Preparation equals performance...

The last few days leading to a tournament are always filled with intensity, emotion, and visualization.

With the US Capitol Classics right around the corner, I've been preparing myself mentally and physically for it. It is the first time that I will complete in the Black Belt divisions at a weight that tends to be very competitive and full of talent.

I have been told that the US Capitol Classics Black Belt divisions are made up of some of the best martial artists on the East Coast. Some of these guys go on to be stunt doubles, movie stars, etc. A popular aspect of this tournament is the XMA (X-treme Martial Arts) portion with all the high-flying flips, tumbles and twists. However, my area of focus is the traditional aspect. The forms that are not created by oneself, but rather handed down from generation to generation. Forms that were developed by Grand-masters and studied by many students after him.

That is my passion and focus and my goal to is win my division and become a Black Belt NASKA Champion.

To get there, I have been going over my forms over and over, in my head and on the mat.

Last night was no different. With the power outage, we had to cancel classes, which was cool because I got a chance to get some alone time with my instructors Sa Bom Nim Muhib and Sa Bom Nim Jamal.

One of the best parts about last night's training was the Budokon. We were taught the first kata in Budokon and it was totally amazing.

To me, it was a combination of yoga, traditional karate, and grappling movement, which makes it all the more fun to do.

Here is the form we learned so you can see what I'm talking about.



After doing the form for warm up, I went over the forms I intend to do on Saturday. The wonderful thing about instructors is that don't hesitate to make corrections. It's funny, the more you think you know, the less you really know. That is what becoming a Black Belt is teaching me.

A lot of little details were explained to me, why we do this, why we move this way, and so on and so forth. It's amazing to begin to understand the meaning behind the movements and its history.

After that, I got to roll a bit with my brother who's visiting from Jersey. Grappling with him is always fun. I get to see what he's learning from his instructor and practice the techniques that I am learning down here. I have to admit he is getting better and better every time I roll with him. I am sure that soon enough, he will be making me tap left and right.

We plan on having another session like this one tomorrow keeping in mind that preparation equals performance.

US Capitol Classics here I come!

Just registered for the biggest tournament in DC, the US Capitol Classics.

I signed up for the China Open, BJJ, as well as the Traditional Karate. This will be my first time competing as a Black Belt and I am looking forward to the challenge.

Can't wait, it's only 7 days away!

I love my belt!

Although I took my 1st Degree Black Belt Test of over a month ago, it was just today that I was officially awarded my belt. I saw Sa Bom Nim, Muhib walking onto the mat with a little white box and I said to myself, "I think that's it!", lo' and behold it was!

It was a great feeling having it put on my waist! I feel like a little kid getting the gift he always wanted! Great feeling! I can't express how happy I am wal-hamdulillah.

The right side of the picture says Aqabah Karate and the left side says Hernan Guadalupe in Korean!

Congratulations to the new graduates!

Belt promotion day is always a great day. You get this awesome feeling when you see your students who have worked hard finally reaching a new plateau in their training.

With that said, earlier this week we had some of our young boys and girls get promoted and I wanted to personally congratulate every single one of them. All of them make teaching fun and exciting!

So congratulations to:

Hafsa Ghori
Maryam Muhib
Ramlah Amsa
Rawan El Habashy
Reem Saleh
Tasneem Odeh
Soha Mustafa
Eiman Imran
Marwa Mansour
Rahaf El Habashy
Renad El-Habashy
Sayeemah Ahmed
Sumayyah Ghori
Tasneem Mansour
Nadia Ali

Abdurrahman Barrie
Abdussamad Faris
Hamza Muhib
Muhammad Mavins
Rafi Sagore
Suhaib Ghori
Zakariah Jaweed
Areeb Karim
Omar Ali
Siraj Khan
Yusuf Abdullah

Keep up the hard work!