KTC tournament/ a little history about an honorable man

the day started out pretty funny/cool with the demo team from korea. they did a demo with some michael jackson songs and put a korean soap opera twist to it. but we had some good fights and some fights where we didnt get the desired result. but lets move forward. we learned A LOT! today. some of us we resorting back to bad habits but its good that we fix them not in a local/small tournament rather than at nationals, qualifiers or for some, in korea. next week is a tournament at james logan, my high school. i sure hope its not held in the small Al Roderigues gym because that one was pretty small. hopefully, its held in our big pavillion. its very very nices anywho, there is a big story behind Alfonso Roderigues that has not been shared outside of my community. mr.roderigues was a very commited man to sports and the health of youth. he dedicated most of his time to james logan high school as the sports director and later moved on to the stanford men's volleyball team after he knew that the sports program at james logan was under control and could be passed on to some great coaches. his team went from the WORST to FIRST! he coached the stanford volleyball team very well and was very involved in sports programs. Roderigues was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late 2008 and he peacefully passed this year at the age of 68 with his family at his bedside. actually, since mr.will smith is from stanford, and my dad was a big part of the Logan Baseball team, they saw eachother at Roderigues' funeral where many had wonderful things to say about how Roderigues contributed to the well being of the youth in our community and the pride in our schools. even though he had stomach cancer, he still worked hard at trying to make our community a better place and tried to make our youth have a healthier lifestyle.

next year

next year we will have two more competitors eligable for the US national team. both lexy bomagat and austin lew will get a shot at their first 14-17 team spot. i sure cant wait til 2012, which seems forever...kinda is but im going to have to wait... anywho, goodluck and start working hard now kiddos! cant wait until next year when we have A. Guting, E. Guting, D. Burns, A. Bomagat, N. Bomagat, A. Ubando, and A. Lew fighting at team trials for the team spot. Goodluck to Y. Bomagat also for her first year of official seniors.

waiting

its not the easiest thing to handle when you find out that you wont be able to fight as a black belt next year. i've been working my butt off and its really painful but whats waiting for me in a couple years will be worth it. gotta keep my head up and move forward. i feel like everything is telling me to quit and that everything is against me. my body feels like its wearing down, there is no chance of me being on team next year and im not in the place i wanna be, the place i've ALWAYS dreamed of. but i have to stop letting those things get to me. gotta stay strong for my team and fight my best. i cant give up on myself or let myself down. i dont want to live a life full of regrets. i guess all that i can do is fight to be the best. thats my plan...

TLo

congrats to angelica and yasmine too

goodjob all three of you guys for making the us team. go represent in korea!

CONGRATS ANNA UBANDO!

anna ubando was chosen to be on the US team to go to the Korea Open. Wow! great job. all your hard work is paying off. She leaves August 30th but her plane ticket payment is due on July 28th..ya short notice but lets all work together and help out our teammate. IM SO PROUD OF YOU MY "HALFZIE!" :) train hard and fight smart. lets prep you for the korea open!

thanks everyone!

first off, i want to thank master ortez for giving me this opportunity to test. its taken me so long and now i can finally do it! thank you to both master garr and master ortez for helping me in the basics class and really giving me the one-on-one time i need. Master garr, you always push me to my limit and even farther. you never give up on me and are the best coach. i couldnt ask for anyone better, because there is none. Also! Thank you to the williams and esaka family for going wayyyyy out of your way to help me out. they got me videos, worksheets, emails and everything i need to get better at what i need to do. thank you to my family. you guys are also going out of your way to get me to each practice almost EVERY night to accomplish my goal. thanks mama sue, you not only get me to practice when i need you to, but you went and did your research on what i need and how i need to do it before everything started. you go me in the position im in. thanks dad for taking time away from sophia, mama, ricky and jade to take me to practice and tournaments. you not only sacrifice your time to relax, but you always come through financially. you work so hard and always provide the best you can. even jade, you are one of the best sisters i can ask for (sophia too but she cant really help right now, beside the support she gives me). jade goes out of her way to take me to class and help me out in anyway. she not only makes me a better fighter by pushing me and mentoring me, but she makes me a better person and shows me how to be a better human being. thanks for taking a couple hours or even a couple days off of your life to make mine better. thanks for using your time and money to get me where i wanna be. thanks for being an awesome sister and my best friend. i know i can count on you for everything and anything and i know that you will always be there for me, even though i am the annoying little sister :). i love you, jade! thanks ricky for really supporting me in taekwondo. you never complain that you dont get much time with dad. you're growing up to be a better person each day. you all work your hardest and sacrifice a lot for me to be happy. so i am going to do my best, work 150% and never give up. just like you do for me. i never feel like anyone has given up on me. i always feel the support and love from everyone. i hope i can make you proud!

day 1!

Tonight will be my first day of my training for my testing. I am very excited and hope this helps me in my fighting also. Like Master Ortez said, I have to build myself a stronger foundation and work up from there. I took the time over my weekend last week to learn some forms. At first, I was a little overwhelmed and scared because at my last dojang, we never had to learn forms or and basic taekwondo. Now, I don't fear my testing. what I want to accomplish in this testing is one of my biggest dreams. Ever since I was little and watching my older sister, Jade, in the dojang, Ive wanted this so badly. Now that the opportunity is coming my way, nothing can stop me. I recently found out that I might not get it as early as i want it next year, but still, I have to take my baby steps in my taekwondo journey and I will reach my goal when the time comes. This test will be one of the biggest tests I've had. Its not just a test of my physical strength or the way I do my forms and basics, but a lot of it is my will power and leadership. This is my main priority right now so i might not be able to make it to some of our GST trainings because i will have 6 practices a week. My fear is burning out too early. But know that even though i might not be at practice some days, i will still be here for you guys and that you can ask me for any help or whatever still. Wish me luck tonight.

TLo

2010 nationals

the 2010 nationals was great! everyone fought hard and hopefully achieved something during this experience. i am proud of everyone on the team and very amazed with your fights. this nationals for me was overwhelmingly happy. not only did i get the result i wanted, but i saw my teammates fight hard and do what they love. i was very happy with the effort we all put in not only at the tournament, but in the dojang. lets learn from this experience and press forward hard as a team. GST!

TLo