USAT North Carolina

USAT North Carolina just posted this on Facebook earlier today:

Good afternoon athletes, coaches, and parents, It is with great regret that I must inform you that the NCTKD Federation will not be hosting a Qualifying State Championships this year due to USATKD protest. As the protest is ongoing, officials are not at liberty to discuss any details. We do, however, apologize for the inconvenience this may cause. Please continue to train, and support development events we will have in the future. Thank You - NCTKD Federation

I just wish everyone could get along and stop all the politicking in this sport so that our athletes could do what they love without adding stress by doing stuff like this. Now T will have to travel to qualify for USAT Nationals. At least we don’t have these issues with AAU.  So thankful for that!!!  

Busy Days...

It’s been a very busy several days since T has been getting back into the swing of things. His coach is increasing cardio in order to increase T’s endurance. Doing more technique training to sharpen and learn the techniques he needs to use when he fights. 

T has been practicing his Forms also in order to get ready for AAU GA State. He will be fighting and doing his forms at that event. 

We’ve been focusing on school as well and it’s been a challenge to keep him on task. He has so much he needs to do and keep up with in a days time. He’s having to learn to make good use of every ounce of his time. It’s very frustrating for me at times because all he wants to do is rest when he’s not training and while I get that he needs to push through and focus on his school work as well. I know doing school is not very important to him and I don’t see him going to a University someday. Maybe a Community College but not regular college. 

Now it’s time to go to bed so we can do a repeat of training tomorrow. There is never a dull moment. We’ve been asked not to post any videos so you won’t be seeing any. Maybe I’ll get some pictures at some point though just so you can see T😁. 

Friday Night at Team Training

This is the first video I’m posting from the new building that T’s sparring team moved into. This video has Zac and T training together. Zac challenges and pushes T to be better and get better. He may be 20 pounds heavier but that’s all good because it helps T to put forth more effort and really work on his techniques. There’s lots of learning going on in this video. 

“Parting is such sweet sorrow😢”

We had to say bye to Scot and our dog, Tucker, today. He came down to help us get settled in for the month while T trains with his coach and team to get ready for US Open. He is now driving home to get ready for the work week ahead. I will be making more posts and doing a bunch of FaceTime this next month. So glad that if we can’t be together that we can at least see one another. So thankful that technology has come this far that we can do this. Back when I was growing up we’d have to pay for long distance calls and those would be few and far between because it was so expensive. As for that aspect of technology I’m very thankful it’s advanced like it has. 

T is now on the phone with a friend and playing a game on his Switch with him. Extended stay living is made much easier for me when he can do that. 

After Class Tonight

Tonight we got surprised by Carolina Kick’s giving out plaques to the kids who went to Nationals this past summer. It was basically so they could let them know how proud they are of all that they are accomplishing. Here’s what it looks like:

At Hotel and Checked In

We arrived around 4pm today to the hotel. Unloaded in the rain😕. Scot and Tucker came with us to help us get set up and so Scot can watch the team training session tomorrow. Preparing for a months stay is no easy task. So glad to have help. Scot will be coming to us over the next month so that we don’t go the entire time without seeing him. Fun times. Now to go to team training. 

"We're Leaving in a Mini Van...."

I took my queue from the song "I'm leaving on a jet plane..." for this post...LOL!

We leave for an entire month today.  A month of hard training.  And when no training is happening we will be plugging along with schoolwork.  It's a busy life with an Elite Athlete and we have to make the most of the time we have getting ready for competitions and making sure we stay on task with school.

In two weeks will be his first competition at the AAU GA Qualifier.  Then two weeks after will be US Open in Florida.

We are hoping and praying that this month with his coach doing private lessons and team training gives T the push he needs to get him over the hump and making forward motion in this new age and weight division that he is in this year.  It's an entirely new ball game for him right now.  He's having to learn a lot and train a lot in order to be competitive in his new division.  We are focusing on gains this year.  Whether his competitions are wins or learns (losses) the focus is the gains he makes in those competitions.  What he learns from them as we go forward and applying them.  We are focusing on gaining knowledge that will help him moving forward in this sport.  The results will come even if they don't come the way we may like them to come at first.  With not knowing what to expect in this new division we will be learning a lot.  We are doing our best to encourage T to keep moving forward no matter whether a competition is a Win or Learn.  Win or Learn there are always gains to be had.

I will be making posts as we go through this month ahead to keep everyone informed on what gains we are taking from competitions and training.  T has an incredible coach and we are so thankful that God brought us to him.  T has already expressed what it is that he wants out of this year.  As he gets more knowledge he makes adjustments to what he wants and we are constantly checking in with him to make sure of what it is that he wants.  So look forward to more posts from us.  They will be coming.

Contact Appointment Today!

Anything look different about this young man. After his third try and with a friend who is an optometrist T has now been fitted for contacts and loves them. Woohoo. We are out celebrating 🥳 for lunch.

Engine Build continued...

The boys got more done on the engine build tonight. Here’s a couple of pics of them working on it. 

TKD Class Tonight

Here’s a video of the fun T had at TaeKwonDo class tonight.