1st Place Regional Basketball Tournament
April 25, 2010
This was an extremely busy week for sports. My school basketball team played 6 games and we are still undefeated! At the Regional Basketball Tournament we won first place which means we play in the Board Semi-Finals May 3rd. We also had our regular basketball practices after school on top of that. In soccer we had a lot of fitness training which is really helping in other sports too.
After all the basketball and the soccer my mom drives me to TKD. I am starting to get a bit nervous for the CanAm’s in June since I still need to work a lot on my new patterns. They will really take a lot of work to perfect and I’m determined to get them as smooth as my first degree patterns. Some of the moves require such strong and flexible leg muscles. Mr. LeGrow has been very helpful with his coaching. I’m really looking forward to training in Trois Riviers next Saturday with Master Laquerre for competition training.
This weekend I did some community work. My soccer coach asked for volunteers to assist the city in cleaning up a field that they are turning into various soccer pitches. A small group of us spent 4 hours picking up rocks and wood chips. They gave us buckets, gloves and little rakes to help out. At first I thought it was going to be really boring but after a while it was fun just talking to my friends while we worked. Then the soccer club treated us to pizza.
After an 8:00 am soccer game on Sunday I just wanted to crash on the couch for some down time!
TKD Training in Montreal
April 18, 2010
I went to Montreal this weekend for a soccer tournament but I also wanted to take advantage of training with Mr. Primeau from Samguk TKD in Longueuil. Mr. Primeau often comes to train in our dojang in Ottawa so it was nice to visit him at his school. Friday night he worked us very hard for two hours with lots of cardio and kicking techniques. We also did quite a bit of board breaking but I concentrated on knife hand breaks. You aren’t supposed to break boards with your hands until you are 15 years old since the bones in your hands are still developing. I am hoping to also qualify for Worlds in Power Technique so I have to start practicing now even if it’s a bit early. I was surprised that I could break with both hands. It actually really hurt. I had to practice about ten times on each hand and after a couple, each time it became more and more painful. My hands we tingly and aching and pulsing with pain. It was kinda scary going into another school when I didn’t know anyone but the instructor and the entire class was instructed in french. It’s time like this that I’m glad I’m in Full French Immersion 
I was paired up with a 28 year old man who was very strong and big and didn’t speak a word of English. Since we had never met before it’s hard to know each others limits and training habits but I could tell he was working just as hard as I was! The sweat was flying everywhere .
When I got back to the hotel all my soccer team was there. I had to change from TKD mode into soccer mode. I did however have to soak my hands in ice for a while since they were still hurting quite a bit and were already bruised.
I really wanted to train with Mr. Primeau again on Saturday afternoon since it was competition training and my intructor Mr. Legrow was also there with other competitors that I know. I like to get to know the girls from other Provinces. Suddenly when you are trying out for a National team there are no boundaries of Provinces.
I had two soccer games on Saturday so I was only able to pop in to say “hi” to everyone at the dojang since the times conflicted. I also had to stay focused for my soccer and save my energy. It’s hard when you want to be in two places at the same time.
In total we had three soccer games. We won 2 and lost 1. The weather was freezing cold and pouring rain the whole time and the games were all outdoors!!
I really enjoyed my weekend.
Honour Role
April 18, 2010
Last week we received our report cards and at the school assembly I was really proud to earn an Honour Role for having an overall average of a 84% percent. This was especially hard with all the extra training I’ve been doing. I also received the Citizenship Award. It’s great that my Grandpa is so involved in my life.
55th Birthday of Taekwon-Do
April 18, 2010
April 11th was the 55th birthday of TKD. To celebrate, three TKD schools in Ottawa all got together for an intense 2.5 hour training. Master Kou and Mr. Legrow lead the session for 40 students. It was like an old family reunion for me since I knew everyone from all the schools and I hadn’t seen some of them in a couple of years. We had a hard warm up, followed by instuction on patterns, sparring and then board breaking.
To finish off the day we all went down town to a Korean dinner for some fine dining. That was quite an experience! I had sea weed, pickled radishes and a whole lot of other unknown food placed in front of me along with some chopsticks. No cutlery to be seen . I had no idea what I was eating but I tried everything for the fun of it. In my opinion, it all tasted….interesting. Yet another experience out of my comfort zone . I think you can tell by the look on my face.
It was great catching up with all my old and friends. My brother and parents were also there to join in celebration. It was a special night.
TKD Meets Ottawa Science Fair
April 18, 2010
This has been an extremely busy two weeks so I’m a bit behind in my blog. Last week I qualified for the Finals at the Ottawa Science Fair along with 200 other students in grade 8 to grade 12 from all over Ottawa. My topic was on “The Theory of Power” which is all related to what I’ve learned in Tae-kwon-Do. I had so much fun demonstrating the proper technique of board breaking and how you can apply the same theories to other sports. It may not have been the most scientific project there and it may not be finding a medical cure but I had lots of fun getting the judges involved with my presentation. I was so excited and shocked when they called my name up for and Honorable Mention! The whole atmosphere and experience was completely out of my comfort zone. It was cool to be able to mix my passion of sports with school work.
Cross Training
April 2, 2010
Hello,
OK so, right now its Easter weekend, and I am relaxing, but I will be doing some light training on my own. Since I had the Eastern Canadian Championships last weekend, and I don’t have my next tournament until June 6, I have pretty much this week and a little bit of next week to regain my energy to get ready to train hard for the next 6 weeks to get ready for the tournament. Usually that would be the case…. But not this time.
Right now, I am in the middle of pre-season training for soccer and in the middle of basketball season at school as well. That means that things just get more intense. More training, and less sleep and time to relax my body.
For soccer, because we only have a month before we start our season, we have to get in shape in a short amount of time. Last week I had soccer Tuesday and Thursday evenings for cross training and then next week I have one cross training session and one normal practice. For our cross training, we go to Mooney’s Bay. We run about 5 kilometers down by the water front. Then we do stations in the sand that use every part of the body. We do the plank, push-ups, sit ups, squats with the medicine ball, and agility drills. It was really different from our normal cross training because I had never done anything like that in sand before. It was funny seeing other soccer teams doing the exact same thing as us. After our legs are already burning, we go to the massive hill and do sprints. At the end I can barely feel my legs. The cross training sessions are in an interesting environment down on the beach at sunset. It hardly feels like a normal workout atmosphere. I know that all this cross training will only improve my strength and stamina in TKD as well.
I have basketball practice after school Mondays, Wednesdays, and we have a game on Thursdays. Last week we had our first game and it was a big win. My mom had dinner waiting in the car for me as we dashed off to soccer. We were are supposed to be stretched and warmed up before the training session but I just arrived still sweating from my basketball game.
For Taekwon-do, I am learning the pattern that I didn’t know at Eastern’s. I’m really excited about it, but this pattern is really hard and is going to take a lot of practice. I’m getting one-on-one coaching to make sure that my patterns are absolutely perfect.
OK so here’s my schedule for the next little while.
Monday, I have basketball, and then after I go to Taekwon-do.
Tuesday, I have soccer cross training, or a normal practice. After a normal practice, I go to Taekwon-do.
Wednesday, I have basketball, and Taekwon-do.
Thursday, I have a basketball game, and then from there, I go straight to Soccer.
Friday, I actually have the day off. What do you know?
Saturday, for the next month, I’m actually always in a Taekwon-do seminar, or I have a soccer game, practice or tournament.
Sunday, well that’s the same as Saturday.
My schedule is so busy right now, but it is all going to help me in the long run. I love all of the cross training because I can really feel a difference in my strength and stamina. All the sports together make me stronger in every way because I am using every muscle in my body. My schedule is just going to get busier and busier the closer I get to the TKD CanAm Championships in June and as the soccer season begins. I have never been so sore in my life but I’m feeling really healthy and happy.
I will update you guys in a bit.
