Channing tests for 1st Degree Black Belt!

Once a year all black belts, and those testing for their first black belt, test together. Channing was lucky enough to have to test on this date – with 10 different TKD schools present. It was organized chaos! There were 9 or 10 high rank judges watching all the action. Channing had to do red belt form, spar 2 rounds and break 3 boards. The sparring and the form were no problem for him, but the board breaking was tough. He broke 2 boards with his foot but couldn’t quite get through the board with his palm. After the 3rd attempt he had to stop trying and we thought that he didn’t pass (so did he and he was very upset). We found out the next day that he did pass though! Because he had passed his pre-qual with 3 board breaks, those really counted as the actual test. So the ones the night of the black belt test were just for show basically. Wish we had known that because he was so disappointed after failing to break that one board after doing everything else. It all turned out fine in the end. He was SOOOOO excited when he found out that he passed and he was even more excited when he received his black belt the following week. Just look at his face when he has his new black belt on him. Pure joy! It took him 2 years to earn it, so he should be proud and happy!

On the night Channing received his black belt they had a tea ceremony first (of course he didn’t drink it), but the teacups were about 200 years old that they used, so it was kind of cool to watch. So Channing earned his 1st degree black belt on July 23, 2010 and received it on July 27, 2010. Pretty cool for an 8 year old! Way to go Channing! You worked hard!