Wow! I am still amazed that I am qualified to be a black belt candidate. I started karate many years ago because my son was doing it. I thought it would be good to have a similar activity that we could share and do together. I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would be where I am today. I was concerned because I was older and had never done any karate before. You are never too old to try something new. I am scared and excited at the same time. The black belt candidates are required to do 1,000 miles, 1,000 kata, 1,000 acts of kindness,1,000 rounds of sparring, 50,000 push ups, 50,000 sit ups, read 6 books, write a weekly post, blog once a month, write an essay about what it means to be a black belt, and more. That all must be done in 13 months. It sounds overwhelming, but I know it can be accomplished if a little bit is done everyday. I actually started doing sit ups, push ups, and walking mileage on September 1 when Sensei told me I could be a candidate starting December 1, 2023. I knew I could not just start doing 140 crunches, 140 pushups, and many miles a day without starting preparing my body for what was to come. I started slow and worked up to the amount needed to do today. Karate had become a daily form of life. I hope to meet this challenge, face it working with it, and triumph over it.