A Collage from Training Earlier Today

T had a much better day today. Getting back into the rhythm of things again. Next week it’s full speed ahead with his training with his coach. Fun times. 

Food for Thought

Humility sits on the opposite end of the spectrum from pride.

How opponents deal with defeat is just as important as how they deal with success.

In a culture that doesn’t love the idea of accepting losses well, for T going to US Open, it’s a chance for him to be counter-cultural and express why true contentment doesn’t come from the result of a tournament. True contentment stems from knowing the source of true worth and value which comes from the Lord.

For example Society sees the Super Bowl Championship as the finish line.  Vince Lombardi, the famed Packers coach the trophy is named after, had this to say:

“After all the cheers have died down and the stadium is empty, after the headlines have been written, and after you are back in the quiet of your room and the championship ring has been placed on the dresser and after all the pomp and fanfare have faded, the enduring thing that is left is the dedication to doing with our lives the very best we can to make the world a better place in which to live.”

Although victory tastes sweet, there’s more to life than getting to have a super bowl ring, and in T’s case, a gold medal or trophy to show off.

When the tournament is over, know that the excitement the winning opponent feels won’t last forever. At some point they will ask the question: “What’s next?”

Winning is great. Spending eternity with God and claiming victory beyond competition is greater.

Training Last Night (3/1/2019)

T had a rough start back after two weeks of taking it easy from his concussion. That was to be expected though. His teammate and buddy Chris was also having a rough start back after having almost two weeks down from being sick. Those two have had a rough time of it. They are also the only two of the teammates going to US Open in Vegas as well and need to be at the top of their game. They’ll get there though. They both are going to be training like cray this next month before heading to US Open. It’s his buddies first year as a Jr. and we will be there to watch his fight and supporting him. Wish they could stay for T’s fight but they have to head home immediately because their daughter has something they are attending for her the evening of the day T fights that they must get back for. 

T really looks up to Chris and he’s such a great role model for T in this sport. What’s even more scary is they are so alike in every way. Seriously they are like twins (not in looks) but with different moms...LOL! Keep these two in your prayers this year for good performances in every tournament they do. They both have ladders to climb this year and it won’t be easy for them but they are two very determined boys also. 

T is in a better place than he’s ever been in this sport and with each training session he gets even better. It’s scary to think about how improved he will be by the time Nationals roll around in July. Such exciting times for us as parents getting to watch our son live out his dreams. He’s such a great kid and I love how goal oriented he is at the young age of 10. He’s going places, doing something, and going to be a world changer because he has goals he’s focused on. Whether or not he wins or learns in this sport matters very little next to the amazing young man he’s becoming and the difference he’s going to make in the world around him. #alwaysaleader #goingplacesinlife #neverquitting #alwaysmovingforward #proudparents 

Van Fixed...1/31/2019

So glad that Scot has been using the van while I’ve been recovering or I could have been between here and Charlotte tomorrow having a major problem with the van. It seems the previous owner of the van did not do the proper maintenance on it before we bought it so we had to have a timing belt and water pump changed today. One thing I can say for Honda though is that they have bar none the best customer service I’ve ever seen at a dealership. It happened today. We brought it in today. And had it back tonight. No appointment. Just walked in and they got it done quick for us knowing we needed it back because I was taking our son for training tomorrow with his coach in Charlotte. A great group of people at Honda. The van is running much smoother now too. Praise the Lord! So thankful for His always watching over us and keeping us safe even before we have to take a road trip. I will definitely be buying more Honda’s in the future. I was going back and forth because I love how well the safety tests on the Volvo’s are but with such awesome customer service Honda has certainly won me and Scot over. 

What a day....1/31/2019

What a day today. T ran 3 miles today in around 25 minutes. With it being his first week back he’s doing great. He also came home and kicked for a while today. He is training so hard and ready to train even harder in the weeks to come. Life is busy between training and getting school work done.  It doesn’t leave a ton of room for down time but we are making it all work somehow. T make his weekend trip to Charlotte tomorrow to train with his team. He loves his team and coaches so much. He’s working hard on trying to get his techniques better. It’s a lot for a 10 year old kid to remember when he’s got to do the kicking combination + fighting stance + Kihap (yelling when he punches or kicks) + Covering. Eventually he’ll get to where it’s all secon nature but for now he has to work hard at it. He still forgets to do quite a bit of it but it will all come together in time. Here’s some pictures I was able to get today while he worked out. 

Training @ Home Earlier This Evening

Update on Me

Since the Sunday before last I’ve been overcoming a bad cold which morphed into a bacterial sinus infection.  Life has been a little crazy with mamma down with sickness. 

God knows what we need though. I obviously have needed all this rest so my body could recoup. If I try and do too much too soon I end up taking a really good nap. The coughing is getting better finally. I believe the steroids have a lot to do with that. With all we have going on this month coming up I know God is rejuvenating my body to be able to go go go when I really need to.  Life is never boring. Thankful for God’s healing hand on me so that I can be there for my guys.

Getting His Running On

T is getting back into the rhythm of running again at the Y. 

Moving Forward

T went with his Dad and ran a 3k today while I stayed home and continued to rest and recoup. It’s been over a week now and I’m getting cabin fever. I need to make sure I get well though because our February is absolutely nuts. 

We measured T’s height today and since December he has grown an inch. If he can grow another three inches between now and Nationals in July I’d be okay with him going up a weight division but only with AAU. We still want him to remain right where he is with USAT’s weight bracket. It’s the best fit for his body size and weight. 

He is feeling tons better. He kicked longer today. He hasn’t had any issues with his head hurting anymore. So starting Friday it will be full swing back into things. He is so ready to get back at it too. He’s such an eager beaver. He’s learning so much right now and we love seeing how much he’s learning. 

He’s such a good kid too. Besides school he lives, eats, and breathes TKD. He loves TKD sparring. Life is never boring with this kiddo. He has a good time doing what he loves. We knew the day would come when he’d be pushing his dad and I to get in shape too and he harps on it a lot now. So I’m sure his dad and I will be making changes to get ourselves in shape too in the near future. Finding the time is our problem though. We are always on the run getting T where he needs to be for his training and tourneys. Doesn’t leave much time for much else but we’ll see if we can fit something in there. 

Our living room has been fitted with mats and basically made into a mini-Dojang. I know I mentioned that in an earlier post but we actually took my nice beautiful wool rug out of the living room and put the mats down so he can kick on Bob the Bully. Poor Bob’s face is looking pretty beat down and dirty these day from all the shots to the head he’s taking...LOL! The dogs have to be gated out of the living room for T to train because they’ll get under foot. They aren’t to fond of T beating up in Bob. 

Once again I have to remind myself this is just a season and seasons change and the day will come when T has his own space on the property for a Dojang of his own to work out in. And maybe when it’s built it can be built to all the specs he needs/wants for it to be. We also are looking at putting a living space in the upper portion of it so when T turns 18 he can have his own space away from us. This boy will love it once we are able to build it. We are making plans for it all but aren’t quite sure when they’ll be put into motion. Time will tell. 

To say this boy is blessed is an understatement. Everything we do is to support him and his dreams. God blessed us with him and we are doing our best to be a blessing to him because he is such a precious gift. We are so thankful for our gift from God. 

We are living in such exciting times with our kiddo. Having a blast watching all he is accomplishing. But we also love the times when he can have fun and be a kid too. We do our best to bring balance into every area of his life. 

Our business is moving forward. T is moving forward in all he’s doing with TKD. Life really is good!  God has truly blessed our lives. Looking forward to what the future holds as we continue to move forward. 

#movingforwardnotlookingback #keepingitreal 

The World.....

We have made sure T understands this to be true. He can be a light in the darkness as he continues on his TKD journey. He can walk out his faith in an arena that is need of God. He can walk out integrity for those who need a good example of what that looks like. He has a huge opportunity to be someone those younger than him can look up to. He can be a positive role model to them like his coaches are for him. The bottom line is, “The World really does need who he was made to be!!!”

Training + Hotel Stays + Fuel + US Open...

So I was reading an article where one family spent $25,000.00 alone in 2018 for everything their son did in competition that year. I thought to be for sure that was exaggerated so Scot and I started doing a spreadsheet of expenses we know for this year currently. Guess what. That persons expenses were less than ours. That about made our eyes pop out of our head. 

So here’s what we added up from what we currently know and this doesn’t add in AAU Tournaments or other USAT Tournamets T will need to do other than US Open and Nationals. 

Carolina Kicks Sparring Team Fees + Hotel Fees (For Training only) + Fuel cost (for training only) + US Open and both National events (tournament, travel, food fees) is right at $25,000.00 for the year. We still have AAU Qualifier in GA, possible AAU Qualifier NC, USAT GA, USAT NC, USAT SC, USAT ? to attend that we haven’t added in yet. Plus we haven’t added in any possible equipment costs we may run into having to get for T’s training. 

We keep getting asked do we need any help financially. The answer to that is if you want to help we certainly won’t refuse it. Just do what you feel led of the Lord to do and it will go directly into our Global Account that we have set up for everything relating to T’s training, tournaments, and travel. At least we know that we aren’t the only parents dealing with a ton of finances when it comes to their Elite Athletes expenses. It’s enough to make your head spin for sure. 

T and one of his teammates doing drills together. 

T Is Signed Up and Hotel Booked

T is signed up for US Open Las Vegas. We did the registration tonight and booked the hotel. We are still working on airfare. Fun and exciting times. 

My Awesome Coaches!

These are my Awesome Coaches. I’m so thankful for God bringing them into my life. I really trust these guys. They have made a huge difference in my fighting. #carolinakicks4life

Nationals Update

T wants to go to both National Events in July this year again. At USAT Nationals he will weigh in on July 1 and fight on July 2. At AAU Nationals he will weigh in July 4 and fight July 5th. He is really looking forward to fighting at these events this year. With all the training he’s doing we are looking forward to how he does with all his improvements from all the training he’s doing. We’ve got a taste this past weekend with how much he’s improving. It made our hearts proud. Had he not got a mild concussion there’s no telling what he would have brought home from the tournament. Looking forward though not back and enjoying having some down time while he recovers and I ease him back into school and training next weekend. 

Update on T

We went to our Chiropractor yesterday. He had to make a lot of adjustments from T’s injury from Saturday. We have been advised to keep him resting and ease him back into everything. He has to have time for his brain to bounce back from the mild concussion he received. He’s driving us crazy because he’s bored and has to rest. He’s like I feel fine but just because he’s feeling fine doesn’t mean his brain is back to normal. Try getting a very active 10 year old kid to understand that though...LOL! 

Forms Pictures from Yesterday

Such a Proud Kid

This is one time where he’s proud of how he did at a tournament even though he got Bronze because he knows he did his absolute best and left it all out on the floor. He finished his second match even though he was concussed. He showed great courage. And we had so many onlookers so impressed with how much he’s improved. That’s a win any day of the week. Now to figure out how we are going to get this thing off his neck without waking him up...LOL! 

Some Pictures from T’s 2nd Match Yesterday

Wish this hadn’t blurred but someone walked in front of me. He got a gooood side kick here. 

Some Pictures from T’s 1st Match Yesterday

T’s Concussion Update

T is much better today. Vision pretty much back to 100% and he still has a little bit of a headache. He is driving us crazy saying I’m ok because he’s bored and doesn’t want to rest anymore but we aren’t budging because we were told to make him rest for a few days to give his brain healing time. No screen time at all so this should be fun....LOL!