excited about going to school tomorrow. I can't wait to meet all the people in my class. There are only two people in my class that I know. The coolest thing I did this summer was something called the Jetovater. we have a video of it that I haven't gotten to see it because my uncle has it. My brother, uncle and dad did it with me. The jetovator is a one person water jetpack/elevator thing. Instead of the jet ski towing you, you pull the jet ski. The jet ski provides the propulsion that shoots you up into the air. There are two handles that are connected to jets and these handles help you go higher, faster, and turn. The more you pull the handles towards you, the more you go up. The more you push them away from you, the faster you go. It was...

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Lazer Tag!

Yesterday I played Lazer Tag with King Tiger Summer Camp. it was really fun because my team won! I was on blue and my nickname was Predator. The course had a Temple Run look but it was really dark instead of bright and high in the sky. My strategy was to sit back and pick off the people that were far away from me. At a part in the game, someone from the red team stood at our team's base and tried to shoot us but he was outnumbered. When we shot him, he just stood still leaning up against a pool and we got to shoot him over and over. At the beginning of the game, my friend and I promised to not shoot each other if we were on opposite teams. Buuuut when I rounded a corner he was right there and we both ended up shooting each other...

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Lazer Tag!

Yesterday I played Lazer Tag with King Tiger Summer Camp. it was really fun because my team won! I was on blue and my nickname was Predator. The course had a Temple Run look but it was really dark instead of bright and high in the sky. My strategy was to sit back and pick off the people that were far away from me. At a part in the game, someone from the red team stood at our team's base and tried to shoot us but he was outnumbered. When we shot him, he just stood still leaning up against a pool and we got to shoot him over and over. At the beginning of the game, my friend and I promised to not shoot each other if we were on opposite teams. Buuuut when I rounded a corner he was right there and we both ended up shooting each other...

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Madagascar 3

Today I went and saw Madagascar 3 with my summer camp. It was better than I expected it to be and it had lots of colorful parts. The best part is when Alex and his friends join up with the circus and did this big performance show. It was bright and colorful and impressed everyone. I liked it because it was completely different from the other ones and this movie had different animals than the other movies. It also took place in many more places. I also liked it because there is a lot more action. That is why I liked Madagascar 3.

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Madagascar 3

Today I went and saw Madagascar 3 with my summer camp. It was better than I expected it to be and it had lots of colorful parts. The best part is when Alex and his friends join up with the circus and did this big performance show. It was bright and colorful and impressed everyone. I liked it because it was completely different from the other ones and this movie had different animals than the other movies. It also took place in many more places. I also liked it because there is a lot more action. That is why I liked Madagascar 3.

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first journal entry

Today I spent the day at King Tiger having fun while trying to stay focused on my black belt cycle. I ended up doing really well on my cycle today and I also had fun at the park. So far I feel good about the cycle work. I am excited about testing for a new belt and getting another chance to break a brick. I didn't break the last one because of the chunks of granite in it. Plus it was three studs wide. I feel really confident about breaking the brick the brick and this will show that I am getting stronger. I also know that I am getting faster at my running and better at jump roping. I feel confident that I will get my next belt but I am a little bit worried about the breaking kick for my first don because I've always not been good at breaking with a hook. 

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