Candidate Journals

Back to school today. I worked on my pushups, situps and burpees. Went to class tonight and I was tired

Today was my birthday. I did not make it to Church. I spent time with my family.

Second day back to work. Did early morning Black Belt training and went to Ifly to celebrate my birthday with family and friends.

Attended Black Belt training and learned a new poomsae. First day back from vacation

I woke up  got Dressed workout. Went to school and figured out we had new encore. Now I have ag instead of computer science. Got home workout again and went to Monday class. Went to Bubba's for my brother's birthday.

Today was the first day back to school for the second semester. Getting up that early again after a break is always rough for me considering I like to sleep in. This semester we got a whole new set of classes so now I have to start over and meet some new people, but I do still have people from last year to talk to in my new classes so I guess its not that bad. After school I ran a mile then did my workouts. I went to go help out with the junior tiger class then attended my weekday blackbelt class. All in all it was a solid day. 

Today was ok. I really didn’t want to go to school, but it ended up ok, nothing really happened. I had time before school so I biked my mile and did the requirements. After school I worked on some essays and then went to TKD. 

I'm not a big fan of Mondays and today was a Monday which means back to school and a regular routine. I definitely had a hard time getting up this morning, especially since I am still sore! :( Went to school and then work. I got some good work in with the kiddos today at TKD and worked on some self-defense and poomsae with Ms. Jen! I got home around 7:45p.m. and started working on my BBC requirements and just finished up some homeowork. Hopefully I will be less sore tomorrow! Also Happy Birthday Jordan!! Have a great day tomorrow everyone! ~ Peyton

Today was the first day back to school after winter break. To start off with my morning, I woke up, got ready for school, got a mini froot loops box, then left. When I got to school, I didn't get breakfast there because I had the froot loops box. I ate the cereal then I got an idea to make the box into a mailbox. I did but, I cut my finger in the process...it was worth it though. Math class, easy. Reading, normal. Lunch, good. Recess, in the middle. I fell hard on my legs, increasing the pain I had from Saturday. AIG, happy. Encore (went to the library), easy. Science, easy. Dismissal, very happy.  I'm always happy when it is the end of the school day. When I got in the car, I showed my mom the mailbox I made and told her about taking it to class with me...

Today was pretty normal. I started my day super tired since it’s the first day of school after break. I got my new block classes and I have Spanish 1 now! After I got home from school I did some homework and had a quick snack before heading to Tae Kwon Do. After I took class I had a mentor session. Then when I got home I finished my homework and ate dinner.

today was a chill day and it was the first day back to school. nothing much happened so I am off to bed 

Today, I woke up at 7:30 AM and got ready to go to school. I was extremely excited because it was the first day of Basketball Tryouts. It was a normal day; we had just returned from Winter Break, but it was really fun because I got to hang out with my friends again. After school, I had Basketball Tryouts, and I think I did well. We did a lot of running and drills, but got to play scrimmages at the end, which was fun. When I came back home, I ate some snacks and hydrated, and then got ready for my Taekwondo Weekday Black Belt Class. I had a lot of fun there, and we mostly focused on balance and kicking. I got tired in the end, but pushed through during the workouts, and had a mentor session with Instructor Connor. When I came back home, I logged the physical requirements I...

I'm not usually a "Monday person" but today actually went really well!  Dropped my son off at school, and then headed straight to the dojang.  I'm trying to get as many physical requirements done as early as possible in the day, so I can recover a bit, and then focus on classes/sessions in the evenings.  I've found normally the first few weeks can physically be the worst for the cycle.  Believe it or not, most of that soreness will go away as your body gets used to all the daily physical activity.  Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later!

Today was a funny day because my mom used the middle finger emogi. I'm also excited because I'm getting the new apple watch.  

After a long holiday, I am finally returning to my classes, but they are really different now! First I offered to help in class, and they said "Yes, you can. Once i started helping, we did our normal warm-ups, running, and which color stripe, I was put with three green belts that did their kicks. plus, I helped one of them on their hook kick and another with the turning foot. Once class was over, I had a mentor session with Master Weeks and practiced my poomsaes and signed my handbook! After all of those epic stuff, I went home! :b

Today was the first day back in school although we didnt a whole lot im still falling back into routine. However thankfully I was able to get two Taekwondo classes in whilst completing all my physical requirements for the day at the gym. It was pretty productive and a good day.

Today was a great day because... ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! So basically all I did for most of the day was sit at home texting all my friends and family, reading birthday cards and opening gifts. Later that day I went to King Tiger and helped in a class as well as leading punches and kicks. During said class I helped my mentee on his poomsae and kicks. After that class and during the next class I was mentored and we worked on color belt poomsae. Later that evening I went home and got through all of my requirements then ate some dinner:).                                   Have a great night and get some rest:D.

This morning I woke up at 5:30 a.m and did my excersies (push ups, sit ups, jump rope, and burpees), poomsaes, self defense, and then I did my running. I am sore all over, but it's all bareable, I started wearing my rubber bands, and now my teeth hurt really bad. Hopefully by tomorrow everything is set and good. As soon as I stepped outside to run I got goosebumps, but like Elsa said, "The cold never bothered me anyway!". After that I have science olympiad and then I go to point/ballet for an hour and a half.

This morning was painful because school started back today. I had a bunch of time this morning so I biked my mile and knocked out my physical requirements. At school it was back to normal... I am about to have a very busy week with tests and field trips and tons of homework. It was good to see my friends again though. I plan on going hardcore with classes and credits starting Wednesday as this is the day that my mentee will be back in town for a session. I am about to get ready for TKD and hopefully I can get a mentor session in. Tomorrow I really want to run since I am feeling stronger and much less sore. 

I have been practicing  my jump rope, and I got  20 in a row. This has been harder than expected.

I hate running, it is literally the bane of my existence, however if you run to good music, it is not as bad.  Today I did my fastest mile with proper musical motivation.  Every step hurt because I am so sore from training, but it is worth it because I can do hard things and I will be strong.

Day 3 has arrived. I woke up early today to immediately begin with my requirements. Most schools start back up from winter break today, however, my school does not start until tomorrow. I do not really have much to do today because I finished everything I need to do today by 10:30(AM). I guess that means more time for recovery. Most likely will be playing chess for a while. until then, can't wait for school tomorrow. - Lucas.

I am definitely feeling that black belt cycle soreness.  Yesterday I was working on pull-ups with bands at home and today I was using the lat pulldown machine at the gym...I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a new level of soreness. The good thing is that once you get going all of the movement helps that feeling.  It does sometimes take a moment but it helps.  I have a loose plan for my workouts so far so I feel like I am off to a good start.  Hope everyone's cycle is off to a good start!

HELLOO! Mostly this day was a big rest day, as yesterday I went to the gym and black belt class  to train a lot, and I feel a lot of soreness in my body especially my tailbone / butt because all of the falling 😃. I just have to train for more technique in rolling and falls, but this is a good first step to get back into good shape for it.Anyways as for today, mainly just looked on videos about basketball, as I have school tryouts tomorrow so that is always a main reason for my rest today. I don’t know if it will interfere with the cycle, but It’ll be some good extra cardio and coordination. That is basically it for today so have a good night! (Also one more thing how did the panthers get into the playoffs 😱)

2nd day of the cycle had a very long mentor session with master dege watched some nfl somehow the Panthers made it to the playoffs were gonna see how that goes my prediction is at most they are winning one game i think the patriots could win the super bowl anyways peace

My dad was really good even though this is my last day of winter break. I went to this fun place called district 51 and it’s like an escape room but multiple of them and you have to complete a different challenge in each room to win points. Then after than I went to the gym and trained arms abs really hard for 1 hour and half then I did some cardio. So my day was fun and productive. 

today was chill. I went on a run with my dog and got some requirements done. I helped my dad with things around the house. when we were out my dad and I picked a reverse osmosis system for my axolotl which was cool. but I am writing this late so off to bed. :) :) 

When I woke up this morning a BIT sore just because I haven't done much exercise off cycle so when I was doing my requirements it felt harder than usual. But today I haven't done much, all I did was sit at home and do nothing. At like 4:30pm I went to my grandma's house to hang out and spend some time with her. Then when I got home I got all of my requirements done, that was my whole day up to the time I'm typing this:).

Today was a good day because I had football tryouts. 

I was planning on going to church, but I think I had overslept. For breakfast, I had a bacon breakfast crunch wrap which I had not had in forever. After I got done eating my breakfast, I worked on the traffic light from yesterday in Roblox Studio. I finished it at 1 pm since there was some bugs in the code that I could not fix in the 10 tries I tried to fix it. One bug fixed, two more came until I finally figured it out. It was so frustrating but, I got through it. I also, posted a video of how to make the traffic light on my YouTube (ask me for me channel name). At about 2:45, it was time to go to iFly. I have been doing lessons about twice a month since my birthday in October. Today, I worked on side-sliding while I was there and...

When I woke up today, I was very sore and tired. I woke up late today, but I still pushed forward and told myself that I still have to try my hardest. My parents informed me that we would be leaving in two hours for a Birthday Party and would come back late in the evening. I panicked, but told myself that I could finish my requirements in two hours. I got to work and managed to complete most of my requirements in an hour and a half, then got ready for the party. The party was awesome since I got to hang out with my friends, eat delicious food, and put cake on my friend's face. I just returned home and am finishing up the rest of my daily requirements. I thought today was a fun day, but I wish my body were feeling a little better. 

Today I was very sore and tired, because of that I walked my mile. Then I did the requirements. Later in the day unfortunately we had to take down our Christmas decorations, and get ready for school tomorrow. Overall it was a pretty good day. :)

Today I had gotten up earlier than I normally do on Sundays to get my hair cut sadly. I've been sore all day, so I guess that means I did good yesterday. I made it to page 116 of my book and plan on getting more reading in after I finish my workouts, eat dinner, then practice snare. Im preparing to go back to school tomorrow which shouldn't be too bad considering I have easy classes this semester. I wasn't able to go on my run today so I plan to get in 3 miles tomorrow so I can cruise for the rest of the week. 

I woke up today and my entire body was super sore! I went to poomsae class and got to hold baby Olive (Master Natasya & Master Marcus's new baby)!! I came home and punched out my requirements. It was actually a really nice day for running, the weather wasn't too cold but the sun was out and made it nice! I'm very happy that I could push  through all of my soreness and still be productive today! I'm definitely not excited about school starting again, but hopefully the teachers will take it easy! I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the weekend and a great start to next week!! Keep up the great work! ~ Peyton

Today was a normal Sunday, today I woke up pretty late and decided to get some excerise done so I did that, then I went downstairs and started reading a book for a couple of hours. I practiced piano, and I'm going to do my running later. around 5 PM. During break I made brownies with my mom, so I ate one that we made. Yesterday we went to IKEA and my sister got a toy monkey and I got some room inspiration. I decided to look on Pinterest for some of them, and then study for my science olympiad tournaments. Overall, it was a productive day with some down time. 

Although I wasn't able to get any class credits done today I still felt good and even was able to knockout a 5K alongside a

This morning I woke up and my whole body was sore. On the second day of the cycle, this is a good thing. I remind myself that I will end up stronger. Today I got to sleep in... last day before school starts back again. Since my muscles are so sore I decided to walk this morning instead of running. I walked two miles. Unfortunately, today we also had to take down our Christmas decorations as well as our tree. I started my book and got started on some of my essays, so today was a productive second day. I'm hoping that this week, once my muscles feel better, I can run a bit before the pretest. Back to school and TKD classes tomorrow.

Sundays are for cycle training and homemade pasta.  After 2 longs days of training, it is important to recover with pasts :)

Hello Everyone, my name is Lucas and I am on my audit cycle and will be testing for my fourth degree black belt at the end of the cycle. Yesterday was the first day of the journey, I woke up and went to the weekend black belt class. After that, I  went home knocked out the daily requirements. The first day is always a wake up call because you know the next day you are going to be sore, and if you aren't, then that means you probably need to fix your form while doing exercises. On the days you do not feel like completing your requirements, just tell yourself, the minutes that you spend training add up to less than 45 minutes (Not including your run). Today, I woke up early and starting completing all of the daily tasks. Can't wait for what this cycle bring. Until next time - Lucas.

Happy first day of cycle! I think it was a pretty good day, Saturday BBC was good. Then I did my physical requirements, as well as biking my mile. I am a little sore, but I am excited for the day to come! :)

First day of the cycle pretty solid day excited for everything and a bit nervous. My goals for the cycle are break two bricks learn a spin fall and get both side spilts plus a front splits. Besides that we are chill good luck to everyone and also are we allowed to use emojis?

Today, I woke up happy to start my first day of Black Belt cycle. I did my morning routine and got ready to go to taekwondo. When I got there, I started to work on my fitness requirements since I asked to go in an hour earlier than originally planned. My mom also brought me breakfast since I didn't eat prior to leaving this morning. While doing my kicks, I hurt myself on the bag because I kept hitting the same area on the top of my foot repeatedly. I don't usually kick on the hanging bags, but I feel that was the cause, so next time I will use the ones for class instead. I had my friend Ryker help make sure I was doing my rolls and falls correctly since I can't see myself when I'm doing it. He gave me good feedback and now I know I need...

Hi everyone, my name is Peyton! I attend Lake Norman KT and have been since I was 4 years old and I am now 14! I love TKD, the people there are my 2nd family! I am on my audit cycle for my 4th degree black belt. I am so excited to start this new cycle in 2026! I love writing these journals on the website and love reading others, usually I write a lot! If I had any advice to give for newbies who haven't done this before, just don't fall behind. Work ahead as much as you can on the weekends, especially if you work or go to school Mon-Fri. Get as much as you can done, when you can and definitely keep up with your essays! Don't wait until the last minute to do everything! Overall, my day was good! BBC was a lot of fun with bocho...

My dad and I went to the shooting range today. I did pretty well for my first time. Before all that I went to black belt class then ate lunch with my mom. overall, it was a good day. I also got all my exercises done for the day. :) :)

This is my first journal. Happy first day of cycle! I’m very excited to finally get started! Today I went to my first Saturday black belt class in a while. I’m also glad that yesterday’s black belt class could count as a credit. I got started on my physical requirements as well as biked my mile. I’m very sore… Overall it was a great first day of cycle and I wish everyone luck! 

What a first day of cycle!  I always tell myself I can do hard things and I can, but this is so much harder than I expected. It is important to keep in mind that it is only day 1 and each day will make me stronger and better.

Here I am again!  1st day of the cycle kicked off well.  Got in a sparring class, mentee session, leadership credit, and assisted with class.  2 miles done, but still have to finish a few more physical things to end the day.  I came up with a plan to follow for requirements.  It will hopefully let me rest or at least go really light on Sundays.  I will need it!  It is very important to recover as well.  I also ordered my cycle book.  Looking forward to *hopefully* a Panthers win today!  Ready to start knocking out next week on the cycle.  I may start my nutritional challenge next week as well.  After the holidays, I think it may be perfect timing.

 My name is Aahlei, and I'm a boho dan. Today is the first day of my first black belt cycle, and I'm really excited. Today I went to the early morning sparring class, and then had a mentor session. I'm about to begin my work outs and go on a run. I'm also currently on page 100 of Atomic habits and I'm finished with two of my essays. 

Today I woke up at 8 am and got ready for my Taekwondo classes. I ate a nutritious breakfast and arrived early for my sparring class. I finished that class and had a lot of fun sparring with my friends. Then, I had a mentor session with Instructor Connor, and he helped me with my colored belt poomsaes. I then helped out an adult class by showing them the right technique of kicks, punches, and more. I finally ended my day there with a leadership class, and we wrote down our goals for 2026 on a board and broke them with a strike to show that we will beat them. I noted everything I did today in my Black Belt Book, and I returned home. I am about to eat lunch now and am going to finish my physical requirements for the day later. Today was the start of the black...

I attended my first black belt class of the cycle today. After I stopped by Barnes & Noble and picked up One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Should be a good read. - 01/03/26 

Going to my friends house to play with them, and see what they got for Christmas. I had my first Saturday class today and it was awesome with master Evans.

  Hi to everyone today!! My name is Nathan Norris and this is the first day of the cycle, as I am now going for 3rd Dan.. This morning we had a class and went over a lot of self-defense Curriculum such as Bo Cho Don specials, 1st Dan specials, etc. with Master Evins. Thankfully I got to learn a bit of 2nd Dan specials too as I definitely needed help on those. After that I headed over to North lake recreational center to play basketball and work on my pull up strength. Then of course I had to watch the panthers game, as it was crucial for them to win, but… they end up choking as always. They still have a shot to get in the playoffs though. That’s all that I did today, and I wish everyone luck on this cycle.

The start of the cycle, I woke up and attended the black belt class which is nice to already have a weekend BBC credit marked off. Im feeling pretty good but have not yet experienced the hardships of the cycle. But I am ready for what's to come. 1/3/26

What to do, what to do? Can't quite fall asleep and the cycle has started...write a journal😂 Thankful for being able to count the Friday class. Nice to start off with that in your pocket. See you in class or on zoom tomorrow. Happy New Year everyone!

I ran my first mile in 10:15.

Here we go, day 1 is upon us, and I am so excited it is finally here

Me and my friends and family went bowling together last night we all had fun, and rang in the new year.

Hi, I am Prasoon Panda, and I am a Bocho Dan testing for my Black Belt this Spring. I took advantage of my break and finished many essays for my Black Belt Cycle. I finished 5 essays and learned a lot from them. The essays were time-consuming and a little challenging to write, but at the same time, I really enjoyed writing about myself, others, etc. I was really happy that I wrote that many essays, and now I am getting ready for my Pretest Assessment. I hope everybody is having a great break, and Happy New Year to everyone!

Yesterday it was New Year's Eve and I stayed up late until the ball dropped. And for Christmas I got a electric scooter that goes really fast, and a meta quest 3S/VR Headset. I just finished my first essay.  To be honest this essay was very hard for me to write and it took me around 2 days to finish. It was kind of fun to do but it was kind of hard at the same time.

Me and my friend and my family went to see avatar last night it was good.

I am so excited this journey and show everyone that it does not matter what your age is you accomplish hard things.  I can't wait to see everyone on this journey and how they progress!

Im am excited to start my Black belt cycle with you all.

12/23

In just eleven days we start the cycle!  How can you be both completely ready and very far from ready to do something at the same time? Best of luck to everyone! Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year! See you on the mat!!

Today I had a lot of school work but it was okay and then tonight we made a fire and had s'mores.

Today I had my makeup photos for RCA and they went really well.

Feast was okay I guess and I went to fraternus tonight.

We had Feast again today and my kids did great with beading! 

So today was pretty slow I managed to get most of my school work done before lunch

Today was a normal school day plus I had my therapy appointment, which was good. I got to help a friend last night who was going through a hard time with her marriage. I'm thankful I was able to help her. 

Today is my birthday. It's been a good day. We went to Feast and then I got to take a nap when we got home... Yay naps!

It's done! Testing was yesterday and yay I'm glad it's over. I broke two bricks!! Looking forward to resting now.

Testing is going well. I feel like we might make it out at a reasonable hour, fingers crossed.

Today was a pretty good day at school, we played pickleball and also had a spelling bee (I didn’t win) but now we have testing today which I expect to be exhausted.

The end of the cycle. I am going to miss it. The cycle brought us together, it worked us untill we couldn't move,& it made us better as people. I think what'll miss most is all of you. You all were there freinds, mentors, & Aquantences. I really will miss this experience I shared with you all. Good night.

I am realy anxious about it even though I am ready. I skipped school today to work on my material and checking my physical stuff. Good luck to everyone who is testing tonight.

Today is testing and I feel like I am ready. I have been staying up pretty late for the past week doing homework which might be a good thing because now i dont really feel sleepy until 10, but it also might be bad since ive been getting less sleep. Anyways good luck for tonight everyone!

Testing is in a few hours and i feel like i am ready. im going to practice because im gonna get there early and also im eating dinner right now so i have energy. The part im most excited for is probably brick or board breaking. anyways see you guys later

I will admitted I did not finish all of these but I did the best I could do and my knee is hurting bad so I will take my meds now before to try and not hurt them both because I forgot to say but its in both just one hurts more  

today I went to school and then I got on the bus but I forgot that they tore up our driveway so I was at my granpa's place for the time being so I had to wait for my mom to pick me up to go to taekwondo so I could do some last minute practice with master shin and I think my knee will kill me tomorrow   

today I started to think my knee was going to be ok but I was wrong I was going to give my friend my book and I tripped and fell on the ground on my knee and when I got up I fell on it again  

Today I saw Neil Degrass Tyson and it was amazing he is so smart it is crazy he was saying how there is a moon that has a ocane of methane or farts  

today all I can think about is how I'm going to go see Neil Degrass Tyson and I was working with master shin and I'm feeling good in my abilitys but I hope my knee is going to feel better but it feels bad  

today this number is going to make me laghf because it is a slang word but today I chilled and played games  

Today I went to the kick-a-thon and it was way better on my knee than I thought and also I got my knee checked out it is crazy inflammation which I hope gose away before the overnight but it might not   

today is Friday I'm still so excited for Neil degrass Tyson but first I have to make it though the weekend   

Today I had real fun at school and I heard I get to see Neil Degrass Tyson next Tuesday I'm so excited  

Today I went to school had some fun like do a math project yup so fun (in a sarcastic voice)  then I went to my dads and watched some Simpson's Halloween episodes .  

well its testing day. i wish everyone the best of luck. i will be focusing on knife self defense real quick as im just a tiny bit shaky on it. but i have pretty much all of it down. good luck everyone.

Today I'm working, then resting for awhile so I am not completely exhausted tonight. I somehow got behind on journals, so I will be writing another one sometime after midnight.

Wow... testing is tomorrow. I feel like I've been training for this forever. I'd have to say, this cycle was a lot smoother for me than last cycle. But given the circumstances, I'd say that's a low bar. Last cycle I had to go find out who I was (and wasn't) in the latter half of my first year at a new place. This cycle, I could see my goals and work towards them accordingly. Sleep as of late isn't as good, but I can't just stop here. I must maintain my momentum forward.

 today is my birthday! 🥳🥳🥳🎉🎊🎉🥳🥳🥳🎂🎂🎂 Anyway, I'm feeling pretty stressed about the test TOMORROW NIGHT But went to King Tiger, got a mentee and a mentor session in.

I'm exhausted and about to fall asleep right now. But basically I had a big soccer game which we lost and didn't get home till 8:30 and then I had homework but I didn't finish it all because I need to get to sleep.

Today I have been encompassed by anxiety because of the overnight test on Friday but it will soon be over, I know I should do well, but I am still worried about it. Other than that, I have been practicing a lot this week to make sure I know my stuff. I am just going over some self defenses right now.

Today is Henry's birthday!! He is 13!  We celebrated by finishing up our last requirements this evening! 😂 Instructor Jen was great to work with on bolo. Thank you ma'am! 

Hope I'm ready for tomorrow. Finished my requirements, now I'm going to get some sleep

Today was okay so at school we had a lockdown and a hospital room. After school I came home to my dads house and read for an hour then I had to go to taekwondo. Next I came home to my moms house and I rode my bike plus when I rode my bike I scraped my knee and Im about to get some sleep for the overnight test tomorrow. BYE

Today was pretty chill. It’s my first day on fall break! We had a sub in science and math, we also had a fire drill at school. After school I went to taekwondo for a shin kickers class and a drills for skills class. Then we Dominos Pizza for dinner! Good night!

Today I had the PSAT at school. It was very long but I'm happy it is done. After the PSAT, I went over to a friend's house and hung out a bit. Then I went to soccer practice which was pretty short today, but my team has a big game tomorrow so we have to play out of our mind. It's our last regular season game before playoffs. But I'm gonna get some rest so bye!

Today was boring because we had a test for science and I got a B- on the test or pretest. Later I went to my dads house and I went to taekwondo and helped out. After taekwondo I went to my moms house and watched so Starger Things with her, then I did my requirememnts. Night yall!

So Today I went to King Tiger and practiced a lot and had a mentor session and then came home for like half an hour and then went back over to King Tiger and got a mentee session and then came home and had sloppy joes for dinner and then finished the episode of the chosen that I've been watching and that's about it