Candidate Journals

Almost done with all physical requirements,  Have 1 more Thrusday Black Belt Class, 2 more Dream Team, 1 more Taekowndo plus class

Almost done with everything!!!!!!!! I'm so excited, I'm trying to get it done in these next two days so we'll see how that goes since I have softball two nights in a row. Still, I can knock out 200 push-ups and sit-ups, I can run 1.5 miles, and I can do poomsaes and self-defenses. Once I finish everything I can finally relax a little bit, not scraming to try and get everything done.

Today I am very behind. Up late trying to catch up. Really tired.

I got up early and did some requirements before work.  Then I was able to get a mile in before teaching Junior Tigers class.  We had a very energetic class today.  The kids were really excited.  Afterwards, I came home and watched Survivor.  J

so, today I finally got the credits for the Instructors' Camp. So I am going back to March 2 to enter them and will then hit the LKN Dojang by about 16:30. Should get a good final pump. YES!

At P.E. yesterday we had to run a little ways and I just then realized how much better I've gotten at running. Now if I hadn't started the cycle I would have been panting over their laying on the grass with everyone else. I didn't even break a sweat, we had probably run 0.3 miles and I wasn't breathing hard after. So happy about that, but I really need to work on running up hills. Yesterday I was running up this hill in my neighborhood and of course I can make it up but it liked like I was walking and it felt like I was going way to slow. Anyway I'm glad that I am running and keep planning to run after the cycle.

Not the best day. I let my temper get the best of me where it should not have. Need to focus on something else not lose it. On the requirements side of things, numbers are going down. I still need lots of practice on hapkido.

Slowly, painfully slowly, chugging away at late-night sticks classes!!!

lieLike most of my fellow candidates I am jazzed about seeing the completion of this phase of the journey.

Got my last mentor session in yesterday! I am staring to get done with all my requirments now, especially today because I have a lot of free time after school. I can't wait for Utah! Although I'm scared I will probably break a bone, I'm also very excited to go and leaarn how to snowboard.

Today was a good day. I am ahead of Anya on my schoolwork,who almost every night stays up past bedtime doing schoolwork.

I am so close to completing my physical requirements that I can see the end and it almost feels like there is a weight lifted off one of my shoulders. It will be nice to have a little time to work on my new skill some more. New things are usually more fun once you get the hang of it and it will take a long time to feel any level of comfort. It definitely still feels awkward and like tae kwon to, there will likely always be more to learn, at least for me. Such is life...

...and no one walked in on me doing pushups and situps. Looking forward to tomorrow's run.

And now to enter it all. No one to blame but myself though. At least it's not sticky notes this time (like two testing cycles ago for me).

Yesterday was requirements day.  Yesterday I wanted to get done as much as possible because I knew I wasn't going to have another open day like that ever. I believe that I got a lot done, I knew I had to do poomsaes so I worked a lot on them. I finished off a lot of requirements too which is good because I need to start maxing out on requirements. Thank goodness I had a lot of time yesterday or else I wouldn't have been able to do as many poomsaes. I started from 9 am to 9pm, even while my brother and mom were playing tennis I knew I had to so more poomsaes so I was getting them done on the tennis court. Well with this being said I need to buckle down and get the rest done. GET'ER DONE!!! 

Didn't do as much as I wanted to do today, but did finish another essay. Getting out the icy hot tonight though, so hopefully I won't feel as sore tomorrow, but usually day two is worse. Oh well! Finish strong!

I'm almost done my essays. All I need to do is write my Kwans essay. Then I can type them all in.  

While I was disappointed that I had to miss Black Belt Class on Saturday, it was a very good weekend. I was the Kitchen Manager for a very prestigious culinary competition on Saturday which ran perfectly. I managed to do some jump rope, pull ups, pooms, SDs, sit-ups, push-ups et al in the afternoon though. I got out for a nice bike ride with my neighbor today. Our last official week of cycle is before us, but we all must keep trainig right through testing on the 12th & 13th 

Did my last Saturday Black belt class.  Need to catch up on other things.

today was fun I got requirements done while watching TV went running with my family after running we went and got ice cream after that I went home and got the rest of my requirements done it was quick and easy

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone!  It was a lovely day.  I didn’t do as many requirements today – just pushups, sit-ups, kicks, miles, and pull-ups. I spent the rest of the day doing domestic chores that I’ve gotten behind on over the past couple of weeks.  Now I’m ready for a new week!  J

Finishing up my requirements! Gosh it feels so good to know that I'm almost done! Especially since I'm going to Utah soon and you can't really run that great in snow. Still need to everyday, trying to work my way towards a flatter stomach.  

Im going to try to come every day for the next two weeks hopefully to get some leadership credits in. Most of the physical stuff is done and just need to learn sticks... Pmaa here i come !

Today was a good day! I started with a walk around the neighborhood before helping with Little Tigers and then went for a walk with Inst. Randle before Black Belt class. Thank you ma'am! Black Belt class was good focus on self defense. Then sparring class was a small class. After I got something to eat, I went for another walk around my neighborhood and found a dog just wandering around, so I took him home. It was a nice thing to do and got me some extra distance, so was a win-win. Jeremy and I walked a long way to DQ and then we split so he went home and I walked through a different neighborhood. I couldn't pass up the perfect temperature, so went for another walk after dinner too. Finished up most of the daily requirements. I think some essays will get attention tomorrow after I get up late for a change. 

The fun part about today was,believe it or not,sparring class. This time Master Evins taught it. It was fun!

I got back from a trip and got as many requirements done as I could. I think I'm almost ready for testing.

Great black belt class today. I liked how we broke each self defense down so we could understand it better. Only a few more weeks till testing, usually I think Cram Time! But I think I'm actually on heck to finish before.

Nothing really exiting happened,except for the fact that Ayo,my little and only brother,lost two teeth in the matter of four or five days. He's only five years old.

I'm in good stanidng on most of my physical requirements. The challenge is the scheduling of classes. Hope to use the few extra weeks between week 10 and testing to catch up.

Today I had to do my requirements quickly. Short, simple, and to the point.

Went for a 3.1 mile walk/run/ pull my dog out of the street. Getting in the green on my requirements. I need to do some major burpees and poomsaes today, maybe even run a little more to try and get in the green.

This is Practical Testing week at work. and it was testing day at PMAA @ the North Charlotte Dojang. Black Belt Class was fun as usual.

Today in Black belt class,we played Taekwondo Jepody. Most people didn't know the answer to the questions. Most of the questions weren't Taekwondo questions anyway!!

Managing time is so important and so hard to do sometimes. Still have a little catching up to do. Time is running out and next week looks like a wet week. I hope I can get enough miles in without having to dodge raindrops. To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. - Anatole France

today i went to sparring class at master Burkart's school it was really fun then we had to rush all the to black belt class at the sparring class we got a lot of pushups, situps, kicks, and sparring rounds i need to go there more often

today i took blak belt class and did mentor session with master knight.   

Two teachers workdays for today and tomorrow, must be a sign. Today and tomorrow I'm busting out serious requirements. It won't even be that bad because most of my requirements won't be hard to accomplish, I only have so many left. Of course I'm not that ahead on burpees or running, but I need to finish those before I go on my spring break trip to Utah. 

Today was a somewhat good day. I didn't get my leadership credits in,even though I have a few left.

It sure makes a big difference getting up even 15 minutes earlier. I've been working on my creative poomsae and there's one spot that needs some help, but I think other than that, it is what it is unless I find some awesome music. That gives me a couple of weeks to feel comfortable with it. I need to make some progress on the last of my essays and be done with them. It will be good to have them behind me, but I'll need to find some time to make that happen. It is so nice to see numbers decrease and gives a boost of encouragement no matter how small the change. It's also nice to look back at older journal entries and see how far we've all come. Now it's time for rest to begin it all again tomorrow.

Another very good day of production at work and at LKN Dojang. Thanks again to Master Chelley!

Requirements before work, a mile before teaching Junior Tigers class, and some jump rope afterwards.  I can’t believe it’s only a little more than four weeks till testing.  Boy, the time has really flown by. J

I'm now officially done with my new skill. Not long ago, my photography group asked me to teach a lesson or study and present about a topic. I chose sports photography which was my new skill and presented my topic. They told me that I did very well speaking and explaining the topic. They had also liked some of the pictures I had shown that are my own work. Of course I'll still be doing sports photography and practicing new techniques, but at least now I know that I have taught not just me, but others as well.

IT IS FINALLY SPRINGTIME!! It all stated this morning when one of my backyard trees had leaves on them. Then this afternoon,a bunch of frogs were out and about. To me winter seemed FOREVER!

What a beautiful day today turned into! I got in a few couple of miles at work with a friend and then some more after work with my husband. Tis the season for my allergies to be acting up though, so hopefully I can fight them. Sit-ups are challenging me right now, so I will need to focus on other things and catch them up later when I'm not so sore. After class today, Inst. Tucker and Inst. Torres gave me some ideas for my creative poomsae to help it flow better. I really appreciate the feedback. Thank you both! I practiced that several times and can almost get through without having to check the paper. Now I need to make it mine, make it strong and maybe find some music too. Tomorrow will be a better day for requirements.

today i went running and my mom and i noticed that i must have done a lot of walking at testing because my time was a lot better today. I did not get much done tonight because of homework

I was able to do some requirements this morning before I left for work.  It was tough going back to work after being off a couple of days.  J  Then I went to black belt class.  We had a small class and we were able to review staff forms 1, 2, and 3.  I really like the classes where Master Evins has the opportunity to break down the form and give us insight on the details.  

Got almost all my physical requirements done. All my essays are done too. Know my motive is to finish the cirriculum i need to know for various things that will be on our bb test.

While everyday is a day to rejoice, today was especially so. It was truly beautiful outside. I was able to wrap a 25 mile bike ride around going to mid-day class at the North Charlotte Dojang. Add to that the fact that today was Red Stripe Day and I made the most of it. Looking forward to the remainder of the cycle and testing on April 12 & 13th. Blessings to all!

Tennis season starts today! Excited or it but its also just another thing that is using up precious time. There's only a few more weeks till the cycle ends, excited but also nervous. I'm just hoping that over spring break I won't break any bones going snowboarding. 

I got between my morning and evening classes and walked my miles again along with doing requirements. I hope to be able to be back runnning by tomorrow. Doing what has to be done to get it done.

I'm really struggling right now. I guess this is what it's all about, right?. Dig down deep and find the strength to get it all done. It is so worth it, but at times hard to find the drive. 

I'm glad the cycle is almost done. But I'm not glad that I 'm NOT done my requirements.I'm willing to push through it for my black belt!

I don't know if I know all my stick stuff.  I need to talk to my mentor. I hit my Dad accidently while I was practicing my sticks. In dream team, we did some stick stuff. There was a lot of stick stuff done today.

So tired from stuff today!!! I found out that there are at least a couple things I don't have to learn for testing anymore, so I'm glad for the minimized stress. Shifting focus to my creative form now, since I only have the first 6 moves or so. 

Well I spent most of today traveling back home after spending a couple of days in Florida for business and a few days of vacation.  I was able to get in several miles at Busch Gardens and now it’s back to the routine.  I have a few requirements left to complete and they will be gone this week!  Yippee!

I feel like I've been run over by a dump truck. After the physical and written test, I had softball practice with my new team; and they are in it to win it! I'm really excited for the softball season and can't wait to start games. Tennis is starting tomorrow at my school, also exciting because I can probably get running around the courts and odd amount of times; Might be able to get a mile or two in. Went for a 2 mile run; ankle started screaming at me. I think I'm going to have to confine myself to the ankle brace.

I am now the proud owner of two plum trees, which will polinate when mature!! I'm happy for the responsibility of caring for them!:)

Yesterday was a tough day, but it was such a nice afternoon that I went for a walk to the grocery store and stopped at DQ on the way home. Push ups is one requirement that I am determined not to get behind on and yesterday I just did not have it in me to reach my set goal. My whole body is tired and needs to rest, but no rest for the weary until the end, or at least until requirements are complete. Today was another beautiful day, but I didn't have much unspoken for time. I did get in a good walk and worked on poomsaes some. It takes me a long time to remember a new poomsae or self defense, so I'm struggling with some of those that I am just learning. We are into week nine and the other weeks went by so fast.

Today was a strange day for me. This morning,I looked at the clock and saw it was 7:00 A.M. But I COMPLETELY forgot that today was daylight savings. So it was actually 8:00!

Today I focused mostly on sit ups and jump ropes although I did not get much done. It was a good day.  I went to see my cousins play basketball.  

Today was a very nice Sunday. Totallly enjoyed another wonderful service and sermon at St Mark's Episcopal Church, then did some yardwork. I then walked to Killington's via the Huntersville Business Park. Spent the later afternoon in the Cul-de-Sac with the neighbors. It is another glorious day that the Lord made and we Rejoiced in it.

Wow that test was a doozy!!! The run made my ankle feel like it was going to break, but my time was worth it!!! I probably should have tried to run the  full four miles more than two times before the test but at least it payed off haha. Feelin confident on the written exam and I expect to take the muscle/anatomy test sometime in the next week. 

It is so beautiful out today! My mom and I just went for a 3 mile walk/run. Going to finish a science project at a friends, hopefully play done tennis as well then do more requirements later.

Today was a disappointing day. I flunked my run,pull-ups,and my burpees. I tried anyway. That is what matters because I now want my new black belt!

today i had testing it was very fun but i failed the run\ good thing master evans told us that we need to do pull ups not chin up at first i didn't know it was a great painful challenge in the good way.

I meant to give a huge THANK YOU SHOUT OUT to Masters Evins & Knight and Instructors Auerbach, Schneider, Torres & Tucker for all of their help today.  And a huge Black Belt High Five to Instructor Scott Schneider for running back out after running 2.5 miles with his daughter Jessica, to meet Instructor Abby Auerbach to help her finish a very strong 4 miles.  

Florida State finally got a quality win against a very good team, albeit at home. The 'noles cannot get a good win on the road this year, so I will take this one. Oh, and I had a really fun and long day at TKD; testings, class & sparring class. Came home and made up the difference in push-ups & sit-ups. Although I did the requisite 8 pull-ups inside of a minute, I do not feel good about them. I will continue to work on them and redo them before testing on April 12.

I am quite proud of my self today.Now I do know that I have to redo my: pullups,  burpees and v-situps, but I did things today I never even thought possible. First off pushups, I didn't think I would make it at all, but I did. Second my written, I am AWFUL at taking tests, absolutly horrible, but once I saw the first question, I knew I had it in a bag. And thrid above all else my run, oh my goodness gracious. 20:45 minutes. 4 days ago, I could 2.5 miles in 27 minutes. Yeserday, I ran 2.5 miles in 25:43 minutes, and I thought I wouldn't make it. Then today when i reached the half way point and my dad told me that we had 16 minutes left I was shocked; I would have never guessed that. And if it wasn't for my dad, i would be running again, he pushed me the...

today i tried to relax and enjoy friday since the testing is on my birthday  but my parents had different plans and made me do requirements hey but tomorrows testing  

Ready for weekend.  Studied for tommorows test

I ran 2.5 miles today, ended up 1:30 seconds over(if I count the times I had to stop for cars). Tomorrow is going to make me or break me. Doing studying and more studying. Mostly memorized, some of the longer answers I'm having trouble on; it won't matter after tomorrow morning though. Nothing will matter. 

literally chillin' due to the ice pack under my leg trying to get my hamstring ready for tomorrow morning. c u then n there.

Icing the hamstring tonight. Tweeked it last Saturday @ IC. I thought I had stretched enough tonight, but tweeked it again doing kicks during class tonight. I just need it to hang through Saturday morning.

Today did not get off to the most productive start. I was not ready to face the day, so I'm paying for it now. Just finished practicing self defense with the help of my husband. That was really nice of him to help and it is a little closer to the real thing when he doesn't know what's coming. Sure makes it easier to practice hapkido with someone else too. I think tomorrow is going to be a light day to prepare for Saturday. I don't have the confidence going into this one that I did on the others. Que sera, sera...

Right now, I'm studing the written test and prtaticing for the physical test. I hope I don't fail the written test

Yesterday I took three classes and today I had black belt class.  Need to study for the written test.

Going to my last TAE Kwon do plus class! Thank goodness for the instructors camp, without it is be to far behind on the plus classes. Before I'm going or another run and hopefully get another mentor session in. I need to get crackin on some jump rope, and running. By sprin break I'm going to try and get everything in green to the point where if I miss a day, I'll still be on track. Read through the test again, still can't believe I remember some of them. Still need to study more in order to memorize them all but I I think I'm doing pretty good.

Finished my thesis! Although I had to stay up until 12 am, it's done so that makes me happy. One and a half more to go! I only have one question I'm not sure about on the test. I'll have to ask master Hartle about it when I go to Tae Kwon Do plus class. Ran three miles with my dad yesterday and if I plan on passing my test I need to cut down my time. Can't believe it's only two days away now. This makes or breaks you right here. 

I'm slowly cathing up on my requirements. But if I continue on the pace I am on, I  will cacth up

Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today. That wise saying comes from Benjamin Franklin. We are done with many todays and the tomorrows are getting to be fewer and fewer. This weekend is our physical and written test. I feel so unprepared but will have to do my best. I did finish one more of my essays and several requirements tonight, so not completely unproductive, but needs to be more so. Thank you to Inst. Torres for working with me on Wang Ho forms after class last night. Very helpful and much appreciated!   

Man, I love my Wednesdays! My schedule allows me to spend the entire late afternoon & evening @ the dojang. Started with my run and finished with Master Chelley adding core work to our kick boxing session adding 125 situps and 25 pushups to the over 300 of each I had already done. Yah Mon!!

Things have been very hectic lately.  I have to go out of town for business Thursday thru Friday and I’m scrambling to get packed and everything.  I haven’t been able to get back to my routine of the cycle and I kind of miss it.  J  Routine is a good thing.  Luckily, my totals are where they should be so I won’t get behind while I’m gone.  I won’t be there for the physical and written test this weekend either, but I know all of you guys will do a great job and I’ll be thinking about you!

As I recover from Instructor's camp, I am having the hardest time on earth thinking straight, especially when I am tired.  The simplist things are not connecting.  It is called the CFS fog.  the fog is light from time to time, but when I am tired it feels like I am in a permanent "Duh!" moment.  I have a lot of big things going on this week and I literally can not wrap my head around them.  I need one more week and the tiredness and the fog should be gone.

4 more day till the bb physcal and written test relaxing just a little bit but im glad it is almost over igot some stuff done today as quick as i could just so i could relax.

Did requiremnets today Trying to get caught up on pullups  

I have developed a liking for running in the rain. It is a good thing too since it has rained allot this cycle. And the rain has been cold too. At the start of the first few runs on the rainy days I was not too jazzed but had good runs. Today, I just ran and enjoyed it. I did have to talk my way through the 3rd mile, but I believe that was more because of fatigued legs than the rain. The upside is that I should be ready for Saturday no matter the weather.

If it wasn't raining, I'd be running. also if I didn't have an overprotective dad but its ok I respect that he is trying to protect me because he knows what out there. Starting to put most of them in blues and greens! Which is good, except for journals, I am EXTREMELY behind on those. In the beginning I had thought my last cycles would count but I guess not. I am happy about all the credits we got from instructors camp: 3 Black Belt Classes, 3 Black Belt Weekday, 3 Sparring Classes, 4 Tae Kwon Do Plus Classes, 2 Leadership Credits, 2 Leadership Credits 2, 20 Sparring Rounds.

It was fun doing community service yesterday... I didnt go to school today because if ACT testing for juniors so i got another 3 essays done. finished all my physical stuff too.

Things have been a bit challenging for me since I got home from Inst. Camp.  I went to the office for half a day, I rushed home to work on my crashed network, and then I rushed to get over to the Center for Hope to help with the Community Service Project – serving food to the homeless.  It was humbling to see all the mothers and kids that came for a meal.  When I smelled all that good food cooking,  It occurred to me that I had not eaten since breakfast, but I considered myself lucky because at least I knew that I had something to eat if I found time for it.  This community service project was a project that I feel like made an impact to everyone that helped out – Chef Lloyd, Master Burkart, Inst. Dege, Inst. Tribune, Abby, Nikhil, Dan, Kyra, Anya, and me.  It made...

There are some good things and some bad things that happened today. I don't really know where to start at this point! For one thing,I didn't get much school work today. Then we went to the community service project this afternoon.It was fun,exept for the fact that I didn't do much there. I also had to leave early for choir.

today i had to leave school early to go to the comunity service it was  actually a bit fun i saw a lot of people theat didn't have what some of us had but i was actually a bit surprised that how many people were there    

Our Black Belt Cycle Community Service project was to prepare and serve the people at the Salvation Army Center for Hope. I used to drive by Center for Hope almost daily and never took the time to figure out a way to help. Today I was able to come early enough to help prepare the meal that we would serve. That was an experience in itself. I have never helped prepare a meal for so many people. I cut tomatoes, helped prepare salads, cut trays of brownies and put them on individual plates and helped wash dishes. The meal looked and smelled really good, just like a home cooked meal, not like typical cafeteria food. The really rewarding part was serving the people the meal. Most of them seemed to be really appreciative. It is sad to see so many people that do not have a home to go to each day,...

On this day I did not do a lot of requirements, I did not get to run, and I have not yet done a single poom. Yet it has been a very Successful Taekwondo Day. According to Grandmaster Lee during our last session @ TKD IC on Saturday night successful Taekwondo comprises much more than the physical. Today we lived into the Spirit of being a Taekwondo Black Belt. We prepared food for and served several hundred homeless mothers & children at the Charlotte Salvation Army Center of Hope. In doing so, we extended a warm TKD Smile per Grandmaster Lee. So I feel AWESOME!

Instructors camp was fantastic this year!! I'm super sore but it was totally worth it!!     On another note, the community service was awesome. I loved going out to help people were unable to feed themselves. I'd love to do this again!

Feeling sore already! Going to teach then take a class after an hopefully get a mentor and mentee session in today, do some jump rope and pull ups. I want to just congratulate all the black belts that are on cycle or once were; it takes a lot of sweat, pain and guts to run 105 miles, do 10,000 push-ups and sit-ups. Lots of people wouldn't have been able I do most of the stuff that your doing now. So be proud of yourself, even if you are behind, find a way to get back up. There is no quitting in Tae Kwon Do.

This past week was AWESOME! Daddy did lots of things with us. Today he cleaned out the car and we went into a car wash. It was fun! Mommy was happy to see the car clean. I wrote some essays today, too.

Yesterday at 6:30 in the morning I went to Golden Corral for breakfast.  Then went to Red Robin at night.

Instructor’s Camp was packed with useful information!  It’s so much fun to see what kinds of things they have on the agenda.  The parts I liked the best were the training in the pool, the sticks training, and of course Grandmaster Lee’s class.  I love listening to Grandmaster Lee’s stories too.  Thanks to all of the great King Tiger Masters for the stuff they taught us this weekend and for everything they do to make us better throughout the year!  It was great hangin and training with the extended King Tiger family too!

today i got to go my big cousin's tournements he had 2, 1 at the beginning and 1 at the end after the first game i went to get some requirements i was able to get a whole lot of the done, because there was a fitness are in the same building I really like going to tournements.

Havent written a journal in like 3 days. I just keep logging my requirements and forgetting to journal! Almost done with most of my physical reqs.