T Got Invited…

T got invited to the USAT Grand Slam event that is held for the top 16 in the country. If anyone from the original top 16 doesn’t accept their invite then they keep going until 16 from each age and weight division accepts an invite. T was invited when the second round of invites were sent out today since he is number 18 in one weight division and number 20 in another division. Even though T won’t be attending it was nice to be invited to an invite only event. There’s really nothing for T to gain by attending this event so we are just going to save our money. 

Love This Smile...

So love this smile.  

 

This pic was taken last night.  This is his happy place.  He'd be there all the time if I let him.  He loves it at Core TaeKwonDo.  There's no place he'd rather be.  His Grand Master from his old school, Black Belt World, came by and visited his new Master a couple of days ago.  Even though T is at a new school Grand Master Lee will always be T's Grand Master.  We are so happy that T's current Master and T's Grand Master have a good relationship.  Fun fact: T's new Master was taught by Grand Master Lee when he was a kid too. Something they will always have in common.  Another fun fact: T's new Master and his Grand Master also share the same birthday as well.  T thinks that is so cool.  We are so happy that T and Master Doug have this connection.  T's teaching from one school to the other hasn't changed a great deal because Master Doug teaches the way he was taught when he was Grand Master Lee's student.  It has been a seamless transition for T with switching from one school to the next.  But the happiness on his face is so priceless.  We love seeing this every time he goes to class.  

Hurricane Ian...

Hurricane Ian makes it way to us today.  When the worst of it comes through this afternoon will have upwards of 45-50mph wind gusts.  Sustained winds will be somewhere around 25mph.  We are due to get somewhere around 4" of rain.  We get that much rain and sometimes more with a severe thunderstorm so the rain part isn't that big of a deal.  The great thing for us leading up to Ian coming through is we have had very dry weather so we shouldn't see as much damage as we have seen with past Hurricanes when they came through.  In the past we've had lots of rain prior to an event such as this so trees have toppled easily.  We'll see what the day holds.  I'm up at 7:30ish in the morning while the boys are still asleep making homemade chicken and rice soup incase we loose power later today.   Scot battened down the hatches yesterday around the outside of the house as well as our big building.  Nothing like a hurricane coming through to make you pick up your piles of stuff around your property...LOL! We are keeping our devices charged and ready as well.  Staying prepared for anything knowing that this really could end up not being much of an event for us as we have seen in the past. We will keep everyone posted as we can.

USA TaeKwonDo Rankings…

T started out the year in -41kg which comes out to 91lbs. Part way through he moved up to -45kg which comes out to 99lbs. Then with this last tourney he just did he weighed up yet again to -49kg which comes out to around 108lbs. T is now Nationally ranked in two of the weight categories. In -45kg he’s ranked:

And in -49 he’s ranked:

Considering all he’s had to fight back from with injuries last year. First his foot then his salt episode that landed him in PICU we couldn’t be more proud of how well he’s doing. It’s really a great accomplishment to be ranked Nationally and be in the top 20 in two divisions. T has worked so hard and we are so very proud of his accomplishments this year. 

Happy Son’s Day/TaeKwonDo Class

I so love seeing this smile on T’s face every time he does class at Core. I love seeing him so happy and so content with where he’s at and what he’s doing. He loves his new team and they love him. He has such great respect for his Master/Coach Douglas. He really gets our son. We’ve had so much peace in our lives since making this move to this dojang in June. Having this peace and seeing our son really happy has meant the absolute world to us. Tonight was regular class and T got to teach some students their deputy black belt Poomsae (Forms). He had a great time teaching and he looked like a true leader doing it. So proud of this kiddo!  He’s overcame so much in his young life and he’s still making forward progress in what he loves doing. Happy Son’s Day to my Amazing Young Man of God!  #GodsPlanistheOnlyPlan 

T's Got Me...

T has finally gotten taller than me. He's been my height for a little while but now he gets to glory in the fact that he is taller than me and he's approaching his dad's height rapidly...LOL! He has been growing like crazy since May/June. Even though I did this funny picture of us you keep getting taller bud!!! 

Training at Core 9.27.2022

Here’s a video from sparring training. T was fighting up tonight with the guys/men. He put on his old foot socks that are missing almost all of the magnets…LOL!  Hard lesson learned for him tonight because he hardly got any scores on the electronics. He now knows to make sure his good foot socks are in his gear bag. Enjoy the video. 

T’s Kick in Second Match…

This was the only kick that T could get off on his opponent in the second match that gave him any score at all. T is in the blue. He got a side kick that scored. He certainly was a trooper with the odds he was going up against. Ben eventually won Gold but one more big tournament for Ben with a Gold medal win and he will be the dominant athlete in the -49kg group. It’s hard to believe T is older than him. Ben has one more year as a Cadet fighter next year while T will be a first year Jr fighter. 

T’s Fights from Grand Prix Final 2022

T fought fantastic. He won his first match. He had to really work for it though. Rabins won the first round and T won the second and third rounds of their match. T’s in Red.  Here’s the video from their match:

T’s second match was very difficult and hard to watch. He got beat by point gap both rounds. Peters towers over T though. T came away from that match realizing he really needs to work on getting around his long legs. T knows he has a lot of work to do to fight guys like Peters and win.  T’s in Blue. Here’s that fight: 

T’s Grand Prix Final T-shirt

T is so proud of his accomplishment today in the -49kg weight division. It was a new division for him. He gets to go to team trials in January in the new weight division. It was an invitation only event today.  You had to medal at one of the three Grand Prix’s they held to be able to compete today at the Final. Huge steps forward for T. So stinkin’ proud of this kid. 

Final Bracket Winners 🥇🥈🥉

Here’s the final bracket winners. 

Grand Prix Final Results…

T fought hard and won his first match. He lost his second match to the eventual Gold Medalist. For him being in a new weight division we couldn’t be more proud of how well he did. T’s main goal was to medal so he could qualify for team trials and he accomplished that goal. So proud of our boy. Now we look ahead to getting ready between now and January for team trials. 

Brackets Are Up…

The brackets are up. T has a good first round match up. Everyone pray he wins his first match and moves forward to medal rounds. If he moves forward to medal rounds he gets to do team trials in January. We are secretly hoping for gold but we also realize it’s his first time in a new weight division and just from past experience first times in a division are tough but nothing that T can’t step up to the challenge of either. He’s growing. His mind is in a good place. We feel he could really do well.  Right side of the bracket is on top and left side (where T is) is on the bottom. As usual T has the harder side of the bracket but it’s nothing he’s not had to deal with before.  Just keep him in your prayers. His report time tomorrow is 11am. 

Venue is Ready…

Someone took this picture of the venue.  Four rings. T is so excited to be going to this event. He’s looking forward to all he’s going to learn. 

T’s New Arm and Leg Gear…

T’s new arm and leg gear. He already loves them. He said they feel so good and so much lighter on his legs and arms😊. 

T’s Credentials…

They now send credentials digitally.  Just wanted to share it with you here. He weighs in tomorrow and fights Saturday😊. He’s fighting a heavier weight division this time. Pray he has a good showing and brings home a medal. A medal moves him forward to team trials in January. If he doesn’t medal that will be ok because he’s getting much needed experience for what’s ahead when he moves weight divisions for his first year as a Jr fighter come January. Either way it’s a win win for him. Getting him ready and moving forward in doing what he loves😁. 

Master Issoufou…

A picture of Master Issoufou with his Olympic Silver medal 🥈 from Rio 2016:

Here’s a pic of him with his countries flag:

Master Issoufou is still fighting. He’s heading to Worlds again this year representing his country. T will continue to stay in touch with him and follow him on social media. He made quite the impact on T in the short time T got to spend with him. 

Tonight’s Training with a Special Guest from Niger Africa…

Tonight we had a special guest from Niger 🇳🇪, Master Razak Issoufou Alfaga, at sparring training. He asked to be called, Master Issoufou. He’s a great athlete and a great guy. He won a silver medal at the Olympics and a gold medal at the World Championships. He’s the real deal. I’m so glad that T got to train with him. T really enjoyed getting to know him and learning from him.  T told us how encouraging he was to him and how much that meant to him. T dreams of having legs as long as his someday😊…LOL! 

Private Training @ Core w/Master Doug 9.12.2022

Here’s a video of some of T’s training getting ready for the Grand Prix Final this weekend in a new heavier weight division with taller fighters. 

9.11

To this day I remember parking my school bus after my morning runs and being told by my boss about the first tower being hit. I went straight home and turned on the news and I watched live as the second tower was hit by the second plane. It was all so surreal. I watched as they crumbled to the ground. One right after the other. My heart sank and tears flowed for two reasons. The first was the loss of lives. The second was because I knew this was an attack on my country. Every year at this time it is all still so fresh in my mind as if it happened just yesterday. #alwaysremebering #neverforgetting #truepatriot #nineeleven

Happy Grandparents Day!!!

Just wanted to give a shout out for T to his grandparents!  He so loves his Nan, Popsie and Maw Maw. So thankful he’s gotten to grow up with them in his life. 

T’s 1st Ever Officially Coaching😊!

T got to coach several of his teammates today for the first time as an AAU Coach at the 2022 Carolina AAU TaeKwonDo Fall Open Championship. He really enjoyed it and learned a lot as he was coaching his teammates.  He coached two to Gold, four to Silver and two to Bronze.  He’s so proud of how well they all did.  For many it was their first time fighting on that level. What a great day for #teamcore!!!  #coretaekwondoperformancecenter

1st Private Training with his New Master/Coach Master Douglas....

T had his 1st session of private training with his new Master/Coach today and absolutely loved it.  He said it felt good and he really enjoyed all that he learned in the session.  So thankful for this happy place our son is in and how he is really enjoying all that he is learning as he makes forward progress in TaeKwonDo.  The clothes he's wearing in the pictures his Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jeff got him.  They were his birthday gift from them.  They kept trying to wait to give it to him when we came up but at last they just finally had to ship them to us...LOL! They fit T perfectly.  He has three other sets that he's looking forward to wearing that I'll post later that they bought him.  Getting those in the mail made his day yesterday.  

Congrats Master Douglas!!!

We want to give a shout out to T’s Master/Coach, Master Douglas. He’s been picked as a finalist in the 2022 Best of the Best Martial Arts Instruction. We are so excited for him. This is well deserved. He’s such an awesome Master/Coach. 

T and His Teammates…

T and his teammates at training tonight. These five are so awesome!!! Love how much fun they all have together while training. 

The Queen is Gone....

Today Queen Elizabeth II has passed.  She was 96 years of age.  She lived a long life.  I have always admired and respected the Queen but even more so after watching The Crown on Netflix.  It made her more normal.  It helped others see her in a different light than how we've always known her from the medias portrayals.  For one who had to take on the reigns so young in life I think she did an amazing job as Queen.  I pray those coming after her as King or Queen are worthy of the role that she most definitely was worthy of having had.  The royal family has always fascinated so many from all walks of life.  They have lived lives that most only dream of living.  For me my fascination of them is purely from a historic standpoint.  Although I hated anything to do with history in school history now has my undivided attention.  Mostly because the world has been changing so much in recent years and not in a good way.  In many ways the worlds best days are behind her.  Yes I know we've seen many really great innovative changes over the years that have been good but morally the world over all is wasting away.  The Queens death leaves in its wake yet another steady that people clung to that now is gone.  The steady strong people who have been forces in our cultures and world are all fading away and leaving a weaker presence in those who are taking their places that can't even hold a candle to those who have gone before.  One last time as I bid farewell to the Queen....God Save The Queen!  She will be sorely missed.  I pray for her country as her son steps in as King.  I pray that he honors her in his role and doesn't make a wreckage of all she's done and accomplished in her life as Queen.  We all have much to learn from those who have gone before and put their positive stamp on our cultures.  Prayers for her family as they mourn her passing.  

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61585886

This is not my photo!  I don't own any rights to it!