Candidate Journals

Hope everyone had a special Sunday For a marvelous Monday! I had an entire long paragraph right now, but then it somehow disappeared. So now I’m gonna make this very short. Today went over to my friends house and I hadn’t seen her in forever so it was amazing year since school ended! We did war balloons and war guns and after that we ate dinner and watched a movie! The movie and we hung out with her brother and his friends that he invited over until my mom came to pick me up. When I got home, I hung out with Fred my puppy and hung out with my Family! Good night everyone and I hope tomorrow will be a marvelous Monday for all!  P.S. Today’s national ice cream day!!! ~Magnolia~

Yesterday we went to Clemson so we could pick up my sister from soccer camp.  We stayed in a hotel last night.  We walked my dog, Sammie.  We played in the pool - it was so big.  I ate breakfast at the egg restaurant and then watched Taylor play soccer.  I got to see the college room she stayed in.  When we picked her up we went lunch and I got a hamburger.  When we got home I did some chores and cleaned my room.  We ate dinner and played the game Clue.  After Clue I got ready for bed. Have a great day!

Today was mostly uneventful and relaxing. I did, however, finally buy a pull up bar and posted the video of me hanging on it for as long as I could. I completed all of my requirements except for running, for it was raining outside all day. I will try to start working on my role model essay tomorrow. Have a good evening.

So I am staying with my friend Declan, who is also on the cycle, for week 2, and today was good. we woke up and played on our vr a little bit , and then had lunch. Then, around 2 pm, we started and finished our requirements.  Unfortunately, it's raining, so we will have to do two miles tomorrow. But today was good. Edit- It stopped raining so we went to run, but we got there at 9 pm. Socks are wet because we accidentally went through a big puddle.

Good afternoon, everyone! I've been so busy and tired after pre-test, as my body is completely sore. I am very happy with how I did during my pre-test and will continue to get better throughout the cycle. I am about to take a class and head to sleep soon. Have a wonderful day!

today I went outside am played basketball, then I took a shower went inside and watched inside out 2  

Today is my first entry and i'm kinda excited knowing that i have something to do everyday. This might be a little hard because i'm not the best at remembering things and i have to remember to do this and everything else in my book but i think i'll be fine. I know i'll try my best, considering all my parents have done, and work hard. Thats really all i had to say so i'm done for now.

Staying home and having a rest day. I'm planning on taking a nap soon after some reading, but I'll see what I feel like doing.

I was able to go skating around Southend today with a group of friends. It was nice and the weather was great too. I'm really happy my boyfriend, Trent, joined us. He only just started skating but was able to handle the streets/outdoors really well.  I caught up with tracking but I'm going to make more of an effort to track daily, it just tough. I usually always on the go, when I finally do stop, it cause I'm sleeping. I've been journaling posting on my phone when I catch a break. Because of the ride to Leland yesterday, I was able to catch up on all the shows I fell behind on. But an effort needs to be made.

Today we woke up and had breakfast, I had my favorite cereal and I got in my suit and went to church. I passed the sacrament because I am old enough to do that. Then I went to Sunday school because it is the third Sunday this month and I was able to join my older brothers class. Then after church I made macaroni cheese for me and my brothers and then we started playing Dungeons and Dragons. I was the Dungeons master and that is when you and your family or friends characters are playing the game but the DM knows what is going to happen. Finally I did my exercises and then watched a movie, that is my day, Bye.

Today we went to church, and I was able to learn some really cool stuff about our religion. When we got home, we played some Dungeons and Dragons. I was not the Dungeon Master, but I was having a good time. we played for about three hours, which is not the longest I've played before, the longest I've played nonstop is like eight hours, but nonetheless, it was really fun. Not much else has happened today, but I hope everybody has a good week and I hope we can get all our stuff done in time. Anyway, see you guys later and I hope you have a great Sunday, bye!

Hi, I know its been a few days since I did my last blog. I was at a church camp. It was a great time. Met a lot of good people, got a girlfriend, (check Hickory Grove Baptist Church Facebook page for photos) and had good sermons. I also went to church today (we did a sermon on Mark 14). Got some of my requirements done. Time for a catch up week

Good morning    Got up and went to the park. Practiced some stick forms, hapkito self defense,  blue self defense..then it started raining.  Going to have something to eat, then start on my daily physical requirements.  

Made it through week 1, pretty on track. Have to catch up on jumprope, as I just purchased mine a couple of days ago. Pretest went pretty well. My shins are sore from running, and I'm hoping they get better with time. It's getting easier not to eat in the middle of the night. Creating new, better habits.

Anyone else just stupid sore? 🤣  I was proud of myself with how I did at pretest. Trying to stay focused even though my body hurts a lot. 

Hi King Tiger. At the airport. Heading to NY for a few days. Visiting family. Book is in the bag and will be working on requirements. Yesterday was good inspiration and ready for cycle. Plan to work on essays as well. Have a great Sunday! Take care. 

I just woke up this morning and started this journal. I'm waiting till my parents wake up so I can run a few miles to catch up. Yesterday after my basketball game I only did requirements like push ups, sit ups, burpees, jump rope, poomsaes, self defense, and kicks.

I woke up at around 5am and headed to the track at 5:30am. My run was around 40 minutes, which is better than I thought I would do for 4 miles. The rest of the pre-test went pretty smooth for me. I got a decent portion of requirements done then, so there was only so much more to do at home.

We had a cycle students class today, and it was very exciting. I had completed my trial cycle test in January, so I only went in for the usual weekend class. It was nice seeing everybody again, still it was surprising to see so many champions on the cycle. I also completed half of my daily cycle requirements today.

To make sure we had enough time to get our three miles in we had to get up at 4 am.  I know that may sound a bit extreme, but keep in mind I needed to drive 25 minutes to get to the track after waking up after five hours of sleep, plus making sure we are, got Samuel in the car, and made sure he had food and drinks.  It was very dark when we got there, and there was only Instructors Courtney and Lisa there as far as I could tell in addition to us.  It is very pretty to watch the sun come up and see more and more folks join us on the track.  I was surprised to see John join in the run.  He said he had gotten up at 2 am and walked to the track so he could participate.  Testing seemed to go well...

Today was the pre-test.  We got up very early to make certain we got to the track with enough time to get our twelve laps (three miles) in before everyone else was done.  Then off to the dojang for the rest of it and then class.  Then it was home, errands, lunch, etc, with a break for requirements.  I'm starting to feel more comfortable with staff form 3 but I don't think it's fully locked in just yet.  Now off to bed and we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Today was the pre-test, part 2. This one was more to see how the last cycle faired out, but I feel I did fairly well. The rest of the day was spent mainly relaxing and hanging out with family. We saw Inside Out 2, which was not great, but not terrible (5/10). I did some more requirements and got ahead knowing the travels that await me tomorrow could slow me down on requirements. 

So today was the pretest, as you all know. As there is room for improvement, I think I did fairly well. I messed up a bit on poomsaes, but did pretty well on the run and other things. See you guys at THE test.

Today was the pre-test I woke up earlier than most to get started on my run on the track and managed 3.1 miles. The hardest part for me was the v-ups and pushups which I'll get better at before the end. I was sore afterwards and when I got home I crashed into bed.

The pre-test is completed. Yay! However, there is a lot more to go. The written test from Grandmaster Evins was SO random. I was definitely expecting other questions. Once I got home, I videoed the pull-up portion right away because I did not want to forget. I ate cinnamon raisin granola and yogurt and fell asleep watching ID on the couch. It was a good nap.

I’m satisfied with the pre-test. I did as well or better than I did in the spring. Some of my taekwondo knowledge needing reviewing. It took me so long to remember an answer to a question. After the test, the Charlotte portion of the king tiger demo team headed to Leland. Work a lot on jumps and improving our showmanship with kicks. So excited for demo performance in November. I got to practice my backwalk over and I successfully did one! Heading back to Charlotte. 

I hope everyone had a Super Saturday!!! Today I woke up and got dressed so i could get to the track as soon as possible. I drink some water and I was off. Running down the track at a nice jog. When I finished my mom gave me some muffins to eat. They were yummy! I sat on the ground for a few minutes talking with my mom. After the bochos finished I got onto the bus and headed on up. When I got there we did the rest of our pre test! Everyone did so awesome!!! After we finished up, I got one to the bus and headed back down to the Lake Norman school. When I got there I set my stuff down and started to help out with the upcoming class. I then got home and ate lunch and played with Fred my puppy! I had a little...

This week I have been doing extra exercises so I am going on vacation this week I woke up early because I had to do the pre test after all that we drove to the beach with my family. Good night.

Hey guys, sure everyone is exhausted from the pretest, bummed I missed it. I will be back in North Carolina in a few days. In the meantime I’ve been catching up on requirements. Today me and my brothers and grandparents went to the movies, we made pizza and had root beer floats. I soaked in the hot tub as well. Tomorrow I  continue working on requirements and organizing my book. Goodnight.

I had to wake up at 6AM to leave for my pretest. First I did my 1 mile, after that I went to the pretest and I did my workout first we did push ups, then we did sit-ups, next we did burpees, after that we did high plank and my time was 3 minutes and one second then we did jump rope. After that we did the written test I did pretty well on that, lastly we did our poomses. Then I went home and played video games.

Today was the pre-test for the black belt cycle. I believe that I had done decently on my poomsaes and physical exam, though I will need to do much more practice on them. I had done very poorly on my written exam, for I had studied the study guide of a different school on a separate website. Also, I had no clue of what to expect on the written exam. After the pre-test, I finished all of my requirements and slept early since I had not gotten enough sleep the previous night. I will see you on Monday.

Today, we skipped summer camp due to my sister's eye injury. I completed my requirements early so that I would have more time to prepare for the pre-test. I went to my Friday black belt class and practiced all of the poomsaes and self-defenses I knew so far, as well as the new ones that I had just learned. After class, I practiced the poomsaes and self-defenses once again, then studied for the written test and went to bed.

As everyone knows today was pretest. I had dreams about answering questions wrong but I knew I was right and was disagreeing with the masters! As for the actual tests I thought it went well, the run felt good after doing mostly 2 mile legs during the week, it was super nice of Joe Clowers to run my last lap with me after he already ran with Jovi! The physical and poomsae I felt went well, still need to improve but I feel so much more confident than 1.5 weeks ago when master Natasha  reviewed poomsae with us in class.  I spent the day off electronics (except for this) I got so much done cleaning and yard work. I did end up taking a nap. I think I like the person I am better when I’m not teaching for my phone everytime it buzzes! See you Monday!   

Today was my Pretest and I worked hard during each exercise. I will keep working hard to on each exercise. Today I did my Pomesaes and will keep working on them every day. I went to the park and ran my mile run and my time is getting better. After pretest I went to Sr Tiger class and was able to lead exercises. 

Today I woke up at 5:45 to get ready for the pre test. When the pre test finished I went back home. once I got home I did my requirements for taekwondo. Then I played with my sister and went to the pool. Then I played Pokémon on my Nintendo. Now I am done for the day.

As the cycle goes I keep realizing Im never done learning, the change from helping people confidently to being in the back of a class and the last group was humbling. I think I did on the decent on the physical exam and forms, but the written exam was something I was not prepared for. I plan to add more study based practice into regiments later in the week in preparation of the next real test...

Hi King Tiger... Today was Pre-Test. It showed me how much work I still got to do and reminded me that I need to keep pushing myself. Had a god run and physical was not too bad. Need to work on some things. Always need to work on poomsaes. However, I am working hard on my stances and preps. Still got work there. I am excited for this testing and most of all, I get to test with my son Nate and get to spend some time with him. As he gets older, he needs me less, so I enjoy these moments. Have a great day and weekend. Take care.

Good afternoon to everyone, body is now officially used to all these workouts. If yours still doe's, Try running a couple miles very early in the morning, it will feel nice. Make sure to practice your poomsaes!

Pretest went well. It showed me things that I need to work on. I need to put more time into studying for the final written test. I went back to Harrisburg location to do my pull ups, get leadership credits, and a mentor session in. I thought when I got home I would be able to rest. I maybe get a little rest time before I have to go to grocery store. Grocery shopping, grocery list making, and making meals is my new skill I am working on. Great work today everyone!

Just came back from the pretest. did pretty good, held plank for +3 minutes. Got most of the written test right but still need to work on the poomsaes. Going to do some requirements then head to my basketball game at noon

Pretest for blackbelt cycle is completed. I'm going to take a nap. I'll work on my self defense and kicks when I get up!    Side note, I need to buy a pair of running sneakers   

Today I woke up at five in the morning so I could go to my pre-test. And the Run was tiring, then I took a bus To the North Charlotte school, and we did push-ups situps v situps Burpees planks and last jump rope. then I went home at 9 o’clock, and then I played some games on my Nintendo switch and I beat the last gym leader in Pokémon.

Today I had to wake up really early because I had to go to pre-test and I had to run 1 mile and it hurt really bad. Then we went onto the party bus and then we went to North Charlotte King Tiger Dojung. We did push-ups sit ups V sit ups, jump rope, and plank then we did our Poomsaes and then we finish The pretest I felt really scared at first, but once I did it, it felt good and then I went home at nine in the morning!  

Hello everyone, I have not been doing my journals because I was on vacation, we went to Hilton Head and had lots of fun. But I am going to talk about pretest. Today was pretty hard especially the two miles but I ran the whole way and did not walk a single time, I did stop for water once because everyone needs water. But I thought that everyone did a great job with the running and with the Pretest, I hope everyone one is having a good summer and a good cycle. Bye.

Hey guys, so we all know that the Pre-Test was today, and I'm not going to lie, it was fun. I had a good time with all of the running and the exercises, and the poomsaes were fun too. Jovi though, what the heck man! You been holding out on us?  Anyway, that plank was crazy, eight minutes! Jovi is a lot stronger than he lets on, but now he has to beat eight minutes for the end of cycle. Anyway, don't to keep this too long you know, so see you guys next week and good luck to the Bocho's. 

Yesterday I went to play basketball,  watched a movie and did all of my requirements so it was a pretty chill day

Today I woke up and it was cloudy outside, it rained a lot. I was doing my requirements when it finally hit me that the pre test was tomorrow. To be real, I’m not that excited to wake up extra early to run 4 miles but I gotta do it.

The end of week one is here.  I had to do some extra catch-up because I was avoiding a few things - mostly rolls and falls.  I don't mind the falls so much but the rolls make me dizzy if I do too many in a row.

So far I'm not hitting that exhausted stage where I question my sanity for doing this again.  But I am journaling when I should be asleep; I have three miles to do in the morning and I don't run well - or at all, really.

Got up early today to go on errands. Practiced my German early and did my physical book requirements and started on my essays. Prepared for the pretest tomorrow and I hope everyone passes.

Today I had a list of things to do. The normal things. I did some cleaning and relaxed some. I practiced at King Tiger and took 2 classes tonight. I am a little nervous about tomorrow. Excited to see everyone. Best of luck to all.

Today I joined the sparring class at King Tiger Harrisburg, NC which goes towards my weekend and sparing cycle requirements. We had a lot of fun pad kicking, and practicing sparring combinations. I was only able to complete about 60% of my daily cycle requirements today and need to confirm if this is okay on training days.

This Friday, I worked on some requirements before I went to class for rolls and falls. We were able to do our bocho to second Dan self defenses for refreshment. Gonna sleep in prep for tomorrow.

Wishing all my fellow candidates a restful sleep and awesome performance tomorrow! I was thinking that it would just be Mark and myself at the track at midnight (or slightly after) doing their milage but I realized there will be others out there with us watching the sun rise as we finish up our milage.  I made sure to plug in my headphones so I've got plenty of music.  See you tomorrow on the track!

Even though I started late I feel like I'm catching up. I did some pull ups, push ups and sit ups. I ran a mile in 8 minutes and I did burpees. I took my first Black Belt class today and my first sparring class yesterday. I chose my mentee this week and am still working on scheduling a mentor session.

Today I went to camp and left early so I could do my exercises before my grandparents came then I went to do the rolls and falls class and the black belt class ate chipotle and that’s really it. Good night.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Friday and are excited for a super Saturday!!! Today I got up and played with my puppy! Afterwards, I went to the allergy place and then to my dermatologist appointment. I then came home for lunch and played around with Fred (my puppy)! I went to taekwondo and did The rolls and falls class. Friday Blackwell class was great. We worked on self-defense and I felt like it was really spending my time wisely. Then I went to chipotle and sat there for like 20 minutes waiting for our food that should’ve been ready 10 minutes before that!!! It made me so mad, but that’s in the past now. After I came home and ate my chipotle. We watched a show after that as the family and then headed up and hang out with Fred! Tomorrow is the pretest so I hope everyone knows their...

My body does not hurt anymore from all of this discipline, it has now gotten used to it. wake up early for the Pre-Test tomorrow!

I didn’t really do any physical requirement today, I don’t want to be sore today, and really push myself tomorrow! I was also going to do them at for lunch, time got the best of me. I was do ahead of on my work, but there only so much preparing I can do. They’re is only much you can control. So left work a little late, and very tired. I didn’t know if I had enough energy to make it to sparring and black belt class, I wanted to drink an energy drink. But I drank coffee and milk instead and talked to my boyfriend. that helped a lot  Sparring and black belt class was a great. I learned something new from Master Knight. Instructor Foster did a fine job leading the class.  

I just finished getting ready for pre-test tomorrow. Workout gear, uniform including belt, jump rope and BBC book with pen are all set. I am a zombie that early in the morning so it would not be wise for me to wait until then. Water...check. Gatorade...check. Energy shot...double check. Have a good night, all!!!

Today I woke up, brushed my teeth, ate breakfast and went to basketball camp.  We played knockout and other games.  At the end I got a t-shirt.  Then I want to Barnes and Noble and I saw Mrs. Jen looking at books.  I went to my first rolls and falls class and then did black belt class.  I'm going to bed early tonight because of pre-test tomorrow. 

I’m having trouble focusing especially with requirements so I need to get my mind on track with that. My days have been good, went mini golfing and had s'more's. Goodnight everyone.

Henry and I are getting into a good habit of getting out the door early before it gets too hot and it's been really pleasant to be out before the heat hits. Today it was good because we beat the rain! (it's currently raining steadily)  Came home and showered because I am just constantly gross. (I swear I stunk up the place at sparring last night -- and I don't mean my technique (which isn't great either!)) Worked on some self defense after that so we're ready if Master Natasya decides to pre-test that at Black Belt class tonight. Will be working on poomsaes later to be ready for pretest in the AM.  Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/rupeblackbelts

Got up this morning and did my Friday Morning Kettlebell workout. Luckily it had lots of running, pushups, sit-ups and planks So I'm counting some of that toward my required exercises. Coffee in the morning with some friends after working out is always a nice entry into the weekends. I'm a little behind on some of my requirements but I hope to finish everything up today before friday night class. Tomorrow's pretest will be here soon!

Good morning, everyone! Yesterday was quite a long day. I finished my requirements quite early in the morning, and then finished my assignments. Today, I am about to head to Tae Kwon Do and help out with summer camp and take class later in the evening. There’s only one more day till pretest!! Have a wonderful day everyone!

Time for coffee.......showered,  and going to camp. I'm going to attempt to work with my mentee, but it's always a challenge to grab her for just 10 minutes.  I went a Jr. Tigers class last night and assisted...yay! 1 down, 19 to go!  I also heard and saw two candidates run warm ups, they did a great job!  I felt a little more confident at sparring last night, but still do not like getting hit in my head.  I'm also getting signatures in my book which is exciting....now only if I can get my scores correct on the website chart. 

Still trying to find a rythm for everything. I'm still waiting for my house to get put back together, its hard to get into a routine when we're down to 1 bathroom and wife and kid are having to share a room. That I really wanted to wait until i get my baseline this saturday before i really hit everything hard. 

During the day, I did most of my requirements at home. I then went to class and gained leadership credits and helped assist the class afterwards. We then did sparring after that I went home to rest. 

Another tiring day of the cycle, only difference was going to sparring class in the evening. I seem to have outgrown my sparring gear after 3 years, so definitely need to get some new stuff. I’ve been working on my arm strength because my arms have been quite lazy after the last cycle I was on.

Still getting back into the groove but I got my physical requirements done earlier today than yesterday so that's progress.  I'm getting close to being able to do a full minute of pushups or sit-ups without having to stop, though my shoulders and back definitely need some stretching afterwards.  I'm behind on my pull-ups so I did some more of that as well. Tonight was the first night back in sparring in a while.  I had wanted to ease back in before the cycle started but my ankle sprain got in the way.  Overall another good day but Antoine kicked my butt in sparring - as he usually does.  I know I'm not very good but he's smooth and fast and seems like a natural.No class tomorrow so I won't have to drive down to the dojang.  Saturday morning, on the other hand, is a whole other matter.  See y'all then.

First sparring class is in the books (literally)! Instructor Max comes up with good ideas for sparring and keeps things moving and fun.  I don't really like wearing the hobuk as it makes me feel claustrophobic.  Unfortunately that thing isn't built for...erm...certain assets, shall we say.  I really wanted to check on the garden when I got home, so I went out back with my flashlight  sneaking around my own back yard to take a peek.  I need to pick tomatoes as they are ripening like crazy, and I pulled off a small cantaloupe and a cucumber that had to be at least 14 inches long.  Looks like we have some watermelon growing as well.so we'll see.if we get any off this year.

Today I woke up and as usual ran. However, today I ran with a friend of mine for a few miles and joined him and his team after my run for core and stretching. Afterwards I did some requirements before leaving for work. Today was fairly crazy as it felt like there was an endless number of campers, but once classes started everything calmed down. I did some more requirements between the end of my shift and sparring, which was proceeded by a mentor session with Master Marcus. I finished off the day with some stretching and reading. 

I did some requirements and went to my first sparring class in a while it was fun then I got done with my self defense, poomsaes, and kicks and I was done. Good night.

This morning was relaxed. Then it was time to start requirements. I spent the afternoon late evening at TWD getting requirements but not taking class. Not much to exciting as I have not had any fun outings. However, my grandparents come this weekend to stay till next week. I may have more to write about then. I think I decided on my new skill. Hope to do this next week. Tomorrow I have to get motivated to create a rough draft for my technology challenge essay.

I hope everyone had a terrific Thursday. I know I did because I spent time with my puppy, Fred, and I went to TKD. I took a class, helped out with a class, and took sparring. I hope everyone is practicing their poomsaes for Saturday and everyone is going to do amazing! Good night everyone. Hope every has a fantastic Friday!    P. S. Today is National Sour Candy Day!

Today, I went for my run in the morning and it was quite peaceful and enjoyable. After we went to the Dojang, and we did the ninja course for Master Evins summer camp. It was a great group of junior tigers mainly and they had a lot of fun doing the course, and we also had a great time. After that we chilled for a while, and my friends came over and we had so much fun. We swam in the pool and played for a few hours. After that we headed to work at the Dojang to teach classes. I helped out for a bit before my shoulder was hurting really bad from a mountain bike crash, and I landed on my shoulder. So somethings going on there. Other than that the classes went great and everyone had a fun day.

Woke up sluggish today so I did not practice first thing. Got some coffee and completed some official work. Later I was still feeling sluggish but started my daily cycle anyway. Ran half a mile and got some sweats working, then stretched and the mood changed.  After I was done I drank about 2.5 liters of refreshing water, which made it all worthwhile!

Today, I did my run first thing, then did my requirements during the course of the day in between work meetings and bug fixes. Dylan and I went to the gym at lunch, and then went to the 6:00 class then the sparring class. After the sparring class, I felt that I definitely deserved ice cream, but I didn't get any. I'm feeling pretty confident about my poomsae's and self defenses. Tomorrow I will study.

Antoine Hicks                                                                                                                                                            7/18/24   Got up around 5:30 am, and did my German early, went on my jog around the neighborhood. Got home and practiced everything for Saturday. Got to tkd at about 6:15 to help with the 6:20 class. helped out with some high  green belts on self-defence. Then I did sparing class drills, and the sparring portion. Got home around 8:50, practiced a little and im currently preparing to take a nap.   ...

I started my day with a coding class which usually never works but today it did so that's good. I caught up for today AND tomorrow for physical requirements so that's a nice burden out of the way. I then went to 6pm class and attended sparring which would've been nice if my foot hadn't been hurting because of my Sever's. after that I went to Sabor and had some nachossssss.

Today, my sister got poked in the eye by accident at summer camp. We left early so she could get a checkup. The doctor told us that her eye would heal on its own in a few days. After the checkup, I assisted a junior tiger class while my dad went to buy a jump rope. He did not find any pull up bars at the store. Afterwards, I completed all of my requirements and ran outside for 1.5 miles. I will see you on Friday.

Today I went to my YMCA summer camp, as usual. When I came back home, me and my sister went to our Wednesday swimming class. After that, I completed all of my requirements and ran outside for one mile. I was still getting used to running, so I was very tired when I came back inside. I will make sure to buy a jump rope and a pull up bar tomorrow so I can complete those requirements. Have a good evening.

Today I woke up and went on a run. Then I did some of my requirements for taekwondo. Then I Did my chores I also played Pokémon on the Nintendo. After that I played with my sister and her friend. Then I went to taekwondo and did 2 classes,and now I’m done for today.

Sometimes I have to get my requirements done in the afternoon just because that’s when I wake up. So I’ve been working out in the heat and it does make such a difference. I’ve been getting some requirements done during my lunch break too. I might try to get it done after work rather than before work. But my body is adjusting to the challenge.  But now the AC stopped working in our apartment. So all last night and today it was at 84° in the house. I woke up today feeling so sluggish, I turned on a fan and tried to make sure me and the animals had enough water and air circulation. The maintenance guy came and brought us a window unit, so now I feel more comfortable, leaving the pets at home. I kept thinking about going to Chick-fil-A, getting some ice cream or milkshake. Or getting a...

Here we go, Thursday, another morning of running and exercises down.  Unfortunately work has been a little slow the first half of the year. and now, as I wouldn't mind having the time and ability to focus on this black belt cycle everything is full speed ahead! It's nice to have Abigail doing this with me so we can hold each other accountable and work together on the daily requirements. See everyone at sparring tonight!

Over the course of the last couple of days I’ve had a great time swimming at a pond, going out to lunch, playing at the arcade, and getting into the black belt mindset. I’m giving it my all and when I take my pretest I will destroy it. I am prepared to do this.

Hello. I am not sure if I am ready for tomorrow, as it is my first cycle. Today I went to sparring and Black belt class. we practiced all poomsaes and some self defenses. Just getting ready for tomorrow. I am feeling apprehensive about pull ups tomorrow, because I am terrible at them. I could probably do 2 or 3 in one minute. But as It is the pretest, I will be able to improve before the BIG test. See everyone bright and early tomorrow. UPDATE:I can do more than 2 or 3 pull ups in a minute. 8 is average amount.

Good morning to everyone, Pre-tests are soon and make sure you are practicing and actually giving effort. Even though our muscles hurt, its not supposed to be easy. So go challenge yourself before Saturday.

Time to get going....camp, cycle requirements and physical stuff, assisting in class, and sparring this evening. I left my required reading in reach of my Pomchi, he decided to read it too....fortunate for me, he only wanted to read the back cover!  I think I'll challenge my campers into a competition of my physical requirements,  that way I can get mine done before 8pm .  Hope everyone is doing great 

  Training day used to be fun, but basic. Now it’s giving me brain like NCU. A lot happened today, my first official training day since cycle began. We practiced Kwonso, Chagi Sol, Taeguks, Koryo, Keumgang, Pyungwon, Taebek, and JiTae. Also self defense from white to green. While I had already covered all my daily cycle requirements earlier in the day. I also met some of my mentors and mentees today, as well as some of GM King’s students. One more critical thing that happened today is we moved the North Charlotte Toad to rearrange the Dojang. Every time we move the Toad I am reminded of Naruto’s master Sage Toad Fukasaku, who thought Naruto Sage Jutsu at  mount Myoboku. This was a technique that allowed the user to mix nature energy with human energy, to complete  techniques that would otherwise be impossible. Guess we are in Sage mode now ;)

Good morning, everyone! Yesterday was a long day. After finishing my requirements, my friend came over and we hung out for awhile. We went for a walk, and then ended up at her house. It was a lot of fun. After that, I came home and had dinner when my brother's friends came. Today, I woke up an hour ago, but my body is begging me to go back to sleep. I am planning on mainly focusing on my civics class today and then knocking out my requirements because there is a final coming up that is 25% of our whole grade. The pre-test is in 2 more days!! Have a wonderful day!

Day 5 of cycle was awesome! I finished up my pretest and I have to work on some poomses, but it went well. I got to help in class and do punches and kicks. And I also had water camp again which was fun but I got a little sunburned. My workout went good I went and worked on my poomses and that was it. I am ready for day 6.

Weird day. Had to get the animals out of the house to do mold killing house fogging. On top of that the A/C was out which ended up being a $600 repair Not covered under warranty mind you do to it being and "act of god" for lack of a better term. So, i had to try an sleep at my folks' house today which wasn't great esp because of phone calls coordinating the HVAC tech and the mold techs. As soon as my house get back to normal in a couple weeks hopefully i can get into a better routine. 

Midnight came around fast and I missed my time to post. This will be my EARLY post for Thursday.  I had a good yesterday with requirements, class assistance, warmup and black belt class.  I will always have something I can improve, of course. I have a mentee now which I am glad about. It was a struggle getting someone that is committed last time. However, if I have a problem again, there is a plan B to be successful.

 Yesterday, I did my requirements. Today will be my first sparring class in a very long time. 

Today I woke up and did some driving practice. When I got home I ate lunch and did most of my requirements. I stretched a lot today so I definitely feel better after finishing everything. In the evening I went to black belt class and it was mostly color belt review.

Hi King Tiger Family. Definitely late but good day. I got some requirements done today and basically caught up so I am feeling better. I am ready for sparring tomorrow night. Excited. It has been a while so will need to work back into the groove. I am still pretty sore but pushups were easier this morning so that was good. I had a pretty good day at work. I am going to head to bed soon but first I am going to read some bible. I like doing that before bed and also pray. I find prayer helps me get to the right place before bed. I hope you all have a great night. Take care. 

Today was a very long day. Some of the highlights of my day though, were: learning more students names at King Tiger, while working; talking with my pastor at bible study about both positive things and recent struggles of mine; and lastly getting two good runs in. I have been ramping up my training, heading into cross country season and am excited to see where my running journey will take me this year. 

It's been another weekday and therefore another internal fight over when to step away from my desk and practice.  I did better today - I got most of my daily physical requirements done before lunch and finished the rest after.  I'm still not happy with the timing but I know what I need to do.This is day three of the dietary challenge.  I picked something that I knew would be an actual challenge - I didn't want a cakewalk and a resulting cushy essay.  But now I'm noticing just how many of my regular, everyday foods contain what I'm giving up, including most of my go-to snacks.  I'm going to have to spend some time at the grocery figure out what's still safe to eat.  It's not as bad as when I was vegan for a few years but, fortunately, I know how to cook and bake and might just have...

So full disclosure: at some point in the cycle I always think "why in the world did I sign up for this?!? Is that extra stripe really that important?" Usually this hits about halfway through the cycle, but this time here we are and we are even at the pretest yet! I know it will pass, but right now it's a matter of pushing through.  It will get easier, just riding the struggle bus right now.  I also know it has more to do with other factors I won't go into at this time, so hopefully things level out soon.

Today, I completed my second 12 hours of no technology. Without technology consuming my time I found myself reading more books and taking naps. It was not an easy challenge. I took a trip to the public library and found a book to help with history of Kwon essay. Not sure how I am going to write four pages. That intimidates me. I tried my new shoes tonight, feet are sore. My time on my run increased a bit. I have to remember to go my pace and see my friend when the run is over.