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!

Hello everyone! My name is Srilekha Krishnan, but I go by Sri here. I am currently a 3rd-Degree Black Belt and I am on my audit cycle for my 4th. I have one older brother who does Tae Kwon Do as well, but he is heading off to college this year. I have been doing TKD for over 10 years now, and I am super excited too be training for my masters!

Snow day t...

Snow day today and no school. Had a good day yesterday at the class. Got a few sparring rounds done. I have my day planned out today. After finishing the requirements will be out in the snow and play with my sister

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So yesterd...

So yesterday schools were closed due to snow. I am not sure if i will have any spring break this year or not. Had a great Black Belt Class yesterday and did a lot of kicks. Waiting for Ms Evins to send the dropbox and then submit my essays. Heard that it is supposed to snow on Thursday again and schools may be closed..

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Schools ar...

Schools are running 2 hour delay today due to snow. I hope they don't cancel school today since its snowing now. I had a good session with my mentee yesterday and I am proud of him. My mentee sessions are done however i will still keep working with him and help him in anything he wants.

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Today is s...

Today is school after one whole week. It was difficult getting up at 5am to do my run but somehow managed to drag myself out of bed and do the run. Just came back from my morning run with dad. Getting ready for school. Time flies. Its 6.30am and i have very little time before bus comes. Bye

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Yesterday ...

Yesterday had a good Black Belt Class and Sparring class. I am definitely understanding the variations in sparring and what I need to work on. I am ready for school next week. Our make up days are now in March during our spring break.

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Yesterday ...

Yesterday was another good day. I finished all my requirements by mid-day (No School again yesterday). Then I played with my sister for a while before i went for my swimming class in the evening. I had a great class yesterday and per our normal schedule we end class with a medley race. We had to do 250 mts (10 laps) with breaststroke, butterfly, back stoke and freestyle. As soon as the race started all my other friends swam really fast. I swam at a decent pace as i knew i had to keep going for 10 laps. My friends got exhausted by the 3rd lap. I started swimming fast after lap 7 and the final lap i made a sprint to the finish. I was done way before my friends could finish. My Master was very proud of me. I am working very hard as I really want to be...

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Its anothe...

Its another cold day today. The Cabarrus schools are closed today as well. We did not have school the whole week but we have make up day tomorrow. I am hoping that it will be cancelled tomorrow and i can come for Black Belt Class and Sparring class. The good thing about the schools being closed is that I have slept a lot and feeling a lot better now physically. I have been pulling off a lot of requirements as well. Stay Warm!!!

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We don't h...

We don't have school today as well. So it will be 1 week tomorrow since we went to school. I am feeling bored at home. I finish all my requirements by mid day and feel extremely bored. My sister and I played WII games for a while yesterday. I hope the weather gets warm and we go to school from tomorrow.

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No School Again today!!!

We don't have school again today. We have make up day on Saturday (Feb 21) and i am not happy at all. I will miss my Saturday Black Belt Class and Sparring. Not sure why they cancelled school today. I did not do my run yesterday but will go to do my run in the gym today. I did a lot of sparring rounds and pull ups and jump ropes yesterday. I feel good and planning to do the same today as well. I have caught up with my essays as well and waiting for Miss Evins to send the Drop Box for me to upload those.

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Yesterday ...

Yesterday we had only two classes in Tae Kwon Do due to the weather. The first one i helped and led warm ups. There were only 4 people in the class. The next class was mine where we had only 6 in the class. Master Evins made us do every single kick and i did close to 230 kicks in that hour. I had finished my 150 kicks earlier in the day with my pull ups and sparring rounds. I was very tired and Master Evins told that the overnight black belt test will be even harder than this. I am not sure what to expect now..... Lets hope for the best!

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Challenge - 5K

Yesterday my dad and I tried a challenge. We wanted to see how much stamina i had. So in the gym treadmill i put 5K and started running. I ran for 32 mins and covered 4.5Kms. Then my dad asked me to slow down and i did my cool down walk for another 4 mins. I was super excited to cover ~4.6KM (2.88 Miles) in my first try. I had the stamina to finish the 5K but my dad wanted me to slow down and do it over a couple of weeks. I am very excited for next weekend to see if i can do the full 5K. I caught up on a lot of sleep and feeling much better now. I did a lot of pull ups and sparring rounds yesterday and will do the same today. Glad it is a Holiday today!!!!!!!!!

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I had a gr...

I had a great day yesterday. The credits for Jr Instructors camp really helps. I am almost done with my requirements for BB classes, Leadership Credits and Sparring, The main focus for today and tomorrow is get most of my sparring rounds and pulls up done. Need to read the book for my essay too which i am hoping to complete by tomorrow.

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I just ran...

I just ran my 2.03 miles for the first time. I ran at a speed of 5.3 in the treadmill. I feel very good finally reaching my goal of 2.0 mile run. I am getting ready for the day. Leaving to Kumon in an hour and then will be at Black Belt class.

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My body is...

My body is becoming extremely sore. I woke up at 5am to do my daily run but my legs were paining. I went back to bed to get some rest. I will have to run when i come back from school. Have swimming in the evening. I have been doing my best to keep doing my daily quota of requirements but I am physically and mentally exhausted. We are 6 weeks away from testing and I want to get there strong and focused. I am going to make the best use of the long weekend by making sure I get plenty of rest to my body and also finish my daily requirements.

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I had anot...

I had another good run today. I ran 1.90 miles today. I am getting close to the 2.0 mile goal. I am working very hard on my pull up and hopefully get better. Looking forward to this Sunday and Monday so that I can sleep a lot and not wake up at 5am. My school bus comes in soon. Need to get ready. See you all tonight in the Black Belt Class!!

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Today my d...

Today my dad and I decided to take a break from our daily run. I woke up at 6am after a long time and feels good to get that extra hour of sleep. I did my 3rd mentor session with Master Randle yesterday and we reviewed all what I had learnt till date. I am making sure that I have my forms and stances correct. Then we did our Black Belt Class and I was extremely tired after that. I am working very hard on my pull up bar.

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Monday was...

Monday was overall good. I had got most of my requirements for the day done by end of class. Master Knight made us do a lot of kicks in Hyper Pro. I have a lot of projects at school this week and trying to finish everything along with the cycle requirements. I just finished my morning run and heading to school now. See you all in the Black Belt class this evening!!!

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Monday was...

Monday was overall good. I had got most of my requirements for the day done by end of class. Master Knight made us do a lot of kicks in Hyper Pro. I have a lot of projects at school this week and trying to finish everything along with the cycle requirements. I just finished my morning run and heading to school now. See you all in the Black Belt class this evening!!!

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I just fin...

I just finished my daily run with my dad. Ran a steady 1.86 miles. Getting up at 5am is tough but once I am up i am really motivated to do my run. My dad and i have a competition as to who gets out to the gym first to start the stretching and the run. Getting ready for school today and the bus comes in another 45 mins.

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I am still...

I am still very tired after Jr Instructors camp. My body is sore. My sister kept on waking me up and asking me to play with her since i was not there a day. I need to make sure i get through all my requirements today and also finish my assignments at school and Kumon. Need to work on my pull ups today

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Jr Instructors Camp

I just came back home from Jr Instructors camp. I am exhausted and need to go to bed early today. I had super fun at the camp and learned a lot of stuff. Master Evins asked us to do a lot of chores and i had never swept the floor before. This is the first time i learnt how to do it and swept the Do Jang very clean. Guess i can help my parents out now. I have completed my 4th year of Jr Instructor camp.

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I had a go...

I had a good mentor session with Master Randle. Also Master Cavazos took our Black Belt Class. I have Jr Instructor camp tonight and i am super excited. This will be my 4th time and I am very excited to do the overnight camp and learn the weapons.

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Yesterday ...

Yesterday was just a regular day. I did my morning run at 5.15am with my dad and then came and got ready for school. Finished my assignments while coming back in the bus so that I can do some push ups and situps before class. I did warm ups and assisted the 4.35pm class and took my class. We had Hyper and Wednesday’s are sparring rounds. Master Evins made us do non stop kicks and also taught us how to attack and defend during sparring. I had finished all my kicks requirement for the day before I went to class and then probably did another 100 more kicks during the Hyper Pro class. I was exhausted by the time I came back and had dinner and slept off.

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I did my f...

I did my first mentor session with Master Randle yesterday. She reviewed Hapkido with me, my staff form and short stick form. We also went through with Powgway Il Chang. I know the form now with all the correct stances and moves. She also taught me the Staff Attack and Defend which was very exciting. I will practice that and show her on Thursday.

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I was very...

I was very happy yesterday. My mentee did his make up test for his hig red belt. Master Evins said that we had 6 mins before the class started and i made sure that he was comfortable in his self defense and poomsae. At first he was nervous but then we went over it a couple of times and he became ok. He did very good in his pre-test and i was really proud. He is now a high red belt. We did a few rounds of sparring in the class and then finished with my mentee session.

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My daily r...

My daily run is improving. I started running at a speed of 3.2 in the treadmill and ran 1.5 miles when I started 6 weeks back. Now I am running at speed of 5.0 and running 1.85 miles. My first goal of reaching 5.0 speed before February 2015 has been reached. Now I need to run 2 miles in 20 mins. This is the goal before I get to my Black Belt test. I am not sure what speed I need to run in order to get to this goal but my dad has been helping me do this slowly and steadily. Yesterday my dad and I watched the Super Bowl. I was hoping that the Sea Hawks will win. They were doing good but Tom Brady was very good. I saw the half time show and then hit bed. My dad told me this morning that Patriots won the Super...

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My Mentor

Yesterday in our Black Belt class Master Chelley announced our mentors. She told that Master Randle will be my mentor. I was extremely happy and smiling throughout. I started Tae Kwon Do Junior Tiger with Master Randle and i am very happy that Master Randle is going to mentor me to get my 1st degree black belt. I had a good Black Belt session yesterday and also a few good sparring rounds with my friends. Today i have to finish all my kumon assignments and get ready for the week.

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Race with my master in Swimming class

I had an absolutely wonderful day yesterday. Good day at school and finished my assignments as soon as i came back. In the evening i went for my swimming class. My master made me do all the strokes multiple times. I did freestyle, breast stroke, butterfly strokes, whip kicks. He also made us do these styles just using hand and no kick. This is to strengthen my upper body. I could definitely feel the difference as i know i am feeling much stronger now doing my push ups and sit ups everyday. Finally we had freestyle race - 50 mts and i won it. My master challenged me to a 25 mt race. He gave me a 4 sec head start since i am very young and we raced. All parents and students cheered me. I won touching the wall a stroke earlier than my master. He called me the "Beast"...

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Yesterday ...

Yesterday was another real long day. Came back from school and finished my assignments. I had to go to Kumon at 5pm and i came to Tae Kwon Do t 6pm. I helped family class and then took the Black Belt Class. We got our short stick form down. I have swimming class this evening and really looking forward to it. My master makes me do different strokes and ends the class with a relay race. Even though i am the youngest and shortest in the group i give a tough fight

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I had anot...

I had another good day both at school and at Tae Kwon Do. I finished all my assignments as soon as i came back from school and got ready for Tae Kwon Do. I assist the 4.35pm class on mondays and wednesdays and also lead warm ups. I learnt my staff form with Master Knight and practiced all my self defenses and poomsae with Instructor Weeks. He made sure that he pointed out the right technique for all my self defense and poomsae. I did my Mentee session as well. Tomorrow is going to be a long day with Black Belt class till around 8.30pm..but i am excited to learn more new black belt stuff.

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My Report Card!!!!

I got my report card yesterday for the second quarter and I am proud that I got an "A" Honor Roll again. I had straight As again. I went to Tae Kwon Do to assist the family class and take my Weekday Black Belt Class. Master Cavazos taught us Hapkido 1 -6. I never told him that i knew up to 8 as i wanted to make sure that i get the right technique. Now i have 1-8 down and working with Instructor Weeks on my Hapkido 9 and 10.

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Monday!!!!

It was a long Monday yesterday. I had a great day at school and finished my assignments as soon as i came in. Master Evins is not here this week and yesterday Master Ritchie took our class. He is a really funny guy. He made us sweat a lot. After every other activity he would ask us to knock out 10 push ups and 10 situps. Luckily i had done only around 75 before i went to the class. I still went over my daily quota of 120 push ups and sit ups. I decided not to take Hyper Pro class yesterday. I spent time with Instructor Weeks to make sure i get my Hapkido down. I had learned Hapkido from Master Mitchelle earlier. I remembered pretty much 1 - 8. I need to practice these and make sure i learn 9 and 10. I did my mentee session as well...

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I am feeli...

I am feeling very tired after yesterdays pre-test. I woke up an hour late today and did not feel like going for my daily run. It took me few mins to get over this feeling and start the day with my run. Me and my dad went to the gym to do our morning run and once i started running i felt very good. I did 1.68 miles today in 20 mins. I want to increase my speed to 5.2 so that i can get to 2 miles by the end of 24 mins. I need to run a better time than 9:17 which i did in my pre-test. I have a long day ahead of me today as i will have to finish all my assignments for the week and get ready for school as well. I hope to finish this by late afternoon and play some games.

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Pre-Test

We did our Pre-Test yesterday and today. I was very nervous yesterday when we started. There was a big crowd and i did not want to embarrass myself in front of everyone. I had practiced a lot to make sure that i do perfect. I did pretty well in my poomsae and self defense. Whatever Master Evins and Master Chelley called out i did pretty well. Today in the morning we had to run a mile and i finished with a time of 9mins and 17 secs. I have been running everyday and i am very sure i will be able to beat this time again. We did our Taekug Pao Chang and i did it correct. We did all the physical requirements and i need to keep working on making sure i am becoming stronger. I did only 1.5 pull ups and my goal in the next 5 weeks is...

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This is my...

This is my 5th week in the Black Belt Cycle. I started off a little early during the winter break so that i can finish as many physical requirements as possible. I can feel that my body is getting stronger but i am also very tired. With my assignments at school, Kumon and Swimming to do i am really getting very tired. But i want to keep going and finish strong in this Black Belt cycle. My parents also look very tired bringing me to classes and helping me out in all my activities. I am pretty sure that after i get my 1st poom we will take a few days break and relax.

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Daily Run

For this Black Belt cycle I need to run a mile and half everyday. I started running from Dec 23rd and have been running every single day. My dad also runs with me every morning. He gets up at 4.45am and then wakes me up around 5am. We both go to the gym and run in the treadmill. I started running at a speed of 3.5 the first day. Now I run at around 4.7 speed and cover 1.75 miles everyday. My dad started by doing walk in the treadmill and now he is running a 5k everyday. After the run both my dad and I sweat a lot and are very tired. It feels great to run and me and my dad have made the promise that we are going to run everyday even after the Black Belt Cycle. I want to run the 5K organized by King Tiger with...

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White Belt Challenge - Week 12 - 18

I wanted to do the White Belt Challenge early in my cycle. I asked Master Knight to give me a white belt and on Monday when i came to class in white belt most of my friends were surprised and asked why i became a white belt all of a sudden and if i had done something wrong. I help out the class before my regular class and the students were thinking i belonged to the same class. Master Evins called me to lead warm ups and told everyone not be fooled by seeing my white belt and that i was a Black Belt candidate. This entire week i was treated like a white belt. I lined up in the last row and i felt embarrassed at first but then i realized that i have worked my way up to the first row and was proud of myself. Also i attended...

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Empathy Challenge - 12/27/2014

I went "Dumb" for 12 hours on Dec 27th. It was a saturday and i started off early in the morning. It was extremely difficult for me to keep quiet and not talk at all. I had to put a towel around my mouth to keep reminding myself that i am not supposed to talk. I really felt bad for people who are not able to see, talk or hear. I Thank GOD for giving me all the abilities and i wish that i help such people when i grow big and start earning

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