The Best Worst Fight

Today I witnessed the best, worst fight. We had Day 1 of competition at the USA Junior Olympic Championships here in Austin, Texas. We brought five fighters, one who fought today, two that will fight tomorrow, one thursday and one on Sunday. The little girl that fought today showed me something that is taught indirectly and not often tested to its fullest sense. This poor little 10 year old girl had gotten a mixture of car sick, nervousness, and motion sickness on her way to Austin. She threw up a couple times in her car, and struggled to eat anything before going to bed. Even when registering at the competition venue, she was teary-eyed, and looked lifeless. Her mom, Jesse and myself felt like it was nervousness before her big day, although she hadn't gotten sick the last time she competed. The following day, she looked like she was not feeling well. She still hadn't had anything to eat, and her stomach was cramping every time she tried to swallow. She competed in forms in the early morning. Although she didn't win she tried very hard and her form looked very good. There was a 3 hour break between the forms competition and the sparring events. We tried to get her something to eat, but she kept on having crying "episodes" and complained of a stomach ache. Jesse and I talked about having her not compete. We decided to leave it up to her. We told her mom to tell her, if her ache was due to nervousness, she had to fight. If the ache came from being physically sick, she could bow out, and try next time. Her mom thought that was a great idea. About an hour later I received a text that she was on her way back to the venue to fight. When I saw her she still looked weak, but she looked like she wanted to try her best. As the sparring event got closer, she had managed to eat a quarter of a banana. Her stomach was still cramping and she was not feeling well. I asked her, "Do you still want to fight?" and she answered, "Yes". I asked her "Why?" She answered, "THere are three reasons why I want to fight. 1. I want to kick Stephanie's butt, 2 I love to spar and 3 my mom spent a lot of money to be here". Stephanie was the girl that beat her last time at the regional tournament. As Jesse took her out to the ring, he said to her, "Okay this is it, if you decide to fight, that is great, but there can be no more crying until after the match is over. You can still decide not to fight if you don't feel well." She said " I do want to fight". Jesse then told her " Okay then, but I might stop the fight if I feel that you are not fit to continue." She replied "Yes sir" Well she fought like a champion. In the first round, she got scored on 5 times and wasn't able to score a point. A full minute went by and she endured. During the 30 second break, Jesse coached her a bit about her technique. This little girl took deep breaths to try to make the stomach ache go away. She went in for round 2. She wasn't able to score any points, but no points were scored on her during that round. At one point, she got hit in the stomach and she fell to the ground, cradled to her tummy. The medic went out to help her, and after a minute she stood back up. She continued through the second round, trying to stay focused. At the end of the second round, there was no energy left in her poor little body. She had endured pain, fought through it, and branded herself a fighter by persisting. Jesse asked her before the the third round if she was ready to fight one more round and she answered, holding back tears, "Yes sir" He asked "Are you sure?" She answered "Yes sir" So he told her, "Then go out there". As she walked to begin the third round, Jesse alerted the Referee, that she was not going to continue. The referee awarded the win to her opponent. TO become a champion, it doesn't matter how many golds you win, or the number of points you score. A champion is when you have nothing left, and you find it in you to go one more round. Its striving to do your best, no matter what. Chloee, you defined what it is to be a FIGHTER and a CHAMPION today, and may you never lose that fire you have within you to fight for one more round.

Coming to an end

My first year as a fully functional school psychologist is coming to an end. My year contract will be ending in 2 days to be exact. Phew! It was a good year, full of new adventures, some good, some not so good. Now i have a month and a half to sit back and relax. Well not really, KuGar is still up and running and I will be teaching some private swimming classes so that should be fun. I would be posting more often but my computer has been out on sick leave for a while, and should be on its way back to me tomorrow (with a new 500 gb hard drive!!! gotta love macs). So I get to write when I have a break at the TaeKwonDo school. KuGar is off to its own adventure this Sunday as we travel to Austin for National Championships and Junior Olympics. We are taking 5 people to fight and the tournament lasts all week! Jesse and I are excited to see my bro, sis-in-law and our beautiful Goddaughter, Mini Roxy!! I will give you an update at the end of each of the tournament days. Life is good in Laredo, hot...but good. It will be nice when we get to wake up a bit later next week.

In other news, KuGar had its third belt test this past Saturday. It went wonderfully! we had fewer people testing this time around because all of our green belts and up were not eligible to test until September. It only took about an hour and a half, so that was a nice change. That afternoon we had Larry and Erica's wedding to attend! Talk about a looong day. The ceremony was very nice and Jesse and I danced the night away at the reception. We wish them the best as they embark in the adventure of a lifetime. Well until next time!!! Ciao from the Kuhns!

Last published in February

Its has been a long time since I posted, February to be exact and there have been many changes in the Kuhns residence. First of all, Jesse tested in Vegas and we got word that he received his 4th Dan from Kukkiwon. Although he applied for 5th, we were informed that all applicants who passed were given a Dan less than they applied for. Most did not pass, so I am fortunate and very proud of Master Jesse. What this means is that he is now able to provide Kukkiwon (Korean) certification to any person who passes our black belt test.





I tried to upload a video, but wasn't successful, maybe later.

Here is a snapshot of his test. 300 tested, about 20% passed. Congrats Jesse! You made us all proud!

Spring Break came, and Jesse and I decided to take a camping break at good ol' Casa Blanca Lake. It was quiet, nice, and I got to eat sm'ores.

Then came the KuGar Lock In where we keep kids at the TKD school all night long. It went great as it did last time. However, it took all that we had to stay awake. Some of the kids didn't make it though...





Then Easter came, and we had a blast at Tia Lucha's house. I have never seen my mom laugh so hard, or in so much pain. Yup, after a day of fun, she fell and broke her right arm, and left wrist. Poor baby. She is recovering now.



We then moved into our home, Pictures will come later. The house is almost finished, we need to paint one bathroom and our doors, everything is great!

Austin National Qualifiers came, and the Kuhns Klan went to Austin. Thankfully we got to see our God daughter for a little while we were there.


We had 4 competitors, and 5 medals!!! We have one student missing from the picture, but they did great. If you You Tube Search Lauro Lopez, you can see his fight, which ended with a knockout.




We have been living at our new home for about 3 weeks, and everything is going great. We have a lot of space and not too many things to place in it. We will get there soon enough. You will eventually get some pictures.

I haven't been able to practice in a couple of weeks due to extreme shin pain. I finally caved in and got myself checked. Well, my little shin splints turned into the beginning of stress fractures in my right shin, and my left isn't too far behind. Prognosis? We'll see. I have another X-Ray planned in three weeks. If there is no change or worse change, he mentioned some kind of bone or CT scan, whatever that means. Until then, no exercise, no stairs, no walking for exercise, no heels, arch support inserts in tennis shoes, and definitely, no kicking. Jesse and I knew the pain was pretty severe to be just shin splints, at least we have some sort of treatment.

Until the next time... Love from the Kuhns!

And we're off!

Well I am off to Vegas, baby! I am meeting my hubby who has been there since today. It turns out Jesse was approved by the Korean board (Kukkiwon) to test for his 5th Dan (Degree) Black Belt. The test is actually on Sunday but he had to register today and has to attend a Seminar Friday and Saturday. So of course we make a weekend out of it. Thats the update on the Kuhns.

I have to say that I miss my husband a whole lot. I realize that throughout my busy life, just the knowing that he is there is very peaceful and reassuring. WHen he's not a car drive away, my heart is restless. All marriages have their ups and downs. And it really feels like a never ending roller coaster. Some drops are scary, but you got to raise your hand to make it worthwhile. The climbs back up are slow, but once you pick up speed, they are very fun. Well, Jesse and I saw a movie together named Fireproof. It stars Kurt Cameron (Mike Seaver from Growing Pains) and it is about a marriage. Its about choices. I have to admit that the acting is not really Oscar worthy, although some of the characters are very funny. But the message is striking. Jesse and I measure the worth of a movie if it lingers in your head days after. If it is forgettable, its not very good. If it makes you think for a couple days after you've seen it, its pretty good. Well its been over two weeks, and I still think about it almost daily. Jesse and I talk about it pretty often. And its made us a better couple. Must be one heck of a movie, huh? Jesse and I often talk about friends of ours who are thinking about or getting close to engagement or marriage. Not that we are veterans by any means, but its almost as if those who are married are on P-staff, and they know something those who aren't don't. One of those things is the first topic in our Pre Cana class. Love is a choice. I can choose to tell Jesse that I can't stand when he does X or I can choose to smile, and turn my head the other way when he does it. I can choose to tell him something he did wrong or I can choose to either fix it for him or when not possible, admit to myself that I too make mistakes. Its all about choices. Well, its a great movie, but be sure to take the kleenex box with you. On another note, if you did enjoy it, be sure to look at all the special features of the dvd. They are great!!! Some are some crazy facts such as all of the actors were church volunteers! Crazy huh? Anywho. Go rent it, tell me what you think.

Did I mention that I miss my Jesse? :(

Hey Obama, Can I Live?

Nick Cannon, a prominent actor/rapper and Mariah Carey's husband has something to say...

Have you heard?

We have had 15 new members this month and January is not even over!!! The best part? Two of the parents that sign up their multiple kids responded that they heard from someone that goes to a different school that they heard that this school was great and they can't get out of their contract to switch over. Another parent told me that their coworker heard that this as the best school in town.

Way to go KuGar!

new tile, Installing a pool, new furniture, and hollywood

Howdy! Its only two weeks into the year and so much has been going on. First off, the tile is finished and here are some pics.




So there is a new tile, and as some of you heard, we decided to install a pool. Inside the house. Okay maybe we didn't decide to install a pool, but a rubber hose in our bathroom sprung a leak and proceeded to leak water covering about half of our house. Thankfully, we had nothing in the house and the water damage specialists made it in from Alice in about 2 hours. They got the water out and the following day, the whole place (including walls) were dry. We are waiting on the damage to our wallets. About three days before the leak, Jesse and I decided to get new furniture. We ended up getting a really nice set from Ashley, including the coffee table, and two end tables.




Lastly, I wanted to share a new blog of sorts that I read almost daily. Its called Big Hollywood and its put out by Breitbart.com. Big Hollywood is an outlet for conservative, writers, producers, and actors who are the minorities in their profession. As in all blogs, there are good ones, and there are bad ones. What I like about it is that it gives me hope that there are people out there in Hollywood who are trying to get their word out. People who are hoping we can turn it around. Or at least admit that there is a problem. Check it out.

Until next time :)