Day 9 of training Pauline

So it's a new week of training. Todays monday and we will train with master vargas and Sir Don at the central gym around 10am. We trained for about an hour to an hour and half. We worked on speed drills with master vargas and strength and conditioning with Sir don. It was pretty tiring but Ryan and I finished till the end. After training we head to the DSWD to fix things we need for Korea. After doing that we head back to the hotel and get ready for training. We trained with the junior national team and It was a good workout. We did very basic kicks but with different approaches. We also did some stamina drills. We had to give our 100% effort! All in all everything was great ! Thanks again to everyone that helped us get this far!

Thursday training Ryan

Long Day: yes

Good Training: yes

In the morning, we woke up at 5:00am to train with FEU-FERN. The tkd school is great and very strong. The training was great. The hole training was mostly sparring, witch was just what I needed. After we had brunch at a Korean place. Then once we were done we slept. At 6:00pm we had another training with the national team. I spared one of the junior team members. I beat him 11 to 12. After training we had dinner and went to bed.

Day 6 Competition Day Pauline

Today's the big day! We woke up at around 6:30 and had a good breakfast trying to relax and calm myself. Then we head to the venue, Mall of Asia. Not a lot of people were there yet but Ryan and I wait until the opening ceremony. We bow to all our seniors and of course to Mr. Hong. When the opening ceremony started they introduced the seniors and everyone to the players. After the opening ceremony, the national demonstration team performed. It was amazing! They did poomsae, board breaking, self defense, and weapons. They did all kinds of things and all were done with precision! After the demo, the volunteers, referees, and judges set up everything. Ryan and I warm up. My fight will come up soon so I try to break a sweat and warm up so I don't fight cold. My first fight is always stiff but I tough myself out and fight! The score was 6-1. So now I wait and get ready for my next fight. I wait for about an hour and half, and then I fight again. My second match, my opponent was a little shorter than me. I won. The score was 9-2. Then I wait again and while I wait for my next fight, I take a quick bite. Then my fight was up. We sparred for one round because she said she couldn't fight anymore. The score was 6-0. After the semi-final match, they do a demo before all the final matches. I was trying to move around just to keep my body active. Then my final match was up. They change the time to 2 min per round. It was a good match. My first hit was a head kick, three points and we kept going. The second match I had to strategize and keep my points. At the end of the match I won!! 8-2. I felt so happy! This is what I trained for! I realize hard work really does pay off!

Then we get our medals and the gold medal winners get internet service from Smart. After that they announce the best player award for men and women in each division. While they were announcing the junior's best player award for women, they called out my name! I was so happy! The best player gets a phone. I got my self a new phone! (: Then by the end of the day I stop and think about all the people that was there for me 100% and I take my time to thank all of them!

Day 6, 7, 8, 9 Ryan

Day 6 was the tournament day. We woke up at around 6:30. Every kid at the tournament was great. The little kids' speed and technique remind me of Jordan, Nick A, and Luigi, their power and intensity remind me of Katie and Rachel, and their kick selections remind me of Alex. I did great but it wasn't enough to beat those filipinos. I tried my best and that is all I could do and I am proud of myself. The one mistake I made during the tournament was that I used my cut kick against a tall opponent. In the end the score was 3 to 5. The day was a long one. Once the tournament was over, Paulines relatives picked us up and we went Red Mango, a Frozen Yogurt shop, I had original flavor with mangos and peaches on it. I was refreshing!! After we went back to Paulines relatives' house to spend the night over. After a long day I hit the hay and crashed out. The next day we went to Green hill to shop. There were so many cheap stuff there. Then we headed over to Trinoma to shop some more and then on our way home we went to some chicken and rice for dinner. The chicken was so good!! The next day, we took the subway with Paulines relatives to train with Mr.Vargas, and Sir. Don. After we ate at Mang Inasal. I ate a Philipino burger and chicken inasal. Once we were done we trained again at the headquarters. Once we were done we ate filipino food and conked out on the bed. I would like to thank everyone who helped me train for this competition. I couldn't of done it without you.

Day 5 of Training Pauline

Today Mr. Vargas said we will only have an afternoon training because tomorrow is the competition. So we started our day with a Filipino breakfast, rice and meat. It was delicious! Then we went back to our room and got ready for training. Training wasn't that hard but we still kicked with intensity. Then when training was done we had lunch with Mr. Vargas's coach back then, Mr. Kim from Davao. We had delicious food. We had shrimp, beef, veggies, and rice. We needed to eat carbs so we can be strong the next day. After eating breakfast we head to the Mall of Asia, the second biggest mall in Asia. The tournament was going to be held there so we decided to check the venue out and also look around. That mall was HUGE! It was nice! After walking around in circles, we got lost. But we found our way again. Well in order for us to be up, we get some Starbucks. We saw a band playing and Ryan was fascinated. After seeing the Mall of Asia we head back to the gym while Mr. Vargas talks with Mr. Hong, Ryan and I watched the team training. We also take videos of their training. After doing that we head to the hotel real quick then have dinner at Carlo's Pizza. We ate pasta and pizza so we can can be strong for the next day. Then when dinner was done we go back to our room and get ready to go to bed so we can have a good rest and stay strong for tomorrow.

Day 5 of training Ryan

Since friday was the last day of training before the competition, Mr.Vargas let us take a break by having only one training. Even though the training was light, the intensity was still at its best. We started off our day by eating a filipino dish that consisted of sweet meat, rice, and eggs sunny side up. After a healthy breakfast, we did our only training of the day with Mr.Vargas. After an intense training, we ate with Mr.Kim from Davao. The food was delicious!! To cook the food, we dipped it into steaming soup. After we went to the mall of asia to check out where the competition would be held. We went to Starrbucks and I had a mango passion fruit shake. After that we saw a band play. Then, we went back to the headquarters to watch the national team train. Then we ate at Carlos Pizza to get a lot of carbs for the tournament the next day. Then we went to bed earl because we knew we had a long day ahead of us.

Day 4 of training Pauline

Today our training wasn't that hard but it's still intense.

We started off waking up eating breakfast. Then after that we get some rest.

Then we wake up for noon training with Mr. Vargas. It lasted for about an hour to an hour and thirty minutes. We reviewed basic kicks and after we did ten combination kicks for ten sets. It was somehow tiring, but we finished all the way through! Training these last two days will be relaxed and a feel good training since the competition is on Saturday. After training we went to eat at Dencio's. Food there is amazing! We ate filipino food and of course Ryan loved it!

After eating we head back to the hotel. My family came and visited me for awhile. They said they were proud of me for all of my accomplishments and what I'm going to accomplish in the future.

After talking with my family, I say goodbye to them and head into the room and take a quick cat nap. I was resting for our late afternoon training.

Then we go to the Central Gym and train with the sparring team.

First we studied sparred and after we did some going back and forth exercises. After those exercises we did paddle drills. The paddle drills were not that hard but it was a bit tiring and I learned different approaches with some kicks.

After we did paddle drills, we used the shields. We had to kick with full speed and power with some of the most basic kicks. After doing shield drills training was done.

Today's training was a good one and at the end I was sweating like crazy, like literally I was dripping of sweat and it was super hot!

After training with them we had dinner with Sir Ronny who is Mr. Vargas's Student before. He is an immigration officer and he was the one who helped us get through immigration fast!

Again, we ate different kinds filipino food which was awesome!

By the end of the day we felt good because we know we trained hard!

Day 4 of training Ryan

Todays sparring training wasn't too hard, because we still have the tournament on saturday, but it still made us sweat like crazy.

This is how our day unraveled.

First we woke up and had a healthy breakfast. Then we took a brief nap before our training with Mr.Vargas. All of our training's from now until the tournament are going to be more relaxed, but still have the same intensity. After that training, we ate at Dencio's. The food there is phenomenal!! I LOVE FILIPINO FOOD!!! After lunch, we took another nap before we went back to the central gym to have our sparring training. Like what I said before, todays sparring training wasn't too hard, because we still have the tournament on saturday, but it still made us sweat like crazy. Even though the training was still relaxed, I still learned a lot. We learned different approaches then following it up with a kick. Overall our training is great and I'm trying to take in as much as I can. Once training was over, we had diner with Mr.Vargas's former student who is now an immigration officer who helped us get quickly though immigration. (He was a big help) We ate at Ranch Inasal. (A chicken grill right across from the hospital that they own.) I had chicken inasal, pancit, sisig, and a lot of other great food. Overall, today was a great one with many adventures. I learned a lot today and can't wait for tomorrow.

Day 3 of training Pauline

Training today was not that hard but even if it's a feel good training it's still intense.

We started off waking up eating breakfast. After, we go back up to our room and go back to sleep and get some more rest. Around 11 we wake up and get ready for our noontime training with Mr. Vargas and Sir Don. First we studied sparred with each other and after we worked with Sir Don with conditioning and other exercises I'd never done before. Then we worked on some kicks. We still worked on kicks we learned on Monday, the different approaches with an axe kick, front leg round house, and out-in kick, those are the kicks we worked on. After training we went to GreenBelt and ate at Chicken Bocolod. Food there was super duper good! Well I was already familiar with this kind of food. But Ryan of course enjoyed it! After having Lunch we walked around different areas of this place. It was a nice mall and it had an outdoor church which was different and I don't see that a lot in the US. Then we head back to the hotel and rest for an hour. Then time for training! While I'm training with sparring national team, Ryan trains with the poomsae national team! Today training was fun! First we studied sparred with each other. After we played paddle hockey. It was just to have us be relaxed since some are fighting on saturday and some are leaving for Korea on Monday. We played for a couple of minutes. Even if we were just playing, I was sweating like crazy! It was SO hot! After that we ended our training with some relaxed basic kicks and that's how my day went. (:

Day 3 of training Ryan

From the sparring training, to the poomsae training, I was sweating like I had never sweat before!!

We started off our day by eating some breakfast. The breakfast at the hotel is great, I have been ordering the same thing since I have been here: Scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. Once we had a hardy breakfast, we took a quick cat nap before our afternoon sparring training with Mr.Vargas and Sir Don. Sir Don handled half of the workout witch consisted of conditioning and strengthening. (Most of the exercises were new to me.) After that half of the training, I was sweating like crazy, but we still had another half of training left witch was with Mr.Vargas and was mainly on techniques. Once we finished our training we went to Green belt and ate at Chicken Bocolod. The chicken there was the best chicken I have ever had in my life. After we ate, we walked around Green Belt. And again we went back to the hotel and took another nap. Then while Pauline did the Sparring training, I trained with the Poomsae national team!! What a work out!!! The training was amazing. I had a great time. After I was done with training I was drenched. I made friends with the national team members and the world champions.(Some even got my email) Once training was over we ate at Dencio's with some of the national team coaches. Today I saw how the national team members and the world champions train for poomsae. Today was exhilarating and I learned a lot. For my next blog I will try to upload pictures of us.

Day 2 of training Pauline

Wow! This is how I spend my birthday (:

From training to sparring evaluation to having dinner with my family, all in all it was a good and tough day. I learned a lot. During the afternoon I started off training with Master Vargas while Ryan trains with Mr. Vargas's junior, Mr. Don. Master Vargas and I reviewed the things we worked on from Monday night's training. We also worked on situation drills and lajust techniques. We also did pyramid combination kicks from 6-10 and reverse 10-6. While working out with Master Vargas, I was totally dripping buckets of sweat, even when we were just stretching!

After that we had lunch at Max's Fried Chicken. Even though I can't eat that much, it was still good. I have to maintain my weight for the competition. After eating lunch we came back and rested for a couple of hours. After resting it's time to get ready and head back to the central gym for my sparring evaluation. They started off with poomsae first and I can honestly say they were some of the best people I see do poomsae. Then after I warmed up on my own and sparred. I sparred with three juniors continuously. It was tiring. But then I had fun sparring with them. I also sparred with 2 seniors. One had very powerful kicks and the other one was tall. I learned that even though you think you have a good enough stamina, conditioning is important. During my fights I was getting tired but that didn't stop me. I just hung in there and kept going and I tried to do my best. I also met Mr. Vargas's instructor, Mr. Hong. At the end of the training, the coaches have a meeting and talk about how everyone performed. After that I had dinner with my family. It was nice. I brought Ryan with me and he also had fun. When we went back to the hotel, I received some great and overwhelming news. Mr. Hong talked to Mr. Vargas about me going to Korea and fighting for the Philippines. I was so overwhelmed! I was oh so happy! Wow what a birthday gift for me! (; All in all that was my day. Now getting ready for the next day!

Day 2 of training Ryan

What a day!! From the training, to the national team evaluation, to Pauline's birthday, our day was packed!! I started my day off with waking up and eating some breakfast. I was so tired that after I ate, I went straight to bed again. Then we trained in the afternoon; Pauline trained with Mr.Vargas and I trained with Mr.Vargas's junior, Mr. Don. His conditioning training was phenomenal!! The training was exhausting but great. :) I was sweating like I have never sweat before! Once we finished our training, we ate at Max's Fried Chicken. It was great! After I met GG's younger sister, we left to go back to the hotel and slept again. We woke up and left just in time to watch the national team Poomsae and Sparring evaluation. There poomsae was amazing!! I have never seen anyone do better poomsae than them, and I mean it. It looked like every movement was exactly perfect. When I watched the sparring portion of the evaluation, the intensity of the players showed the difference between the best and the average players. Every kick they used was like it was their last. After the evaluation, I met Mr.Vargas's juniors and seniors. Then we went out to celebrate Pauline's birthday. After I ate a ton, I conked out and went to bed.

Day 1 of training

Wow!! what a work out! We survived day 1 of training. And we know we wouldn't have gotten to the philippines without the help of all our teammates, friends, family, and all the fund raisers. Since we were jet lag, Mr.Vargas let us sleep in and rest. We got breakfast in theh hotel room and while we were eating we were watching the youth olympic games on tv about tkd. Then we took a quick cat nap right before we trained with Mr.Vargas. We trained for just 1 hour, but we were sweating like it was a 3 hour training. After that, we rested. Then we had 1 more training. The head Korean coach was a great coach. We did many kicking drills, all of which was familiar to us. It was very hot and humid. We were sweating like crazy. That night we noticed that Mr.Vargas was way nicer to us than the korean or filipino coach. We met some very nice athletes during the training. Training lasted 3 hours. After the hard but fun training we went out to eat and hit the hay!! What we learned from that day was that other korean and filipino coaches are much stricter than Mr.Vargas, but thats because they care about their fighters. Their training was nothing new to us but it had a different approach and full of intensity. That's something we will bring with us when we go back. It just makes a big difference. Well tomorrow's a new day with much more to learn.

- Ryan and Pauline

aug. 13th...Tucker is packed and ready to go!!

Hello Quest, friends, and family!!

Mom is finally starting to mellow out! Almost forgot to print my ticket...that would not be a good thing. Passport check, ticket check, money check....hummmm.

Just wanted to say thank you to everybody who helped me get to this point. From my
training partners, Team Quest, to all my private tkd kids, and fundraisers!!! It would not
have been possible without it being a "Team" effort.

I am really excited about traveling to the Philippines to train. It is a wish come true. I
will try to do my best, represent Quest in an honorable way, eat good food, and have
some fun with my extended family.

Next time i talk I will be in the Manila.!!!

TUCKER-aug 11

Looking forward to Chinese food tonight!!! 3hrs. of training and I am hungry!!
I love my mom!! Hope to see everybody, come get some cake!!