My first intro post was pretty quick, so here's some information on what I love to do.

At the age of 4, I was introduced to Tae Kwon Do. At the time, I was playing soccer and quickly losing interest in that, but one class of martial arts, and I was sold. I can remember, as each test came up for a new belt rank, hours and hours would be spent going over everything I had ever learned, as each test was completely cumulative. Fast forward 5-6 years, and there I was at my first black belt test. 10 forms, 10 one-step sparring techniques, mountains of terminology, more kicks and hand movements than I could count, weapon defense, self-defense from grabs, board breaking, and point sparring made up our test. It was about 4 hours long and well worth it. I had earned my first degree black belt.

At 12 years old, it was time for my next test. I had to test all the stuff from the first one, plus 3 more forms, 2 on 1 point sparring, learn and demo a weapon, make a choreographed self-defense routine, teach movements to students, and make my own one-step sparring techniques. This earned me my second degree black belt.

My third test came when I was 15, and it was "more of the same" so to say. More forms, more self defense, harder sparring, more board breaks, blind-folded defenses, you name it, it was on the test.

This picture is from when I was 18, and it's during the test for my fourth degree black belt. 19 forms, 15 one-step sparring defenses, real-world self defense with weapons and hand to hand, defending yourself from a circle of people, every kick, punch, defense technique, stance, everything I had ever learned was on this test. I passed. The sad part was, I don't know when I'll get to go for my master level (fifth degree) in Tae Kwon Do. I hope it's within sooner years rather than later, because I love this. It's a part of me and I wouldn't be who I am today, without it.

![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbwbAmTDpcXdAWpnfX8H3mVBJnXhpwoLfzHrApxqnT6Xi/image.png)