Red Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do

So today's post is a bit of a non-crafty, non-jewelry-related, non-DIY brag session.
On Saturday I earned my RED BLACK BELT in Tae Kwon Do!!

It is a HUGE accomplishment for me. As I have advanced in belts, each new set of curriculum and subsequently each test has become exponentially harder and more complicated (as it should). I was SO nervous for this test. And on top of it all, my instructor invited his old black belt instructors. So I had eyes on me who had no idea who I was, and had never interacted with me before, talk about PRESSURE TO PERFORM!

And, to add to my anxiety, one of the Black Belts was a girl. I was the only female advanced belt for the test, so I knew that I had a target on my back. I was so nervous to spar her. We lined up, and in my head I thought, alright time to bring it, and I definitely did. Okay, I'm about to sound really arrogant in a second, but we started sparring and she threw a round kick and I performed an "inward forearm block" which basically blocked the kick in the direction it was going so what happened was she kept going and almost fell and she let out a little bit of an "oh!" I was shocked, and then scared for the wrath.  She definitely came at me after that, but I held my own!  Okay, bragging done. I was just very proud of myself for bringing it and not backing down. Here I am breaking 3 boards with a Reverse Punch:

  Looking back, I cannot say that I had nothing to be nervous about. I will continue to be nervous, especially as I am very close to Black now. I will have at least 3 stripe tests on Red Black before I can test for Black, but I am getting there!