In May of 1998, Sammye started his journey on the road to BLACK BELT. After almost 3 years of hard work, dedication and perseverance, it finally paid off. The night of Monday, January 22, 2001, Sammye was tested before the board of Black Belt judges. He was required to know all the forms of Taekwondo (9), break two boards and spar 3 matches. He was excited and nervous. He demonstrated his forms before the judges, then it was time to break his boards. The two breaks were, back elbow and jump side kick over an obstacle. His obstacle was another student of Taekwondo. He completed his board breaks and moved on to sparring. He had a big smile on his face the entire time, it was very exciting for everyone. Yours truely (his mom), lost her voice from so much screaming! I thought I'd surely hurt my head on the ceiling from jumping for joy when his test was completed.
After the test, came the hard part....WAITING till results day!! On Friday night, January 26, 2001, the awards banquet was held. All students who had tested for rank advance were there to receive their new belts (including me for Blue Belt!) First we had to wait through all the color belts to receive theirs....Orange, Yellow, Camo, Green, Purple, Blue, Brown, Red, Red/Black. Then it was time for what we came to see. Sammye was called up (along with another child, Heather). His belt was tied on him and he received a certificate showing him to be a 1st Degree Black Belt. All students who test for 1st degree Black Belt are required to write a paper about what Black Belt means to that student. That paper is read at the awards banquet during the Black Belt ceremony. Below you will find a scanned copy of Sammye's Black Belt Certificate. Also you will find some photos of his Black Belt test, receiving his new rank and his paper.
We are all very proud of our two newest Black Belts!
Sammye and Heather, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! |
