Brian is a Black Belt!

After 2 years, Brian achieved the rank of Recommended Black Belt in May. Since then, he has been preparing for official Black Belt testing, which finally arrived last Thursday. During the Testing, Brian had to perform his current and past form, develop and perform his own form to music and break two boards, all in front of all the Black Belts, numerous Moms and Dads and the owners of the TaeKwonDo school.

The most nerve wracking part of the Testing is the board breaking. If you fail to break your boards within three attempts, you don’t receive your belt. You must break two boards utilizing an elbow strike and then a flying side kick. In the last week of classes, Brian practiced breaking his boards, but he wasn’t successful all the time, even with numerous attempts, so I was quite nervous for him. During the early stages of Testing, I couldn’t bear to watch, and I chose not to take any pictures.

The first girl in the Testing program broke her boards on the first try. Brian’s turn was next.....he jumped the gun a bit and started to break the board without first asking permission (part of the formality of the board breaking process). So he asked for and was granted permission to break his boards. Positioning himself by the board, Brian wound up his elbow and swung down at the board - and it broke! The crowd roared to encourage him on to the flying sidekick. Brian ran and planted his foot in the center of the board, and it broke as well! I was so excited for Brian - I could see the joy in his face and step as he shook the board holders’ hands and ran to me for a great big bear hug.

The remainder of the Testing program consisted of less exciting events - Form performances and technique review. My nerves had calmed down so I took some pictures of Brian and others going through their Form:



Here is Brian getting his new belt tied on (thanks to Ethan's mom for helping us out):


And Ethan congratulating Brian:


Here is our Black Belt!