CJ Passed His Black Belt Test!

I'm late in posting this but CJ passed his Tae Kwon Do Black Belt test back in June. OMG, what a incredible journey!

Back in April 2014, CJ passed his brown belt test and got his black stripe belt. Master Yun took me and CJ aside and said that CJ looked good, he knew all his forms and if CJ felt he was ready, he would let CJ take the black belt test in June. This was a BIG deal. Master Yun rarely lets people test for their black belt so soon after getting their bo black belt. CJ would train and test with Giualem, a super talented 11-year old with amazing, natural ability.

CJ said Yes! he wanted to take the black belt test in June. So he started taking double and triple classes to build up his endurance. I even took a few double classes with him to give him encouragement and build up MY endurance. At the end of April, Master Yun started offering bo black classes. During bo black classes, Master Yun would have the kids practice forms, practice kicking, practice breaking, and practice power breaking, which is breaking with your hand.

I felt like I was living at the studio during the months of May and June. CJ was taking, on average, 9 classes a week! He was pretty enthusiastic about it, but some weeks, he was just plain exhausted and didn't want to stay for the 2nd or 3rd class. Because I love TKD so much AND I've watched a couple of black belt tests, I understood the importance of endurance training.

Here's the deal with the black belt test. The Master won't let you test unless you know your forms and your kicks. So you basically just have to survive the test, which is a 3-hour test, during which you do all the forms, do all the kicks, do the kicks while going up and down the studio, do over 700 push-ups, do over 700 sit-ups, do over 300 squats, do 3 rounds of sparring (including 1 round against 2 black belts), and break 5 wooden boards at once (1 cement block if you're an adult). It's really an endurance test. If you're not in the best shape of your life, you just won't survive.

CJ and Giualem did a great job. They were both clearly in top form. When they got to green belt and the squats started, one of the instructors, Trulynd, sidled up to me and said, "they're doing really well; this is usually when the crying starts but they're not crying."

In fact, there was no crying during this black belt test. CJ and Giualem did a great job with everything. They were plastered with sweat and by the third sparring round, they both took a beating because when you're exhausted, you tend to just stand there and take the hits.

The breaking is what nearly did CJ in. It took him about 30 minutes to break all the boards. Giualem did it the second shot. CJ really struggled. But he didn't give up. Master Yun called several 1-minute breaks but he didn't give up. I was barely breathing and I couldn't help him. He was on his own and he had to call on all his training to get through the last part of the test. When he finally broke the boards, you could see the relief on his face; he was not going home without having broken those 5 boards! And you know, I suspect those last 30 minutes taught CJ more than any other part of the test. And he probably learned more about himself than Giualem did about herself. Because it's when things get tough, when you don't get something the first time, but you keep going and you finally do it, that you learn what you're really made of. I was so proud of CJ.

CJ doesn't get his black belt until December, six months after the test. There's some type of waiting period, during which Master Yun sends off your paperwork to Korean, your belt gets made, and you have to convince Master Yun that you are still committed to TKD. The December belt ceremony is going to be great.