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!

The search

Today I had to pack my TKD uniform before going to school.  I found my belt and pants pretty easily, but the top was the hardest.  I circled the living room about 18 times, the rec room a couple of times, and then I found it in my bedroom

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walk

Today I got to walk to TKD class.  I liked it because we got to explore trails and stuff.

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shots

Today I had to go to the doctor to get shots.  I was scared at first, but then once I did it, it only hurt for a couple of seconds.  

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Rain

This morning I had to run 2 miles in the pouring rain.  I got to run with my sister and we found a dead frog on the road.  

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Kicks for kids

Today at the kicks for kids festival it rained.  I'm glad it waited until the end though.  I still got to do a bunch of things even though i went to the Master Estrada seminar.  

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friend

Tonight I went to my friend Ben's house.  It was a lot of fun.  We played football and wrestled.  Then we played some wii and had dinner.  After that we played more wii and my mom came to pick me up

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Test Prep

For the past couple of days I have been prepping for the test.  I think I'm going to be fine, but I still need to practice the written test.

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APPLES

Today I went apple picking in the mountains.  Together we picked 77 lbs. of apples.  We also got fudge and 2 dozen doughnuts.

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Sensei Wars

Today on my kindle I got a new game called sensei wars.  I am already on level 4, it is my new favorite game.  

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Nook

For the past couple of days I have been reading on my dad's nook.  For some reason I have been attracted to it, and I have been reading it for all of my reading assignments for school, and most of my free time.

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sick

Today and yesterday I have been sick.  It has not been very pleasant because my dad is making me take medicine.  The only good part about it is that I don't have to go to school.  

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Church and Game

Earlier today I wen to church at a new place that I have never been to, except when I was blind for my empathy training.  Now, I am getting ready to watch the Panthers Vs Ravens game.  

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Weed Pulling

Today I had to pull weeds on the side of my house and in my mother's roses.  Pulling the weeds was my punishment for getting in trouble at school.  It was not fun.  I got poked by thorns a lot, saw a bunch of worms, and yellow fuzzy things on a tree.  

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Classes

Today I wen to three classes.  Green and higher, black belt, and sparring.  I was very glad because I got some requirements in.

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10,10,and 2

Today since I completed push ups, sit ups, burpees, falls and kicks, my dad only had me do 10 sparring rounds, 10 minutes of jump rope and 2 rounds of self-defense (white through BD special).  I am happy since this is not as much as I usually have to do.

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Soap Selling

Today was my second day of selling soap for my community service project.  Even though most of the people that I planned to see were not home, I still had a good trip.  I am now over 100 dollars.

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Community Service Project

Today I worked on my community service project, by selling the soap that I made for new skill.  I made $84 so far and I will be working on that for the next couple of days.  I am having lots of fun talking to neighbors and telling them about the black belt cycle.  

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Library

Today since my sister got to spend the night with her friend, I got to go to my mom's work and stay their until it closed.  I got to play on the computers and check out a book.  When the library closed, my mom gave me a doughnut, then we got home and I got to play on my kindle until it was time to pick my dad up at Tae Kwon Do.  After picking him up we went out to eat at Cafe 157.  Then we came home and I am staying up late to work on requirements.   

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Today I get to....

Today I get to go and play football with my friends, its not going to be as fun today, because it is my turn to referee this week.  

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Cub Scouts

Today at cub scouts we had a man from the Knights of Columbus come and talk to us about raising money for the needy.  It would be part of my pack's community service and we will be giving out tootsie rolls, and hoping people give a donation at the harris teeter. 

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South Carolina

Today I went to a soccer tournament in South Carolina.  The two games that I played were my first games of the season.  Even though we lost both of the games, I was still happy that I got to play.  

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gameday

Today I watched the ECU at VT game the Kansas at Duke game and now the Georgia at South Carolina game.

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The Ladder

Yesterday in class we did something called the ladder, where you have to do 10 pushups, 10 situps then 9 of each, 8 and so on.  It was not fun because you have to start over every time someone messes up, and we started over twice.   

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Class

Today at Tae Kwon Do class we practiced Bo Cho Dan Special and Knife self-defense.  We also practiced Basic Form 3. 

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Unexpected Guest

Today my Grandmother came over and I was not expecting it.  Usually, every Sunday we bring her to church, but this week we did not, so she decided to stay a little longer.  

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Homework

On Friday, my teacher gave me homework over the weekend.  I was not happy about it.  After I got it done, it was not that bad because I knew I would have a normal weekend of doing requirements and chores.

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Labor Day weekend

Yesterday I went to a labor day party in my neighborhood.  It was fun, I got to see all my friends and jump on their new trampoline.  We also had a dance party.  Today, I ran for the first time since the pre-test, and it was really hot outside.  I was sweating so much that I wasn't allowed to sit on the couch until I had taken a shower.  

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My camping trip

This weekend I went on a camping trip in the mountains with my family and friends.  We rented a tube and I really enjoyed floating down the river.  We also got to sing Karaoke and play badminton.  

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Workout

Today I went to three classes, and the Masters really worked me out  I was sweating so much that I was glad to get home and watch the panthers game.  

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YAY!

Today I got my written test results back and I got 100, I was happy with it.

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Soccer Game

Yesterday I went to a Virginia Tech soccer game at Davidson College.  It was very exciting because my friends and I got a chance to be ball kids for the game.  The best part was being on the field, close to the players.  The Hokies won 4 - 0.

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HOME!

Today I get to stay home all day because I start school in 2 days and can't go to summer camp.                                                                                                        

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ah!

Today I had to get a haircut.  My barber messed up and I hate my cut.:(

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Today I have to go to . . .

Today I have to go to a baptism so I have to do my requirments in the morning.  Yesterday was my last day of summer camp I am sad.:(

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Today and Yesterday

Today and yesterday my group at summer camp won awards for spirit, cheering people on, and picking up trash.  sssssssssssssss

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essay

Today I did my essay for the white belt challenge and empathy training.  It took 3hrs!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              ...

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Late

Today was supposed to be normal.  Instead my mom picked me up from summer camp really late so I could not do a bunch of stuff.           

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Empathy Training

Today I'm spending the day blind for my empathy training.  It really stinks because I had to got to church and to brunch while blind.  I didn't want to do "blind", I wanted to do the wheelchair.  But, my parents wouldn't let me and said I had to do "blind."  

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More of the same

Today has been a lot like yesterday.  I stayed home from summer camp, and my dad made me do a bunch of requirements.  

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Full day of work

Today I did a ton of requirements.  I did a lot of self defense, poomsae and all that stuff.  Getting ready to go to black belt and then sparring class. 

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Fun at Scout Camp

For the past 3 days I went to camp at Belk Scout Camp in Midland NC.  We got to swim everyday and shoot rifles.  We also got to go to a trading post and do archery competition.  We also got to name one of the staff "Twinkie" because he sang a song about Twinkies on the first day of camp.   I  got to do the flag ceremony on the second day and I got to say grace before breakfast.  Finally we got to sleep over every night.  I only did 2 pull ups and 3 random acts of kindness at camp.   I have some catching up to do on poomsaes, self defense and jump rope.

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Freak out

Today I went to summer camp, and when my dad picked me up, we went to Tae Kwon Do.  When we got home it was pretty late and I thought I was not done with my requirements for the day.  Then I remembered that I did a bunch of pushups and situps at Tae Kwon Do and that I wasn't really behind.  

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Getting Prepared

Today my family had to prepare for the newcomer in December.  I helped my dad build the changing table for the baby.  We also cleared space out of a room where the baby would sleep, and my dad put the crib together.  We also had to put the rooms in the order that we wanted them to be in, so we would have enough space for the baby.  

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4th of July Party

Yesterday, I went to a fourth of July party at my neighbors house.  My friends and I got to do the fireworks show during the party. We set off fireworks called "Little Dynamite" and burned LEGOs during the day.  I am going to another party today, also at my neighbors house and I believe I will have fun.  My mom disliked the idea of me and my friends to set off the mini-dynamite.  She was correct.  I burned my pinky and lost hearing in one ear for a minute.

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a Day to Catch up

Today I had to catch up for my days off.  I was very behind on jump rope, poomses and self-defense.  I barely got any free time because I was having to catch up on all my stuff.  I had to do an interval run which is a run where you sprint for a period of time and then jog for a period of time and keep going back and forth.  I also had to do homework which also cut down my free time.  

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Summer Camp

Today at summer camp, the award that is given out to the cleanest group went missing, and the group that lost it got drenched with water for losing it.   There was also a pie eating contest for the counselors and the counselors for the Older Camp won.  It was very fun to watch because they weren't allowed to use their hands.  

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Work

Today was a lot of work.  I had to go through a whole different routine when I got home from summer camp and Tae Kwon Do.  I had to show initiative by putting all of my stuff away and doing my pushups and situps.  

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Initiative

Today I had a talk with my dad about taking initiative with my Black Belt requirements.  I learned what initiative meant and how to use it.  So now I'm waking myself up early in the morning instead of my dad, and doing my requirements without being asked.  At camp, my group won three awards, for cleaning up my camp, being loud (having spirit) and cheering people on at the tower.  Last week at camp, I was awarded the most respectful person out of 200 kids in older camp.  

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A long hard day

Today I wasn't happy about waking up early to go on a run, and do a lot of push ups and sit ups.  I had to go to summer camp after that, and I was so tired, that I brought my pillow into the car for the ride.  By the end of summer camp, I was very tired because we are outside all day.  I was looking forward to the end of the day when I could eat dinner, but still have to do more push ups and sit ups.   

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My first day

Today has been very hard. It is my first day doing the requirements for the black belt cycle. I did not expect all the work and the routine that me and my dad did. I have to catch up because I missed yesterday because I had to go to Mooresville to play in the Powerade State Games for soccer.

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