JOURNEY TO THE BLACK BELT ( BY: CARLOS DIAZ.) 9 YEARS OLD

                                        CASTELLI SHIN KARATE

LITTLE DRAGON

WHEN I FIRST STARTED,  I WANTED TO BE LIKE BRUCE LEE.  I
THOUGHT I WOULD LEARN EVERYTHING FAST BUT I WAS WRONG.
THEN FRIENDS IN KARATE TAUGHT ME SOME MOVES, BUT THEN
SOME OF THEM LEFT, BUT ONE.  AS I GOT OLDER, I TAUGHT NEW
LITTLE DRAGON STUDENTS WHO BECAME MY GOOD FRIENDS.  I
ALSO GOT A PUNCHING BAG WHEN I FIRST STARTED,

AT MY FIRST TOURNAMENT, AS A LITTLE DRAGON, A MASTER
SAW ME PRACTICING SO HE ASKED IF I KNEW THE FIVE CODES
OF TANG SOO DO.  AND SINCE I KNEW MY FIVE CODES, THEY LET
ME SAY THE FIVE CODES IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY AT THE
TOURNAMENT AND I WAS ONLY FOUR YEARS OLD.

ALSO IN MY FIRST TOURNAMENT AS A LITTLE DRAGON I DID
FORMS AND TOOK A COUPLE OF PICTURES.  ONE PICTURE WAS
WITH GRAND MASTER SHIN AFTER HE SIGNED MY UNIFORM AND
ANOTHER WHILE FIGHTING LITTLE LOUIS CASTELLI.  HE DID A
ROUND HOUSE KICK AND I BLOCKED IT WITH MY EYES CLOSED.
AND I DID A ROUND HOUSE KICK BACK AT HIM AT THE SAME
TIME.  IT WAS A FUN MOMENT AND I HAVE BOTH OF THOSE
PICTURES HUNG IN MY BEDROOM.  I WON MY FIRST MEDAL AT
THIS TOURNAMENT AND I WAS SO HAPPY.

WHITE BELT

AS A WHITE BELT, I LOVED KARATE AND I STILL DO.  AS A
WHITE BELT, I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A MASTER BECAUSE
I REALLY LIKE DOING KARATE.

ORANGE BELT

AS AN ORANGE BELT, WHEN I WAS LEARNING MY FORMS, THEY
WERE FUN BUT NOT EASY TO LEARN.  I REALLY STARTED TO
GET THE HANG OF KARATE AND ONCE AGAIN I WANTED TO BE
LIKE BRUCE LEE.

GREEN BELT

WHEN I WAS A GREEN BELT, I WANTED TO LEAVE KARATE
BECAUSE I WANTED TO SPEND MY TIME PLAYING GAMES ON
THE COMPUTER.  BUT MY DAD SAID I CAN QUIT KARATE, BUT
I ALSO HAVE TO TURN OFF THE COMPUTER.  I'M GLAD HE DID
THAT, BECAUSE HE KNEW I WOULD BE GOOD IN KARATE.  AT
MY GREEN BELT TEST, I BROKE THREE BOARDS AT THE SAME
TIME AND I FELT GREAT.

AS A GREEN BELT, I STARTED TO PRACTICE A LOT.  I REALLY
WANTED TO HAVE FUN IN KARATE, BUT IT WASN'T ALL ABOUT
FUN.  I HAD TO BE FOCUSED.  WHEN I LEARNED  PYUNG  AHN
SAM DAN, I LOVED IT.  IT WAS HARD AT FIRST BUT THEN I GOT IT.
I THANKED MY KARATE TEACHER.

BROWN BELT

MY TOURNAMENT AT THE POCONOS AS A BROWN BELT, I GOT
TWO FIRST PLACE TROPHIES AND ONE SECOND PLACE TROPHY.
THAT SAME YEAR, OUR DEMO TEAM TOOK FIRST PLACE PER-
FORMING "FRIGHT NIGHT... FIGHT NIGHT."  WHEN I WAS LEARNING
MY BONG FORMS, I KNEW I WAS GOING TO GET IT BECAUSE IT WAS
EASY TO LEARN.  WHEN I GOT TO BROWN BELT, I FOUND OUT THAT
WASN'T AS EASY AS BEING A WHITE BELT BECAUSE IT GOT LESS
FUN AND MORE FOCUSED.

RED BELT

AT MY RED BELT TEST, I BROKE A THICK BOARD AND I WAS SO
HAPPY MY DAD GAVE ME THUMBS UP!  ALSO AS A RED BELT,  I
WAS LEARNING MY BASSAI FORM AND I THOUGHT I WOULD
NEVER GET IT, BUT THEN I GOT REAL GOOD AT IT.  MY INSTRUCTOR
EVEN WANTED ME TO SHOW EVERYBODY.  I REALLY LOVE BASSAI.

THEN AT THE TWIN VALLEY TOURNAMENT, I WON THREE FIRST
PLACE TROPHIES AND AT THE END OF THE TOURNAMENT, THEY
CALLED MY NAME AND I WON THE MALE YOUTH GUP GRAND
CHAMPION CUP!

MY DAD AND I WENT TO THE WORLD TOURNAMENT IN NORTH
CAROLINA AND THERE I WON 1st PLACE IN WEAPONS AND TWO
SECOND PLACE TROPHIES.  LATER THAT YEAR AT THE POCONOS,
OUR DEMO TEAM TOOK 2nd PLACE.

BLUE BELT

AS A BLUE BELT, I HAD TO LEARN THE SIP SOO FORM AND I LIKED
IT.  AT A NUNCHUK SEMINAR AT OUR SCHOOL, I LEARNED A LOT
THAT DAY.  THEN THERE WAS ALSO A KICKING AND ROLLING
SEMINAR AND THAT DAY I DIVED OVER NINE BIG TARGETS.  I ALSO
DID A LOW WHEEL SWEEP, A JUMP SPINNING CRESCENT KICK AND
A JUMP ROUND HOUSE KICK.  ONE DAY DURING CLASS, I HAD TO
TEACH CLASS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND I WAS NERVOUS, BUT IT
WAS FUN.  I REMEMBER I MADE THE CLASS DO ONE HUNDRED
JUMPING JACKS, TWENTY MILITARY PUSH-UPS AND FIFTY MOUN-
TAIN CLIMBERS, THEN I MADE THEM RUN AROUND TWENTY TIMES.

WHEN I WENT TO THE BLACK BELT CAMP, I HAD A LOT OF FUN
WITH MY KARATE FRIENDS.  WE PLAYED, THEN WE WENT TO OUR
DORM TO GET INTO OUR UNIFORMS.  THEN WE WENT TO A PLACE
WHERE EVERYONE WENT OUTSIDE TO DO A WORKOUT WITH MR.
WHITE.  THERE WAS DOG POOP ON THE GRASS, BUT I STAYED
FOCUSED DOING MY SELF-DEFENSE MOVES.  LATER I WENT BACK
TO MY DORM AND WAITED FOR LIGHTS OUT.  THE NEXT MORNING
THERE WERE RELAY RACES, THEN WE HAD A MOVIE.  THEN WE
MADE A FIRE AND GOT STICKS AND MARSHMALLOWS WITH
HERSHEY'S CHOCOLATE BARS.  THEN IT WAS THE END.

THIS SAME YEAR I STARTED GETTING READY FOR THE BLACK
BELT TEST SO I HAD TO RUN, TAKE THE PHYSICAL PRE-TEST AND
THE WRITTEN TEST FOUR TIMES AT MY SCHOOL.  DURING ONE OF
MY BLACK BELT PRE-TEST, I HAD TO FIGHT TWO PEOPLE AND I
USED ONE AS MY SHIELD;  THE OTHER PERSON THREW A PUNCH
AND I BLOCKED IT WITH MY HUMAN SHIELD.  I FEEL LIKE AS A
BLUE BELT, KARATE IS ONE THING THAT I'M REALLY GOOD AT.
IN 2013,  I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE MY BLACK BELT TEST
BECAUSE OF MY AGE. 

AT THE POCONOS TOURNAMENT, OUR DEMO TEAM WON 1st PLACE
PERFORMING "BATTLE OF THE SUPER POWERS".  I PRESENTED FOR
CASTELLI SHIN KARATE DEMO TEAM.  AT THIS SAME TOURNAMENT,
I WON THE GRAND CHAMPION YOUTH GUP CUP. 

NOW AS A BLUE BELT, I HAVE TO STUDY AND PRACTICE MORE ,
ESPECIALLY BECAUSE AT MY LAST TOURNAMENT AT TWIN VALLEY,
I THOUGHT I WAS GOOD ENOUGH WITHOUT PRACTICING BUT I WAS
WRONG.  I WON TWO SECOND PLACE TROPHIES AND ONE THIRD
PLACE TROPHY AND TO ME I DON'T THINK THAT WAS GOOD ENOUGH
FOR SOMEONE WHO WON TWO GRAND CHAMPION CUPS.

I WILL PREPARE MYSELF BY PRACTICING AND STUDYING MORE,
GOING OVER THE ONE STEP SELF-DEFENSE, THE FORMS ON DVD,
PUSH-UPS, SIT-UPS AND JUMPING JACKS AT HOME SO THAT
                                  
                                   I CAN BE MY BEST.
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