Getting Settled In and Moving Forward

Well we’ve gotten settled in to our new normal. Our schedule looks like this:

Monday and Friday:

1. 8am-11am Wake, Eat Breakfast, and School
2. 11am-1pm Private Training through Zoom
3. 1pm-5pm Lunch and more School
4. 5pm-6pm Dinner and Get ready for evening training 
5. 6pm- (M Private ends at 7:30pm) (F-Team ends at 8:30pm)
6. 7:30pm or 8:30pm until Bedtime is free time

Tuesday-Thursday:

1. 8am-11am Wake, Eat Breakfast, and School
2. 11am-1pm Private Training through Zoom
3. 1pm-3pm Lunch and more School
4. 3pm-5pm Training
5. 5pm-5:30 (Tuesday and Thursday’s) BBW Training
6. 5:30pm-6:00pm (Tuesday and Thursday’s) Quick Dinner & on Wed. 5pm-6pm Dinner 
7. Wed. Private is from 6pm-7:30pm; Tuesday & Thursday Team Training is from 7pm-8:30pm
8. 7:30pm or 8:30pm until Bedtime is free time

Saturday’s:

1. 10am-Noon Wake, Eat Breakfast, and Freetime 
2. Noon-2pm Training 
3. 2pm-3pm Lunch and Rest
4. 3pm-5pm CK Team Training 
5. 5pm-Bedtime is Freetime

Sunday’s:

1. Video Workout
2. Free-time Otherwise

(Times for Training are subject to change)

This is the life of an Elite Athlete. It’s never ending even with the Covid-19/Coronavirus they press in and push forward. They take time to perfect their game to the best of their ability. Times like this aren’t times to rest and get lazy it’s time to keep moving and making advancements. With T not actually having fight time it does give his body a rest and time for healing even with all the training he’s doing online. 

We have been taking more time as a family with us being home for however long this continues to go on and we’ve been watching every movie we can find dealing with Elite Athletes and what they have done and the sacrifices they’ve made that got them to where they are. We are watching movies that talk about the mental game. We are reading books that help with his mental game as well but that are encouraging for him as an athlete. 

But in it all we make sure to make time for God. God has to always come first. Nothing worth accomplishing in this life is worth doing without God being at the center of all you do. He gave T the talent to be doing what he’s doing. That relationship fuels T to keep pushing toward his goals. That relationship with God is what has pushed Bethany Hamilton (the famous surfer who lost her arm to a shark) to keep pushing towards her goals. She pushes it to the limit all the time. She has done it while being a wife and a mother. She has the utmost respect of her fellow athletes for all she’s done and accomplished despite the setbacks she’s endured. She is what we call an “Unstoppable” athlete. It’s what T wants to be remembered for, if for nothing else, that he’s “Unstoppable”. 

Scot and I are more than impressed with T’s drive and all that he’s accomplished so far and all that he is pushing and hoping to accomplish as he grows in this sport. Between Private and Team Training sessions he is setting goals and aiming high. For an 11 year old boy it’s pretty impressive that he’s so focused on what he wants. It’s our prayer that he has this same drive no matter what he does with his life as he grows into a man. 

I have to say it feels weird to be home for this amount of time and not be traveling for training or a tournament. It feels weird that the suitcases are completely put away. That hasn’t happened in a couple of years. It’s been a busy life but we wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

Training and other things..

Training has been different during this time when we are social distancing because of the Coronavirus. T has been training via the internet with his coaches and teammates for the most part of this week. This is going to be the new normal for us until they lift the restrictions because of this virus. T is actually loving training this way because he feels his coaches are able to see more of what he is or is not doing and they can help him more. It still doesn’t replace the great benefit he gets when he’s able to train with his teammates and he understands that. He misses his team but at least he gets to see them via internet. 

Today we also found out that the President ordered that tax day be moved to July 15th (🙌) and we found out that the kids will not have to do end of year testing this year because of this virus(🙌).  Having extra time to get the taxes done and to not have to prep for end of year testing is a nice bonus. 

We found out also today that T is ranked 36 among 116 in his new age and weight division with USAT. That’s not a bad place to be seeing as he’s moved up to a new division. That’s actually pretty respectable all things considered. Looking forward to his rankings getting even better as he continues to go hard after his goals. 

Great News!!!

God has brought good out of the Coronavirus for T. This was posted on the Pan Am Grand Slam Facebook page earlier this evening:

The important part of the letter is highlighted here:


Bottom line is that T will get to have a Wild Card slot for next years Pan Am’s. The Coronavirus has made this possible. 

So love how God turns what is meant for evil to good!!!  Thank you Lord for this and for looking after all of our friends and families and for keeping us all safe and healthy!!!  

Back Home...

We are home again. With schools closing and the President saying to keep gatherings to 10 or less we figured we’d better just come on home. Scot and I decided it was safer than T and I being at a hotel with so many people that are in and out daily and we just didn’t want to take the risk. 

Upon arriving at home we decided to reconfigure our living room space to give T the maximum amount of space possible so he can continue training at home while there’s no training with his team and his competition events have been cancelled. We’ve made so much forward motion and don’t want to lose momentum with the mandates that are coming from our government while dealing with this Coronavirus. 

Tucker is so glad to have all his humans home. Here’s a pic I got of him laying at my feet😁. 

He loves his mommy so much😁. Of course the feeling is mutual. 

Coronavirus Woes...

Well because of the issues with this virus we are having events cancel. In April T had 3 weekends of back to back tournaments but not anymore thanks to this virus. So far the Ohio State Championship is the only one to cancel. We are signed up for Pan Am Grand Slam in Portland Oregon and it’s expected that it will get cancelled as well. We’re still waiting on the official word though. We also have another State Championship that we are planning on attending if it doesn’t get cancelled. It will either be VA State or FL State Championship. They are both being held on the same day.  We are hoping T will get to get some fight time in and if not we will just buckle down and do even more training in order to get ready for Presidents Cup and Nationals. We figure by then this virus will have blown over. At least that’s the hope and prayer anyhow. Everyone stay safe!!!  

Another Tooth 🦷 Bit the Dust!!!

T yanked another loose tooth (one of his upper two year old molars) out yesterday. I find it funny that people are posting thing such as this because of the Coronavirus:

But yet T is like hey mom I yanked my loose tooth out. He’s like my hand wasn’t touching my face and I’m like but it was all in your mouth...LOL🤣🤣🤣!!!!

Reality check: Kids touch everything!!!  T can’t go anywhere without touching things. It’s why I always keep hand sanitizer on me at all times...LOL!  (And I did that before the Coronavirus). 

#lifewithboys #itsneverending #boysarejustgross 

Found this Interesting

I found this to be a very interesting read. Click on link:  https://medium.com/@ra.hobday/coronavirus-and-the-sun-a-lesson-from-the-1918-influenza-pandemic-509151dc8065  

This is true of T

Charisma Article

I don’t usually post this kind of stuff here but this article was really good and I’ve read Cahn’s books and they are really good. I’ve also bounced what he has written off of what the Bible says and what he writes about is confirmed in the Bible. It would behoove many to take heed who call themselves Christian’s but want to take a stand against what God is doing in this day and time. It all has significance!!!  Here’s the link to the article: https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/80281-is-donald-trump-foreshadowed-in-the-bible

There’s a podcast mentioned that you can click on the link and listen to as well. Plus you can order the book(s) mentioned as well and see what spiritual leaders of our day are sharing as well. It’s better to have knowledge than to walk blindly through life following those in supposed authority. Do the homework for yourself. 

Kukkiwon Has Been Issued!!!

T’s 3rd Poom/Dan Kukkiwon has been issued. We are praying it’s on it’s way to our Dojang in the mail. It was issued on 2/28. We were already in Florida for US Open when it was issued.  We were too busy to check on things while down there. 

Picture From Earlier Today

T is actually wearing jeans and not workout clothes or his TaeKwonDo uniform😊. 

Last nights training session

Last night was a lot of talking and going over all the kids fights from US Open. T got some really good feedback from his coach and teammates on his fight. Even some of the parents were telling me how well he fought even though he didn’t come home with a medal this time. T was fighting a Giant in comparison to his size. His opponent had more experience and was older. T is the baby in his division this year. He is also one of the lightest weights in his weight division as well. Most of the kids in his division cut down to T’s weight bracket. T doesn’t have to cut weight. He just eats healthy most of the time and his weight stays on point. T learned last night though, things he needs to fix before his next tournament. Praying he makes the necessary changes so he can be more competitive at his next tournament. Some of what he needs fix are bad habits. He will break his bad habits over time and as he trains more. So wishing he had been with this team and coach from the beginning then he wouldn’t be needing to break bad habits. He would have been taught right from the start. But it is what it is and I’m just thankful that God opened the door for us to be a part of this team now rather than later. At least he has fewer bad habits to break now. Grand Master Cann would be so proud of how far he’s come from where he was. Miss her presence in this team every day. 

Crazy things T can do

T can get his body into the craziest positions. 

We are back in Matthews, NC training for the weekend and getting ready for the Pan Am Grand Slam in Portland, Oregon. That’s T’s next major tournament that he’s attending. He’s gaining much needed experience at these tournaments so win or not the experience he’s gaining is invaluable. 

US Open 2020

T gained valuable learning experience at this event. It’s a major event for TaeKwonDo competitors. T is in a new age and weight division this year and he continues to learn and grow as a competitor. We are proud of all the advancements he is making on his journey. We were grateful that Master Chris Hershberger was able to step in and coach T. We had several competitors hitting the floor at the same time but all the boys were covered thanks to Master Wasiu Nour Adjibodé, Master Striker(Justin Strack), and Master Hershberger. T is blessed to have such great men in his corner. T was more prepared than he’s ever been but he’s, as one of the other parents said, a baby in this division, and he has time to grow. We look forward to watching him as his journey continues and he strives to be the best competitor he can be. When we watch videos of where he came from and where he is now we see so much growth. He has much more growth ahead and we look forward to watching all of it. Thank you Master Wasiu, Master Striker, and Master Hershberger for the time you put in with T for/at US Open. Thank you also to Calvin Fleming, you are a great body coach. Thank you Bill Macchi, for the Chiropractic care you’ve given our son over the years. It takes a team of people to help elite athletes to stay at their optimum level and we appreciate you all. God has blessed T so much and above all else we give our thanks to Him for the athletic gifting that he’s gifted our son with. God is central in our lives. He’s at the center of our home and family and we ultimately give Him all the Glory and Honor.

A Day at SeaWorld

Boys are in line for this ride. It was the first stop on their list...LOL!  I’m looking forward to the shows😁.

And yes that is upside down. No thank you!!!  

Result for T

T lost his first round match to a more experienced competitor. He did very well though. He was calm, listening to Master Hershberger (who coached him because we had 3 kids on deck at the same time), and he used his techniques. That’s what we’ve asked of him for this year being in a new division and he’s doing just that. Win or learn as long as he does those things it’s a win in our book!!!  He’s young and still has much to learn and he will. This was a good experience for him. I will post some pictures later. 

Back in Holding

T is now back in holding with his teammates and his coach. His first fight today is against a kid that got 2nd at the Cadet Grand Slam in 2019. So needless to say he has drawn, yet again, someone who is really good but at these events there aren’t any kids who are horrible. It’s all high level competitors. 

 

Yesterday was a rough day for most of our Juniors. T’s buddy won his first and lost his second match. One of our girls lost the first round she fought but had a buy into metal rounds so I think she walked away either Bronze or Silver. Our other girl brought home Bronze at her first time out to this event. Another one of our guys lost first round. Another girl, a friend from another Dojang, walked away with Silver. 

I said all that to show you how hard this event is. It’s not easy. It’s very hard. Pray for T and his teammates today. Pray for safety as they compete and pray that regardless of results that they all walk away having learned from this event and continue to grow as competitors. 

This is our current view.