CK 2019 Training Camp Day 1

T had a good day of training today. He did great during endurance training this morning. This afternoon he overextended his leg though and he has strained a muscle in his leg and is going to see a sports therapist that specializes in stretching and massaging his muscles tomorrow. He is highly recommended and has worked with many martial artists. This was Day 1 of a two week intensive training to get ready for Nationals so we need to make sure he hasn’t done anything to injure his muscle. With the help of one of the moms we had him soak in a mineral bath tonight, I put some biofreeze on his leg, he used a roller on his leg, stretched as much as he could, and gave him some ibuprofen and he went to sleep. He is sleeping really good and we got his leg feeling a little better. I pray that after a nights rest he’ll feel tons better in the morning. Still going take him to the professional stretcher tomorrow no matter how he feels. Here are some pictures from earlier today. 

Getting going with a little running. 

Then the endurance training really began. 















This was a cancel by T. He’s been trying so hard to get this right. These next two weeks there will be so much growth in T as a fighter. I feel breakthroughs going to be happening with this training camp for him. I’m looking forward to watching how God helps him do his best and be the best he can be in his sparring.  I love his never give up attitude. It will take him far in this sport and in life. Such an amazing kiddo. 

Team Training Tonight

T had a good training session tonight. His speed improved from last week when he was at training and his coach was happy about that. He said everything is good but that T needs to trust himself more. We are praying he trusts himself more after these next two weeks of training camp. I know he’s young and a lot is being asked/put on him at such a young age but his maturity level is higher than most kids his age. He can handle it though and keep pushing forward. He loves this sport and is looking forward to these two weeks of training ahead at the training camp that officially starts on Monday but he’s doing his regular team training this weekend. Y’all have a great weekend and I will do my best to post some pics of his training this week if I’m able to get any. I’m going to be in and out all week so we’ll see. God Bless You All!!!

Turtle Turtle

Today Scot pulled in the driveway at home to this guy. He wasn’t scared. He stayed right where he was and made Scot go around him to park his work truck. Scot said he was about 12” wide and 15” long. Here are the pics:

Anyone know what kind of turtle it is???

Team Training/Team Training Camp

T’s at team training and I just unpacked our two weeks worth of stuff and now it’s time to go grocery shopping and get it back and unpacked then pick T back up from team training. It never stops and I’m drenched in sweat...LOL! At least our home away from is easy to keep clean...LOL! 

The Count Down is On

The count down to AAU Nationals is on. T is learning that although training his body is important that training his mind is just as important. He’s been focusing on training his body plus his mind as we are getting closer to Nationals. We leave Friday for 2 to 21/2 weeks of training before we head to Florida for Nationals. T has chosen to do both forms and sparring at AAU Nationals this year and just focus on one National event instead of trying to do both National events. We are so proud of this kid. He’s making so many strides and training hard. 

A Clip of T Training at Home 6/4/2019

TKD Professional Pictures

Today T had a photo shoot where he takes his regular TKD classes. We let him pick his three poses and the three backgrounds he wanted to go with them. With him picking the poses I want to warn all our family and friends there wasn’t a smiling pose in the bunch. T says, “There’s no smiling in TKD!”  All his pictures are more serious. It will be five weeks before they come in to the Dojang. Looking forward to when we receive them. So now everyone has something to look forward to seeing on the blog when they come in:-). Have a great rest of your day!  

Training in GA with Master Pinkard

T and his teammates had a great opportunity to train with Master Pinkard’s kids at his Dojang yesterday in GA. It was a long tiring day for the team doing a day trip like that. We are so grateful for every opportunity T gets to train with other students at other schools. 

T’s Training Mouthguard

T loves his new Opro USAT mouthguard that he gets to train with. He wishes he could wear it for competitions but they have to wear a clear mouthguard for competitions. Bully Bob wanted to make a guest appearance in the pic too. He’s been getting beat down a ton by T lately...LOL! #usapride #protectthishouseiwill

Always An Adventure

This morning we drove to GA to do a training session with another team and their coach. We get about an hour from where we are going and the battery light comes on the van. We have the team van pull off so we can hand off our sleepy head boy to them. He has to wake up quickly so we could get to an auto store to have it checked out. Not only was the battery completely dead but the alternator wasn’t charging either. So here we are in GA trying to figure out what to do and the clerk that helped us with the battery called a mechanic friend who came right over and we are having an alternator put in as I’m typing this. For laughs I wanted to include this pic of T sleeping this morning. I wish I could sleep like he does on trips...LOL! 

Keeping out of the sun...

We are keeping out of the sun for the time being.  Even with reapplying we got sunburned at the pool on Monday.  Hard lesson learned!  I will never use the spray on lotion ever again.  We have splotchy sunburn because most of it was wasted because of how windy it was.  No matter where we went to block the wind so we could spray on the lotion it still got us.  We thought we were able to get good coverage but we were mistaken.  I have since went and bought rub on face lotion 100+ protection and body lotion of 70 protection.  And we will be taking the time to reapply, even though time consuming with rubbing it on, every hour.  Hoping this is the last time for sunburn in this family.  Even though it wasn't bad sunburn it was bad enough.  Here are some pics of Timmy's head and face that got sunburned although it's soaked in a lot now:

You Only Live Once...

A Day at the Y Pool

The kids have had a great time today having a free day to just have fun. Here are a few pics of them. 

T’s USAT National Ranking

This is T’s National Ranking as of the latest update:
We are so proud of all of T’s accomplishments this year so far. We are unsure if we will actually be going to USAT Nationals this year. We know we will be going to AAU Nationals though. In the end it may not be worth it to go to USAT Nationals this year. T’s time may be better spent in training getting ready for his first year as a Cadet for 2020 rather than spending the expense to go to USAT Nationals this year. We are in this for the long haul and so we are trying to make the best decisions for T in this sport. It’s hard to know what to do and what not to do. At the end of the day we just want what’s best for T. We don’t want to regret not having done tournaments we should have done. Making the right decisions is not easy when it comes to this sport. He loves what he’s doing so we will continue to move forward whatever that moving forward may look like. 

Memorial Day

Just wanted to take a moment to honor all those who have served and are serving in our armed services. They sacrifice so much and get so little in return. May the memories of those who have lost their lives for our freedom always be honored and respected. And may those who have served and are still serving that are alive be honored today as well for all they have done and are doing for our country. We are truly a blessed nation. 

TKD Meets Minecraft

T made a TKD Sparring Minecraft Skin. He wouldn’t have TKD on the mind or anything...LOL! 

Another training update

Yesterday afternoon through today there’s been a big change in T. All of a sudden he’s working even harder than he ever has. He’s really, and I mean, really listening. He’s making improvements. Old habits take a bit to break though but he’s recognizing what those bad habits are and doing his best to fix them. He’s looking faster. This is a huge step in the right direction.  Looking forward to seeing him continue training like this on a consistent basis.  He’ll be able to make all kinds of strides if he does. Here’s to praying he keeps it up. 

Here’s a pic from one of his recent tournaments:

Training So Far This Week

Training is going good. T is still learning to listen more and do what his coach wants. Sometimes he has to actually take T’s leg and physically show him what he wants from him. I have to keep reminding myself he’s only 11 years old and that he just sometimes doesn’t get it or it doesn’t make sense to him what it is his coach is wanting but he will get it. It takes time and lots and lots of training. Breaking bad habits is not easy and T has a lot of bad habits from how he was taught in the beginning. Each time his coach points out a new bad habit my eyes are opened more to just how much wrong his was taught before he came to this coach. It’s a battle his coach has with several of the students. The saying, “old habits die hard” is so true. I see it being played out on a daily basis as T is training to replace bad habits with good habits. One day the new, better, habits will become muscle memory and they will take the place of the old bad habits. I can’t wait for that day to happen because at that point everything will come together for T and he will be a force to be reckoned with. It will be such a sight to behold. Scot and I are looking forward to that day. He has come so far though in just a years time. When we look forward and think about where he will be this time next year it is mind blowing to think about. Scot and I are patiently waiting with expectancy for when T has his really big aha moment because once that switch is turned on there will be no stopping what he will be able to do in this sport. He has had a few small aha moments already and we’ve seen the change it has made but oh when the big aha moment happens, watch out, because an explosion is going to happen. 

Here’s a pic of him stretching after his warm up this morning:

Training in Matthews

T has had three weekends in a row of tournaments and this weekend, next week, and next weekend he’ll be working hard training with his team and doing private training with his coach. After this week T will have a two week training camp in June with the team and maybe a few extra days with his coach to get some last minute private time in before Nationals. For those of you who follow our blog and pray I ask that you pray for us to be able to find someone to coach T at USAT Nationals. The person we had in mind to do it has decided not to go this year. His coach here can’t attend because he’s going to be coaching our team at AAU Nationals which happens the same week as USAT Nationals. T likes to compete at both National events. We travel straight from one to the other. It’s why we have to have another coach to be able to coach T at USAT Nationals. So please just keep us in your prayers that God guides us to an available coach for T for USAT Nationals. Thank you. 

T Made a New Friend

T made a new friend a couple of weeks ago that was visiting our Dojang from Korea. His name is 저희 아들은 se hyun jeong. He didn’t speak much English but his forms where incredibly sharp. T hopes to visit Korea someday and see the Dojang that 저희 아들은 se hyun jeong trains at.