Black Belt test

My parents, Fraser, and I flew to San Francisco for a short weekend trip so we could see my brother, Kory, perform in his black belt test. We arrived around noon on friday and enjoyed a relaxing calm day with Kory. We woke up at 415am so we were tired, and Kory was a ball of nerves and was on a restricted diet which sounded exhausting. Thankfully Kory could eat sushi so we enjoyed a delicious dinner in Alameda. I'm so jealous the sushi in California is sooooo much better than what we can get on the east coat.

We had until 3pm on Saturday to get to the dojo so we did some shopping and some cleaning, anything to distract Kory! He took a long nap beforehand to restore his energy. And we were off! Kory warmed up and we went next door and had a drink to celebrate. This was the first black belt open test so anyone could come watch. We got there early so we could grab seats. 4 people were testing: Kory (6 years training), a 14 year old, a 50+ year old (20 years training), and another gentleman in his 30s (14 years training). You could see how nervous/excited they were. Thankfully no one passed out or threw up, although there were moments we were concerned the 30 year old was not going to make it. They were absolutely drenched with sweat and after 2.5 hours finally finished! Although the 14 year old was the fastest, he did not have the passion and concentration that Kory had. Towards the end of the test Kory was the only one still standing up tall and not faultering. He definitely has endurance! All I can say is wow. We were all crying and cheering our hearts out (when we were allowed to cheer). Talk about commitment, dedication, and the love of the art. He will be a black belt forever and carry what he has learned with him everyday. I'm still blown away by how awesome he did and cannot believe it is over!