Spring 2025 Black Belt Cycle

Candidate Journals

King Tiger Tae Kwon Do Black Belt candidates blog daily about their journey: their thoughts and feelings, their struggles and successes; their pain and their encouragement. Follow along on their journey; words of encouragement are always welcome!

Journal 8: the big flop

Today in gym we did dodgeball. And if you got hit, you did 10 sit-ups and got back in the game. I got out 11 times. I got all of my sit-ups finished. So if you're doing the black belt cycle and you're bad at dodgeball, that's a tip for you. I did class today, then met up with my mentee Brianna. I am tired and I need to do my algebra homework. I'm really glad that P.E. doesn't grade us on athleticism, for all us hopeless non athletic blobs out there. I bid you good day, citizens of Ritikatown. -Ritika  

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My day

Today I woke up and did my requirements. After that I had to go with my mom to a couple of different stores. After that I went to the barbershop for a haircut. I was almost late to class, and made it just in time. Now I'm here hey got to run bye.   Hey The dates on the cite are wrong. That is why the date on this post is eithar wrong or my past ones are on 8/22/18

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Library: Journal #28

Today I got to sleep in just a tad bit. Then I went to school, as normal, then went to tennis practice. At tennis practice, we mainly worked on doubles for our match tomorrow. We got the line-up for tomorrow's match. From there I went to the Library for a volunteer celebration. That was my pretty basic day

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Entry #8

Notes, notes, NOTES! Today I woke up to my dad telling me to take out the window meshes because my parents got some people to pressure wash the sides of our house. To get the windows, the mesh needed to be taken out. Half asleep, I fumbled with the notches on the corners of the meshes (some were missing, so I had to use plier to move the nail). When I finished that, I went and brushed my teeth, ate breakfast, then took a shower. After that was time to get working on my summer project. I thought I'd finished the notes yesterday, but it turns out that there was actually more! So I spent most of my day (from 11:30 to 6:00, with a 45 minute lunch break) sitting an taking notes. It got even slower when I had to go upstairs and use my lap and the arm of a...

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Going to the Beach

My family going to the beach on Tuesday since we haven't gone all summer. We go every year but it's random every time.

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Monday 8/20

Today is the first day that I ran a mile with me, my mom and my dad. It was fun to run with my family. Today was very different because after the empathy training I don’t talk a lot because I still feel like I shouldn’t talk. Today I met with my mentee and we mainly focused on sparring combinations. Looking forward to sparring class tomorrow. I almost have all my leadership 2 credit done and it feels good to accomplish something. I hope everyone has a great Monday!

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A normal day.

Toady was a pretty normal day. I went to school in the morning. School was pretty good. Today I finally got my fine art. A fine art in my school is band, choir, art, photography, etc... my fine artery was acrylic painting. Acrylic painting is the only fine art I can do with my shedule. It is ok because the teacher is nice and the kids that are in the class are are in that class because it is the only class they can do to fit their schedule jus like me. When. I came back home I did some homework I. I had to study for a geometry quiz tomorrow. After some3 time I went to king tiger to Help out a class and take sparring. Sparring is pretty fun. Well that is all I did today.

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Late day:

I had 

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8/22/2018

New trainee making good progress at work learning the job.  He a recreational youth basketball coach and I enjoy hearing how he is engaged with the kids on his basketball team.

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Basketball

Today so far is a really good day. I took a math quiz which was really easy. I also took a literature quiz which I got a 95. Later today I had a free block. At free b l,oak we played basketball. Today I played better than I usually do. It was reallyu fun because we played knockout.

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Fun

I had a fun day today because I went to the splash park and had lots of fun with my friends.after that I went back to tae kwon do and had lots of fun.

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new song

Today i made a new song that goes like king kong on and on .

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I began the morning with a big breakfast.  Welcomed a lot of people still arriving for our Wolfhound reunion.  

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College Campus

Because my classes are spread throughout the campus of UNC Charlotte, I am able to record the distance I walk as part of my cycle. Today's distance was 1.81 miles, but this was because of an unoptimize d route. Once I optimize my route to my classes, my distance will decrease. I'll make up for this as I train to run 4 miles in 40 minutes, a requirement for my physical test.

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Journal 7: getting used to school and learning and bleh

So, I don't have much time. My  entries are probably going to be shorter since I have a lot to do since school started. For starters, I still have to finish my algebra homework, and write half a page on survival. My first impression with my math teacher was wrong, she was actually pretty nice. My impression with my art teacher didn't change, she's still kind of confusing. I'll get it eventually. Today we did the sit ups and pushups test. I did 40 sit-ups and 28 push-ups in a minute. But compared to King Tiger standards, that's kind of lame. I'll have to work on that. Luci was with me, since she goes to my school, and we did the test together. She beat me in sit-ups by five, but I beat her in pushups by 10. It's nice to have a friend who understands Tae Kwon Do. I think...

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No idea

Today I went to sparring class and black belt. My day went as I expected. When I got home which is now I jumped on this so I got no ideas. Hope you enjoyed got to run.

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Arrived:

Today, we completed our trip to Davenport.   It was even a fun trip.  I was very tired when we arrived though.   Checked in to hotel, went to a restaurant to eat and then back to the room for rest.  

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Daily Journal #20: Long, Busy Day

The day started at 06:00 when I had to get ready quite quickly so that I could take care of what I needed to and then go to my neighbor's house to take care of her dogs since I am dog sitting them while she is away. I decided to not count this as an act of kindness because of the fact that I get paid to do this. This morning I also had to correct my class schedule since I was put in the wrong math class. After that my day went pretty ordinarily, and in practice my coach had us run 3.5 miles at the pace we would run in racing 3.1 miles. We then did another mile's worth of speed/hill work and a cool down. After practice my mom picked me up and brought me directly to King Tiger North Charlotte so I could help with the color...

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Pool Guard

Today I went to the pool, but let me backtrack. I woke up around 10:00,  after getting situated I did my requirements. The day before I had decided today I would head to the pool. I waited for most of the clouds to clear then I went to the pool. When I got there this lady was the guard and let me tell you this, so that you know they aren't life guards there just there to check everybodys age. She waited until I was halfway in the water then she called me over. She said that I was to young and gave me a paplet and sent me home. Hey got to go bye.

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Today, we arrived in Iowa.  It was a fun trip.  Now is the time to embellish war stories with the rest of our vets here.

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wednesday 5th journal

today after i woke up i did my exercise i worked on updating my progress online. Then after that i took bath and ate breakfast. After eating breakfast i did some math on khan academy and some reading by reading a book in total of 2 hours. Then i ate my lunch and watched TV until my sister came home. Then at 6:00 i got ready for swimming class and went and came back.when i came back i was so tired so i ate dinner and watched some TV with my family and we all went to our bed and went to sleep and get rest because school is starting next week Monday for me So i got to wake up very early when it starts to do my Tae Kwan do exercise.

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tuesday journal 4

after waking up i had to do my morning exercise. Then after that i had ate breakfast and went to bath after sometime i ate my lunch and watched Lego ninja-go season 9. Then i searched and i found a link to watch free new movies.i was going to watch a movie on but then my mom told me to stop when my dad came and my dad came. Then i offed it and got ready to go to my Tae Kwan do class for leadership 1. Then after that i understood that you can get only one leadership for a day. So i did some jump rope. Then i got my black belt class sight fir weekdays. Then i went home and ate dinner and watched some TV and my whole family went up and went to sleep

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Another day down and saw some friends

Worked on one of my essays today about role model.  I am really enjoying writing this one. Today is much like yesterday as I am trying to keep up with all my activities.  It was good to go to the ribbon cutting at the new High School property.  It is really cool and look forward to the new building.  I saw a lot of my friends there which I was happy about.  

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8-21 Tuesday

Today i went and got my parking pass for school. This is the first year I will be able to drive to school. Today in class we worked on Hopkido form 1 and other things we can add to it. 

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Thank you, Master and Mrs. Evins

Had it not been the owners of the North Charlotte location, I would not have been able to test on this cycle. I am a third dan, and it has not been three years since I've gotten my belt. However, I was given special permission to join this cycle and the next cycle so that I have a chance to get a fourth dan before I leave for college. I know I've said it before, and I will say it again, but I want to thank Master and Mrs. Evins for giving me this opportunity. 

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A Fun Day

Today was a fun day because I went to Nevins splash park and played with my friends. After that we went to the park and played. Then we went back to tae kwon do and got changed for class. A couple hours later I did sparring class and got lots of sparring rounds in.

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Enjoying

Last day off and then work 7 straight. Workouts done. Toe is a little better. Didn't effect my run although I got my run in yesterday before hurting my toe so I was a bit worried. Made kicking difficult and painful yesterday. Took Michael to the orthodontist this morning. Mooresville sure is a haul. First time with this Dr but I liked him and the facility. Extremely modern. And he earned my trust by suggesting some cost free steps before moving onto orthodontic work for him. Sure hope this works because nothing is cheat about orthodontic procedures. Believe it or not the fix involves a tongue depressor and and 10 minutes four times a day. Going to finish my book essay while the boys are playing in the basement.

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Basically the Same: Journal #27

Today started off basically the same as yesterday, but I had to wake up 15 minutes earlier. When I got to tennis practice, we got our uniforms. I'm glad I got the size I want and not a really big size. Then I quickly finished my homework so I could go to class and get some requirements done. That was basically my day. Hopefully tomorrow is a little bit more interesting

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Journal 5: This wasn't supposed to happen

Okay, let me start by saying that another day I wrote a journal 5 but that wasn't supposed to be published.. don't know when it was published but I saw it while scrolling through the blog entries and I immediately freaked out. So... that was kind of/really embarrassing. So just... you know... forget about that. MOVING ON!! Today is the first official day of the black belt cycle and sparring class today was really quiet. There wasn't a lot of people there. I also really wish I could've helped out at Master Richie's, but yesterday I found out that I couldn't go. I just hope they're okay. Also, school is starting this Wednesday or Thursday. So... yeah. Ugh. School. I got my schedule yesterday and I was partly excited because when the school year starts I'll see all my friends, partly disappointed because school... and open house is Monday! I usually write...

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Iowa Bound:

This morning started the drive to Davenport,  Iowa.   During the long drive I decided to listen to my wife, drive 2 thirds of way stop and get a hotel room for the night and finish the next day.   It worked well I even was able to do some requirements. 

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Bus time

Today when I left the house the mail man came around the corner. This wasn't the first time I talked to him but today was different it was to calm. When he handed me the mail there was something there for me. Well I don't know about you, but when I get mail its either a bad thing for me or a gift card from Toys R S. As you know the latter no longer exists so it had to be bad. When I got inside it was from my new school telling me when I was supposed to get on the bus. I knew school was early but not I gotta wake up at 5 am early. This may not seem that bad but that was like a nuke to my summer. Hey gotta go share your reactions in the comments bye.

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Sunday 8/19

Today is the day I did my empathy training and it is so hard. I choose to be mute and It is harder than I thought, I have to communicate in writing because any other way does not work. I tried mouthing the words but that's hard to understand, silent language wont work because I don't know it and trying express what I'm trying to say through movements is also hard. For times when I didn't have a pencil or notepad My mom could only ask yes/no questions so I could shake or nod my head. For breakfast we went to a restaurant so I wrote words on my ipad to tell the waitress what I wanted to eat and it was so weird and I felt so bad because I could not say please and thank you. I hope everyone has a great Sunday!

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Tuesday

Today I had to wake up earlier than usual because my dad needed help with the garden I was pretty tired so I couldn't do my requirements in the morning as usual. So I had to do them in the evening when it was hotter.

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Feel so good oh yeah

I feel very good this morning. At camp we are going to the pool. But My moms plane was in the middle of air and it had to go get gas so she made it to her hotel in chacago at 3.

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A Monday

Today was a fun day because I went to the park and played basketball with my friends.after that we went back to tae kwon do. Then we did are tae kwon do thangs.

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A Good Day

Today was a pretty good day. In they morning I came to school and everyone was pretty tired. We had a pop quiz in History which was a a really easy quiz. I had a free block. In that block we played basketball which was very6 fun. When I came back home. I didn’t have that much homework whichy was great. Ate the end of the day I had to go to my brothers football practice. At the time of his practice. Their was a varsity volleyball  game. I decided to go. It was fun because two of my friends were there. This day was a really good day.

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Summer Assignment

This summer my school assigned a reading assignment, you had to read a book on your summer reading list and write about a trait in it. It wasn't a normal trait though it was a"Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens" trait. The seven traits are 1.Be Proactive, 2.Begin with the End in Mind, 3.Put First Things First, 4.Think Win-Win, 5.Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood, 6.Synergize, and 7.Sharpen the Saw. It was quite hard because the book I read was pretty vague so I couldn't write about only one trait so I kind of cheated and did two traits instead of one, the were sharpen the saw and synergize. All in all it was pretty challenging but I got it done in a hour and a half.

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Greensboro

Today the moment I got up I was stuffed in my dads care and rode to Greensboro. The reason I went was to see my grandparents. When I went to my grandpa's house the fire alarm kept screeching every five minutes he didn't  seem to mind though. When we left his house I went to see my Gandma's house. Now I'm here and need to do my requirements bye. 

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Journal 6: me again

Ok, two big things happened.  One, school started for me. And  two: the teachers are really intimidating I don't get intimidated that easil-PFFT lies. Everything scares me. Well, not EVERYTHING. But I have a healthy amount of fear. But at school, usually it's okay. But on the first day of school, I had a teacher that scared me. How? Well, I came into the class and she said this: "YOU HAVE TEN DAYS TO SWITCH OUT OF THIS CLASS AND IF YOU DO NOT YOU HAVE TO PASS BECAUSE IT WILL GO ON YOUR HIGH SCHOOL TRANSCRIPT AND COLLEGES WILL SEE IT SO THIS CLASS WILL DETERMINE YOUR FUTURE." Imagine something along those lines in an intense voice turned into a teachery lecture. But she's actually pretty nice. First impressions are usually wrong. The other teachers were not that intense, but still intense. But that's just the first day of school...

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Entry #7

We got our house painted last week. It was a lot, but it went by pretty quickly. There are still a few touch-ups here and there, but those will be taken care of tomorrow. I also went to ComiCon yesterday. It was my first pop culture convention, and it was a blast! I bought 3 comics and a pencil portrait of Captain Rex from Star Wars. I'm back on track with the cycle, just gotta keep it up. Lastly, I'm working on my summer asignemnt for AP US History, and it's due in a week. I'm rushing, but it's coming along!

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Daily Journal #19: Completing Another Essay

Today, I went to church, and my pastor just got back from an 8-week sabbatical to survey other churches and to study on his own and I really quite liked the sermon he gave today. After I got home I wrote up my empathy training essay from went I was mute for 12 hours last Friday. I found it surprisingly easy to write a full page, but the hardest part of writing it for me was just getting started. Once I got started, I was fine, but I just found it difficult to start the essay without it sounding awkward (I just wanted the different thoughts to flow together nicely). School started last Thursday, which means that tomorrow starts the first full week of school, and I don't mind school; sometimes I wish it wasn't so monotonous though.

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what happened on Monday 3 journal

After i woke up early in worked on my karate and exercise for morning till lunch , then after that i went to my computer and watched Lego ninja-go masters of spinjitzu season 8 and season 9 for the rest of the day.Then at 6:10 i went to Tae Kwan Do to help out the journeyer tiger class. After helping them out i took the 6:45 to 7:15 class. it took my dad 1 hour to come because he had to drop his friends family to the airport. Then after he picked me we went home and ate dinner while watching a movie in our language.Then when it was done we all went to sleep.

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what happened on Monday 3 journal

After i woke up early in worked on my karate and exercise for morning till lunch , then after that i went to my computer and watched Lego ninja-go masters of spinjitzu season 8 and season 9 for the rest of the day.Then at 6:10 i went to Tae Kwan Do to help out the journeyer tiger class. After helping them out i took the 6:45 to 7:15 class. it took my dad 1 hour to come because he had to drop his friends family to the airport. Then after he picked me we went home and ate dinner while watching a movie in our language.Then when it was done we all went to sleep.

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Last week before school

Spending today with my boys. One Doctor visit done. BB workouts done. Going to take the boys to swim lessons in a bit then off to TKD. Found out that I jump rope better barefoot although I think about 30 seconds straight is my personal best. I am so bad at it. Feeling good about my color belt poomsaes and Koryo. Still a little thinking going on but I do know it. Same with stick and staff. Now I'm trying to remember defenses. The hapkido forms are so much easier to remember.I have a couple of new minor injuries nagging at me. Both my fault. Tripped over JA's stool and tweaked my right knee and today I jammed my toe badly. Hoping just bruised. It hurts but nothing in either to slow me down.

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2 eassays down few more to go

 Today i did my living /non ling hero essaay and i had fun in camp. I also have school in a week so i have been prepareing.

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Daily Journal #18: Stressful Night and Morning

This morning went pretty well, although I felt much more nervous, panicky, on edge, whatever word you want to use to describe it really, and I ended up tripping on the brick stairs on the front of my house and my knee landed on the corner of one of the bricks. The reason why this happened is because, I was already panicking, rushing, and with that combination, something like that is bound to happen. I think that part of the reason why I was like that is because last night, at around midnight when I was trying to get to sleep, I heard 3 shots from a weapon that sounded like a rifle come from the general direction of my street (I live in a cul-de-sac), and then I woke my dad up to tell him what I heard, and not even a couple minutes later, both of us heard 6...

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Early Start: Journal #26

Today started early with me having to be at school at 7 for Student Council. Then I went to class and the rest of my school day pretty much the same, but then I had to go to Tennis practice. That ended around 5 and then I came home, quickly took a shower, ate something, and headed to Tae Kwon Do. By the time I got home, I would eat dinner and go to sleep because I have to wake up early again tomorrow. 

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Saturday! 8/18

Today In black belt class we did a challenge to try to distract our partner while they do Kwon Sool. It was very funny. In class we also focused on our poomsae’s with correct form and movement(as in doing walking stance instead of doing front stance). We also worked on doing our basic kicks perfectly. Right now I’m going home with my mom coming from the shoe store to get better shoes for running so I feel more comfortable. I hope everyone has a awesome Saturday!

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A little closer:

Today I awaken with the thought, the cycle is futher along, of being done.   I'm going to get a lot of requirements in also.  I must do this before my body reacts!!  Fatigue will set in..

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Congestion is no fun

First day back to work this week.  Still congested.  Had to train a new worker and trying to talk while congested is hard work.  Made it thru the day but very exhausted.

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Quiet Time

Today I went silent and that it was very interesting but also fun. I learned that people who cannot speak have trouble communicating with other people. I also learned how we have to be patient with people who cannot speak. 

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Friday! 8/17

Today in black belt class we did a lot of kicks and poomsae’s and my legs were very sore. Also when I worked with my mentee all the other black belts were doing their mentee meeting too so we all did it at the same time. In black belt class we did white belt and yellow belt special’s self defense many times. I just got back from running and I can feel the pain everywhere on my legs every time I move. I hope everyone had the best Friday ever!

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Entry #6

I updated my tracking for the cycle, and I'm back on track!

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the Saturday

today was a not so great day because I woke up and my body was sore from playing with my friends.after I woke up I went down stairs and watched TV after that we went to tae kwon do.then I went back home my dads car ran out of clutch fuel so we could not go anywhere.

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Sunday is complete

I did a lot of practicing today with my kicks.  Mom watched me and said they are looking good. Worked on my promises and essays today as well.  Looking forward to tomorrow as I get to go see my new high school.

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Sunday second day of exercise: journal 2

after i woke up early i did my Tae Kwan Do exercise and took bath after i took bath my whole family went to the temple to pray to our god.Then we went out to eat .After we eat we got in the car and went home. My mom tried to sleep but because of my sister and i she couldn't sleep.Then after we got home my dad slept and went to complete the rest of my exercise and when i finished it my mom went to the nearby temple with my sister to pray.Then my dad woke up and drank milk and went outside i finished my inside work and went with him out.we washed our outside floor and dirty chair.Then after mom came back we ate dinner and watched some TV and went to bed.

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Saturday black belt cycle begins journal 1

after waking up i took bath and got ready for my first black belt class,and after my class i got my black belt book from my teacher and he explained mostly everything to me but i still had some questions to ask him but i already got home so i asked my father and he answered them all.after i got home i took a big nap and rested so i can start my daily exercise.Then after i finished my sit-ups it was to late so my mom told to stop and come eat.After eating we watched on the TV sometime and then my whole family went upstairs to bed and slept.

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Pool Day

Today I went to my friends birthday party. It was at a pool. I was pretty fun. They had a basketball hoop at their pool which was pretty fun. We played four square which was also pretty fun. After some time we came back home after eating lunch. When I came back home I mowe the lawn and did some requirements. In still have to get in the habit forb school.

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Back to School

Today is the last day of the cycle where I don't have to worry about school. Starting tomorrow, I will be going to school, leaving less time to do my requirements. Theoretically, I could do some of my requirements at school. That would be a lot of explaining to do for my teachers and fellow students. Depending on how much time I have at home, I just might do it. Maybe I could even get some of my friends to exercise with me.

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Thursday 8/16

Right now my legs feel like they are going to fall off me because of how hard I worked my legs. I just got back from running and my legs are so sore I can barely walk without them hurting. I got 16 rounds off sparring rounds done so I was tired after that. Before that I had a mentee meeting, a mentor meeting and assisted and leaded. Today I did a lot and am ready to relax I hope everyone has a goodnight!

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And this is Today's

While at work I called my Sgt to ask a question and he answered the phone with "yes, you can go home early" Confused, I asked my question and he said it again. I thought he may have been talking to someone else in the room with him and asked "are you talking to me?" He said yes. Go home. Incredulous I asked "Are you serious?" and he said yes, it's your Friday. How cool is that. Surprised the family. Relaxed a little. Finished up my workout and now I am off to Chuck E Cheese (ugghhh) with the boys (yeah for them) and then to the Teeter to buy some steak. Katherine is wanting me to cook her a steak with lime. I've done it before. Not my fave but the Peruvians love lime on there food. Acidic cooking is their specialty. Don't get me started on ceviche.

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8/19

I had 2 friends over today named Maddie and Alexis. We got ready to go shopping when Alexis started chasing me. I tried to run into a room and stubbed my 2 toes. I broke my toe and still went shopping. That was a bad idea. It hurts really bad, so I'm icing it and staying off of it as much as I can. It's swollen and bruised, but I'm doing my best to make it better. I have school tomorrow and I'm not very excited. 

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Hope This Counts

This should have been yesterday's blog but I was unable to log into site. 2nd time this has happened. Katherine and I were watching a movie with the boys. After a while I noticed that John Alexander wasn't in the room. I found him in his room writing at his desk. I asked him what is was and he showed me. It said "10 push-ups" "10 Sit-ups" and "10 Burpees" He said that's what he's going to do so he can be ready for Black Belt. I love that boy.

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Chilling At Home

Wednesdays I usually stay at home and still do cycle stuff. Today I got it all done early so I had the rest of he day to hang out. A while after I got all my stuff done my brother got home from a sleep over at a friends. He had a bit of time to himself then our grandmother showed up and took us to Panera then Smoothie King. When she left me and my brother played some video games for a while. I kept playing after he had gotten tired and did really well  (for me) which I was happy about. That was my day today, BYE!

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Chilling At Home

Wednesday is the day I usually stay home but I still do cycle stuff. Today I got all of it done early and had the rest of the day to hang out. After I got everything done my brother got back from a friends house

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At it again:

We had quite a time this morning    A lot of physical fitness , self defense did I mention sparring class.  Itt was all good.  Requirements on the other hand moving a little slow.  

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Recovering

Feeling a lot better today.  I can actually breathe better.  Starting back up on working out.

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8/18

Yesterday, I cheered at my first High School football game. It was really fun. The student section loved and followed us in our cheers. We all practiced our stunts and tumbled during time outs. Our team won after going into overtime at 14 to 14. The final score was 20:14. Today, I woke up for sparring class, but my stomach was killing me, so I rested until black belt class at 10:40. 

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Black Belt Class: Journal #25

Today I woke up and started my requirements, just as any Saturday would start. Then I went to Sparring and Black Belt Class. Black Belt was very helpful because we did a little bit of everything and I got lots of stuff done. Then I got home and ate lunch and filled out some forms that I got from school on Friday. 

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Daily Journal #16: First Day of School

Unlike CMS, I started school today on 16 August 2018, and I am glad that I memorized my schedule (seeing as I have all 8 eight classes every day) before going to school because I accidentally threw away my hard copy of my schedule that I received before school today since I missed orientation due to being sick. At this point you might be wondering, "How do you accidentally throw away something that important?" Well, the schedule got mixed into other papers that I didn't need and was throwing away, and I didn't notice this until sethat veral minutes afterwards. I am pretty happy with all of the classes that I'm in, though I know that they require quite a lot of work. Cross Country was definitely interesting with doing speed work consisting of 400 and 200 meter repeats (1 lap and 1/2 lap sprints) on a track that has no...

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Why why why... !!!

Today I got back from Pennsylvania and the ride was painful to say the least. Okay let me back track I woke up and around 10:30 went running. I was going to write a long rant about it but I will just sum it up loud music and siblings. So when I get home I am trying to catch up but my head is say no. Got to run hope you enjoyed.

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Saturday

Today was ok i didn't really do much today but I was very tired from going to sparring class and black belt class right after. Other than doing that i didn't do much but rest.

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Daily Journal #17: Twelve Hours of Silence

Today I chose to complete my 12 hours of being mute for my empathy training essay, and I thought that since on days that I'm home doing work or just have alone time, I am already pretty quiet for hours on end, I figured I would make it something that I'm not used to, by choosing to be mute on a day that I have school, but don't have anything that absolutely requires me to talk. I chose today because my coach for cross country decided to not give us practice, and there is no class for Tae Kwon DO on Fridays at the North Charlotte location. The day went well and actually pretty smoothly, but I definitely did have a number of people ask me why I was silent, and I would write out why, and I also had a couple people try to get me to talk during this...

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I Don't Know

I don't know what to put as a title. I don't know... I am out of ideas. But  either way lets get into it. Today I woke up and felt like a board. I was so sore from basketball yesterday and it was a thorn in my side all day. I ate and then did my requirements and then hanged out with my brothers friend. We rode around and also just chilled. A few hours later I went and did TKD and sparring. This was one of the most demanding sparring classes that I have took in a while. Either way I got to do a lot of sparring and got a lot of rounds in as well. I am going to end it here. Thank you and see you tomorrow.

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a fun day

toady was a pretty fun day. me and my family went to a party with all of our friends. all we did there was eat food and hang out with friends. I all of my friends were asking me is school hard because there school hasn't started yet. after the party we came back home. I am going to do some requirements before it rains.  

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Today, I e...

Today, I ended up cutting the grass in the backyard that hasn't been touched in weeks. I ran into 4 snakes, three being copperheads and one being an orangish-brownish color. That's all I'm going to say today because I'm about to get on the treadmill. See you later.

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A Wednesday

Today was a fun day because we went to the pool and we had lots of fun.After that we went back to tae kwon do. At tae kwon do l did my black belt stuff. 

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Hitting Stride

It's good to look at physical requirement tracking and to see the dent I have made toward the totals. Although it does surprise me to see the total number of poomsaes completed and know that I am still in thinking mode when it comes to doing it. My mentor tells me to stop thinking and just do it and that it probably what needs to happen but it is difficult. Even in the book I have chosen for my essay this is addressed. The book concerns zen in the martial arts and one point it does make is that when you are thinking you aren't flowing....I just need to be in the moment and do it. Either way I just love doing it. The poomsaes bring a calmness to me. At least when I do it at home.....lol. In the Dojang it's a little different. I still enjoy it but it's...

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Treadmill

Today I woke up did my requirements and spent most of the day in my hotel room. Nothing really happened today. Well I will be back in charlotte tomorrow. Bye hope you enjoyed.

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Sparring

At sparring today we did a really cool system we normally don't do. It was where most of us paired up and the ones who didn't were on the side, then we would do 1:30 sparring round and go one space to our left. There were 6 pairs so 12 spots I started on spot 3 so I got 10 rounds (count it on your fingers starting at 3).  On my 7th round the girl I was up against accidently charlie horsed me so I had 3 more rounds with a dead leg. Thankfully the last opponents were littler kids so I could rest a little. That was sparring class today.

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8/14 Tuesday

Today I almost did all my physical requirements at camp so when I got home I could relax. I got my mentor meeting done but it was different because someone else mentored me this time. I got a lot accomplished all at once and I’m not very tired. Today was a successful day and I hope everyone has a goodnight!

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Journal 4: actually trying

Before you read this, click on the post to read the whole thing so you get the full effect.  So the cycle starts in three days!! Time to get serious. Cue the music!!! If you clicked on the link, you probably hate me now, don't you? Never mind. So I've given up on my 10 mile in one day goal because it is super unrealistic and I didn't even bother trying to accomplish it anyway. I have been slowly getting adjusted to the requirements now and it's actually not that bad. You just have to set aside an hour or two of your time. I can do that during summer, but I don't know if I can do that at school. I have homework and other extracurriculars. I usually will get to my homework right after school and then go to soccer or diving or whatever. I also do not like going out...

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Practice:

I began this morning with a hearty breakfast.   Then I was off to play Pickleball.   I even think that I'm getting better at this game.  Later today I will push to get some requirements done.  

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Under the weather

Treater day and today I’ve been congested all day.  Just not feeling well 

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Going to Grandmas

I have to go to grandmas in a bit so, yeah. I did what I did everyday and also hanged out with my friend and had a good time. That is basically all I did. Thank you and see you tomorrow.

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Homework: Journal #24

Today when I went to school, I already got homework. That didn't surprise me as much because this is high school and sometimes there is summer work. I couldn't wake up and go run because it was my carpool day, but I still got some things done. Because of school, I don't really have much to say. 

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The Pool

Today I went to the pool with the summer camp and I lost part of my snorkel witch was annoying. It was the part that connected the snorkel to the goggles so if I do use it it'll be pretty hard. While we were there I tried the slide that the pool had, it was pretty nice. I don't know why but the chlorine (I think) made my eyes sting a lot. Other than all this I just looked after kids and messed around. That was my day at the pool.

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Journal 2: August 17, 2018

Today was the 2nd day of school. My school starts at 8 am and ends at 3 in the afternoon. We first had electives, then science, then social studies, then ELA, and finally we had Pre-math 1. After school I did my daily ritual, played Fortnite, did my daily taekwondo requirements and studies, and finally watched the Panthers game in which the Panthers won 27-20 over the Dolphins!

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Basketball

Today I played basketball with a friend named Jasam (jaz-um) and a few other kids. Me and Jasam were the team captains it was a 4v4 and I had Master Marcus on my team. Don't be fooled though He may be tall but he's not the best at the game. In the beginning I did really bad since I hadn't practiced in a while, all my shots looked great, hit the rim, and missed. But towards the end Jasam, their best player, got tired so I could start making layups since he was always guarding the rim. Thanks to that we won witch was perfect cuz it was right when we were leaving. Anyway that was me playing basketball today.

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Another day:

Today began with a visit to the Dr.  Things went well,  he even cranked up the voltage and I didn't cry.  Returned home and had my egg whites, beacon and 

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Coming Together

I feel like I am recalling the color belt Poomsaes and the self defenses better. Feel pretty good with the staff and stick and just about have Koryo down. I may not be smooth yet, still a little too much thinking going on, but it is coming together. I still need work with the new self defenses and can't seem to recall green but I'll get there. Looking forward to black belt class tonight. It's fun. And last night we got some self defense in with the adult class. I think my try at leading warm ups went a bit, ok A LOT, better than the 1st two tries.

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Wednesday 8/15

Today I accomplished a goal of running 0.5 miles straight and I wasn’t tired after so I know I’m a lot stronger than I thought. Today I also was able to assist and lead. I had a mentee meeting and I completed the white belt challenge. My legs are incredibly tired and I’m ready to relax. I hope everyone has a good night!

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So much to do!

Being a father of three and having a full time job already keep me busy.  I took up TKD after my daughter earned her BB but then decided that she wanted to pursue other interests.  I have always wanted to study martial arts but was busy with baseball and soccer throughout my youth.   I am finding it very difficult to find the time to do it all on the BB cycle since I my other responsibilities cannot be ignored.  I do think that I am doing the best that I can and will continue to work hard.  Whether that will be good enough is yet to be determined! 

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a tired day

today was a pretty tiring day. well first of all I had school and school is pretty tiring itself. after school I had cross country practice. that was tiring because it was really hot outside, but we sometimes run in our school trail. after cross country practice, I went to tae kwon do. I helped out a class and I took sparring. we actually sparred more than usual today, but we got 16 sparing round which is great. today is a really tiring day.  

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First Day of School: Journal #23

Today was my first day of school. This year was my first year of high school. With 7 classes, and 2 floors, it can get tricky at times, but once the school year progresses, I will feel more comfortable. The only homework that I have is the normal getting syllabuses signed and reading over papers. This morning felt weird because when I woke up, I didn't have to go and run and do my requirements. I am hoping to go to class today, but we'll see what happens. 

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Hersey, kiss, reeses

Today I went to hersey world or land its like a amusement park. It smelled like candy it got really annoying. There was this camp there so the place was packed. It's getting late bye.

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Daily Journal #15: Feeling Mostly Better

Today I was feeling mostly recovered from being sick yesterday; this morning though, I thought that it wasn't better, but as the day progressed, I noticed that I felt significantly better. I was even well enough to go help with class, which surprised me, but my mom didn't want me to go to cross country practice today because I was not 100% better. As far as getting stuff done, I would have like to have gotten more of my requirements done, but one positive is that I finished my reading for school, which took longer than I anticipated.

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Quick

Because it is late I will finish this one quick. Woke up and ate then did my requirements. After that relaxed and hanged out with my friend Charlie. I went to do a basketball clinic a few hours later. Then I ate and headed back home. That was it, told you it would be quick. See you next time.

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The First Day of School

today was the first day of school. I was kind of excited to see all of my friends. this year 30 new kids came to my grade. that is a lot for a grade in our school. this year I am in ninth grade  I met a lot of new great kids and teachers. I am looking forward to go through this year.

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A good day

I had a really good day today and felt motivated after waking up a little tired because I stayed up a little late last night.  I enjoyed being at class tonight and meeting with my mentor. I am looking forward to tomorrow.

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