Black Belt

August 20, 2016

To Black Belt Review Board:

Hi, my name is Ryan Black and I’m 10 years old. I have been taking Tae Kwon Do for almost 5 years. I am in 5^th grade at Gunstream Elementary. I have a 7 year old sister and a 13 year old brother.

I started my Tae Kwon Do journey when I was 6 years old in kindergarten. I was excited when I opened my birthday present and found my gi and white belt inside. My favorite thing about Tae Kwon Do is Ma Ht Kye Ruh Kee and one steps. Something that challenged me in Tae Kwon Do was sparring. I didn’t like doing it, but Mr. Henry pushed me to keep trying. Now I like doing it.

A trait I got from Tae Kwon Do is respect for all living things. I also learned to never give up. When I get my black belt I will focus on teaching others on their way to be a black belt.

My parents have encouraged me to do my very best at Tae Kwon Do. I am proud of my parents for driving me to Tae Kwon Do every day. Mr Henry and all the black belts have taught me all the skills I need to get my black belt. I thank them for helping me reach this day.

I’d like to thank my family for supporting me today, especially my grandpa for coming from Arizona. I wish the other testers good luck and hope that we all do our best today.

Sincerely, Ryan Black

I am not sure why we each had an individual picture taken with Ryan, but here is everyone that went with him this day!

Dan watched from the instructors side of the room. He read Ryan's letter out loud to the audience. Testing this day (from right to left) Ryan, Dodson, Webb, Arnold (Shelby), and Hemata.

 The rest of us sat in the audience watching.

A Black Belt test is a grueling experience. Ryan arrived at the gym at 1pm and left at 5:45pm. He wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything during the test. They started with basic punches and blocks and worked through katas, kicks, one steps, bo staff, and sparring.

At Ryan's gym they do not break boards regularly. Ryan had only practiced on the Thursday night before this. The theory is you are strong enough to break a dry board after 4 years of training. Ryan was one of the lucky boys. He broke his board after 3 kicks. Some boys had to take breaks and try many times before they finally got it. Stressful!

Did I mention this was a 4 hour test? Sister was awesome. She sat quietly watching. She started a movie during the 3rd hour when the testers were sparring. Exercise mats make for a cozy movie spot.

Sparring took forever. The kids were sweating and over heated. Webb threw up twice and begged to quit. But thankfully his big brother is a black belt and his family kept cool and pushed him on.

Amen! Hallelujah! He did it! Although, I guess it is not AMEN as in "the end", because I was informed that this is really the beginning of his martial arts journey. Becoming a 2nd degree requires teaching and growing as a leader. (And will take just as long since you have to be 16 to qualify!)

I am so, so proud of my son and this great accomplishment! We did encourage him to stick with TKD, but he never really asked to quit. He did take summer breaks. He did inquire about playing sports. But he always gave his best while in class. He is a different child in the gym than anywhere else. I am glad for the character building he has experienced from this sport.

This is his specially embroidered black belt.

And this is Ryan Vincent Black, Black Belt Instructor!