Michelle Khare's 90 Days From White Belt to a Black Belt Test in Taekwondo
Michelle Khare
According to the video, the average student takes three to five years to earn a black belt in Taekwondo. Michelle Khare wanted to find out whether the right student, working with the right master, could go from white belt to a black belt test in 90 days. She says nobody has done it that fast. The video follows her through about a dozen belt tests, one outright failure, sparring sessions against an Olympic champion and world champions, and a final test judged by a panel of martial arts veterans. Along the way her idea of what the challenge was for changed considerably.
Finding a Master Who Doesn't Give Belts Away
Khare's coach is Master Simon Rhee. She describes him as an 80s action hero who starred with his brother Phillip in the Best of the Best martial arts films and who appeared on the cover of Black Belt magazine. Rhee is clear from the start that he isn't a soft grader. He says he has flunked his own sons and his assistant instructors, and that he does not give out his belts. He admits he laughed when Khare first called, because no one had earned a black belt in so short a time. Her earlier boxing video, in which she broke her nose and still won the fight, persuaded him to take her on.
In the first session Rhee tested three things. He wanted to see how well she listened, how strong she was through push-ups and sit-ups, and how coordinated she was. He also set out a distinction that runs through the rest of the film. Boxing taught her effectiveness and power. Taekwondo also requires that a punch look right. Rhee talks about the "lines" of the human body: a straight wrist on a punch is beautiful, and a bent one "breaks that beauty line." He says martial art means military art, but like yin and yang, Khare would have to look strong and effortless at the same time.
He also worked on her kihap, the shout that goes with a strike. Rhee told her it was "cute" and that he didn't want cute. He wanted it strong because it carries internal power, and he had her get angry and try to scare him with her yell. At the end of the session he told her she would have to perform everything by Friday. When she asked how long most students stay at white belt before testing for yellow, the answer was three months. She had four days.
Operation Black Belt: A Test Almost Every Week
Rhee's school has 13 belts, each earned through its own test. White represents a blank slate and black represents expertise. To reach a black belt test by day 90, Khare would need to test almost every week. The schedule changed almost at once. Rhee proposed a double test the following Friday: white to yellow first, and if she passed, yellow to purple straight after. The plan set the yellow and purple tests for day 10 and the orange and blue tests for day 20. The black belt test, if she got that far, would include sparring three black belts at once and breaking a brick with her bare hand.
Peter Iacangelo, a fourth-degree black belt who has studied with Master Rhee for 41 years, became another of her teachers. His first reaction was uncertain: "I don't know if this could be done. I don't know if it should be done." Khare stresses that nobody involved knew whether it was possible. She trained six days a week on kicks, punches, self-defense techniques, and some Korean.
She was most excited about forms, the choreographed sequences seen in martial arts films and competitions. She explains that forms historically preserved techniques across generations and also teach focus, precision, and discipline. Most forms run 20 to 30 steps, and each step is based on a fighting technique, as if fighting an imaginary opponent with perfect rhythm. The form for her purple belt test, Basic Form Number One, had 20 steps. Iacangelo corrected her habit of stepping and blocking at the same time, which he said kills the "snap." In his words, snap is what makes the form look good. He also explained the scoring: each mistake costs half a point, losing one point is still a passing grade, but he wanted her to pass without any mistakes.
The First Double Test
Rhee makes testing intimidating on purpose. Students walk in to find a panel of black belts with clipboards, and he says the point is for them to overcome their fear of testing. Khare's white-to-yellow test covered horse-stance punches, blocks, front-leg roundhouse and side kicks, and a recitation of the student creed. She made no mistakes and earned her yellow belt.
Before the purple test, Rhee's brother Phillip arrived to watch. Phillip asked why she wanted to do this. Khare said she believed she had a lot to learn from martial arts, that she was curious about the dedication it requires, and that she was excited to find out what she didn't yet know. Master Rhee called it a challenge for himself as well: "if she looks good I look good, she doesn't look good I don't look good."
She lost half a point on her reverse punch and another half point for giving a walking stance when a front stance was called. Rhee said that meant she hadn't listened correctly. Her total of minus one was a passing grade, so she earned her purple belt, but Rhee told her he wanted a perfect score next time. His main note was that she had good energy but needed to be effortless, because higher ranks require it. The Rhee brothers' verdict was that she had done well for so short a time and had good focus.
Breaking a Board, and Doubts From Outside
Khare looked forward to her first board break as a milestone. She explains that breaking shows the power and effectiveness of a strike, much like a cutting demonstration shows the sharpness of a blade, and that it has come to stand for overcoming physical and mental barriers. The blue belt test required breaking a board with her fist. She noted that the real boards were much thicker than "what you see on Instagram."
Training started on reusable plastic boards, which her instructor called training wheels. The technique was a back stance, then pivoting the hip and shoulders and driving through the board rather than stopping at it. Her first attempt missed because she was leaning too far forward. After being told to aim in a straight line toward the ground, she broke the plastic board. Her hand was sore, but she chose to try a real board too, since it might be her only chance before the test. She broke it.
Doubters showed up online. When she posted about the challenge, some black belts commented that a black belt takes ten years at their school and called it impossible. Before her orange belt test she asked the instructors whether it was okay to wear a purple belt while moving at this pace, and whether she would look like a black belt to someone watching. The instructors said her kicking and punching matched the level she was at. They also said they were testing how good they were as teachers, and that they wouldn't have taken on the challenge if they hadn't thought she was the exception to the rule. Whether she would look like a blue belt in a couple of days, they said, they didn't know.
She took the orange and blue tests back to back. The blue test brought new kicks (the instructors still saw some hesitation in her back kicks), a new form in a different style, and the condition that failing the board break meant repeating the whole test. She broke it and earned her blue belt. Training for the next test began right away. The blue stripe test, her first advanced test, required breaking a board with a sliding side kick, and she passed. Someone watching remarked that with four weeks of experience she was better than they had been at four weeks. Master Rhee said that when he had posted about his hardest-working new student, someone replied, "90 days black belt, come on." He admitted his own first reaction had been the same, before he knew what kind of person she was.
Failing the Green Belt Test
The green belt test was where the plan broke down. Khare said the volume of material made her brain feel like it was exploding, as if she were cramming for a science test. Rhee replied that this was only green belt and to wait until red, and then black. She also had to keep every earlier form memorized, because the black belt test would call on all of them. Her period started unexpectedly during warm-ups and ruined her dobok. Rhee told her "it's life," and she joked that this was the blood, sweat, and tears he had promised.
During the test itself she confused which forms were being called, used the wrong leg, and kept making errors. Rhee noted she had already reached the three mistakes that would fail a test, and she ended at minus five. He stopped the test before sparring and breaking because she had already failed, and told her to study.
Rhee says he has taught many students who blame their failure on something or someone else. Khare didn't, and that was when he knew she wasn't taking the challenge lightly. Her own assessment was that the worst part of failing was wasting everyone's time. She had been taught the material and hadn't done everything she could to memorize and own it. Her response was to put in serious hours outside the gym. She committed to arriving 30 minutes early to every lesson and practicing forms in the parking lot, and she compared it to studying for the AP Calculus exam. She set a phone alarm to go off 15 times a day at random times, and each time it went off she ran a practice test of all her material. She also booked the venue for the final black belt test, the Korean Friendship Bell, so that whatever level she had reached on day 90, she would test there.
Sparring an Olympic Gold Medalist
Khare saw sparring as her weakest area and an important part of the green belt test. She found out quickly that boxing habits don't transfer neatly. A jab scores in boxing but not in Taekwondo; a backfist to the face does. To improve, she invited Anastasija Zolotic, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and the first American woman to win Olympic gold in Taekwondo, who she notes is about a foot taller than her.
The session was humbling. Zolotic scored point after point. Khare said she had expected her boxing experience to be a big asset, but Taekwondo sparring feels completely different once the entire lower body becomes a weapon. She kept falling back on her hands and getting kicked in the head. Zolotic told her she was fighting her opponent's fight, waiting for the other person to move and staying very defensive. She taught her what she called a "cancel," a defensive version of a hook kick that brushes an incoming kick aside "like it means absolutely nothing." Zolotic said she uses it 95% of the time when she's being attacked and called it a lifesaver for defensive fighters.
Zolotic described Taekwondo as a form of expression. In her view, understanding details like this is what separates someone who wants a black belt from someone trying to learn the sport. She said her first reaction to the 90-day plan had been to wonder how it could be done, but hearing about the hours Khare was putting in and her effort to understand the sport rather than just make a YouTube video earned her respect.
The session also helped Khare with something personal. She said that although her boxing episode ended on a high note, she needed four months to recover from the broken nose and had black eyes for six weeks. She struggled with that and found herself questioning the consequences of taking on these challenges. Sparring with Zolotic let her face that fear again. Zolotic said Taekwondo was her therapy and that she had turned her hurt and pain into motivation.
Yin, Yang, and Passing on the Retest
Khare connects this period to yin and yang, a concept Master Rhee had explained: the moon is yin and the sun is yang, night is yin and day is yang, and a martial artist tries to balance the two. Khare describes yang as the rigid, disciplined approach and yin as flow, softness, and expression. She had expected an Olympic champion to be all yang, and was surprised to find Zolotic's approach leaned toward yin.
She concluded that her own approach had been pure yang, muscling through everything. It worked for the first few belts, but the green belt failure showed her it wasn't enough. For her, yin happened outside the gym: sitting in a silent room reviewing notes instead of watching Netflix, closing her eyes for 30 minutes to picture each technique done correctly, and walking through her forms at half speed until every movement was "in my bones." She says yin also means knowing the material well enough that it flows without effort.
She passed the green belt retest without freezing on anything. Rhee told her she had earned it. He warned that the next test would contain less new material but more advanced material, and would test her cardio hard. One of the instructors told her they had failed their own black belt test once, felt they had let everyone down, and came back determined to make no mistakes. They said failing makes you a better martial artist, because if you win all the time you never learn.
Why a Black Belt Matters to Her
One of her instructors asked how much of this was about a trophy, noting that people do martial arts for many reasons and all of them are valid. Khare answered that if she didn't deserve the black belt, she would rather wear a white belt the whole time and simply have the chance to train with Master Rhee.
She also revealed a motivation she hadn't yet told Rhee. A few years earlier, a father had emailed her. He had planned to enroll his daughter in dance, but she wanted a martial art, and after watching Khare's channel he felt inspired to put her in martial arts. Khare says martial arts can give people a feeling of being a hero, a sense of confidence and spirit that many never get to experience. She then passed the green stripe and green double stripe tests. Rhee called the stripe a "simple piece of tape" with a lot of meaning behind it.
Group Classes
Rhee next suggested she join his group classes. She was nervous. Before this challenge she had tried a few martial arts classes on her own and stopped because she found them intimidating. Here she met students with many years of training, one of them in their 12th year, and was inspired watching black belts perform forms in unison, breathing and hitting each mark together. Rhee explained that many forms are meant for group performance and should move the people watching, which is why he emphasizes them. Her new difficulty was keeping her timing in sync with others, and mistakes cost five push-ups.
Khare says she usually tackles challenges alone, and the class made her feel part of something larger, working with students who had the same struggles. She met two red belts, Alexya Garcia and Darielle Williams, and also watched a white belt learning the basics. She described it as seeing the ghosts of Taekwondo past, present, and future. When she learned they were testing for red single stripe soon, she set a new goal of passing her red belt test in time to join them. She said she feels better testing with other people around, because she isn't suffering and scared alone.
The Red Belt Test and the Question of Ownership
Red belt marks the start of advanced material, and Rhee brought in a heavyweight panel: Fariborz Azhakh, founder of Team Karate Centers, and Benny Urquidez, "Benny the Jet," an undefeated kickboxer known for his fight with Jackie Chan on film. Khare lost half a point on a back kick that was still crooked after Rhee had asked her to fix it. For this test she had to design her own self-defense sequence, judged on practicality and performance. She walked through it: knife-hand blocks against two hooks, an under punch, a knee as the attacker grabs her neck, a monkey roll to the ground, punches, and an arm bar to finish.
She then sparred Garcia and Williams two-on-one. Urquidez wanted more than memorized technique. He said memorizing a technique, knowing it, and owning it are three different things, and he wanted to see ownership under pressure. He had people come at her unexpectedly from the front and behind, grabbing her, until he said stop. He told her he was there to see her hunger and how much she wanted it, and that a black belt "is not a given right, it's an earned right."
Afterward Urquidez praised her courage and said, "we're human beings, we're not human doings." His wish was for her not just to get a black belt but to be one. One of the red belts said martial arts is very spiritual and that you learn about yourself through each belt and each mental hiccup. She hoped Khare would grow spiritually in the art. Khare scored minus one and passed. Even so, she said that although red feels only a few steps from black, she had a lot of work left inside red belt and wanted to fight for every step.
The Brick, and a Question About What She Missed
About a month before the scheduled black belt test, she started training for the brick break: an ordinary three-inch red brick from a hardware store. Small mistakes in the strike can break the hand, so she conditioned her hand with 50 strikes in a row to the same spot on training boards. Iacangelo said he had to break three bricks for his third degree and four for his fourth degree about a year and a half earlier, and that it takes a strong will to overcome the fear. Khare reasoned that since force equals mass times acceleration and she is, in her words, a relatively tiny woman with little mass, speed would have to make up the difference. Iacangelo noticed that she stopped partway through the strike instead of putting her whole body weight behind it. With about three weeks left, she was learning black belt material ahead of time while also preparing for the red double stripe test, including nine advanced forms. Rhee said her forms had real art to them, because people feel it when they watch.
At the red stripe test, Cindy Rhee asked a pointed question. It had taken Cindy eight years to earn a first-degree black belt. Cindy respected Khare's journey but wondered whether the short timeline meant she would miss something. Khare answered that the group classes and the community there had been especially meaningful, and she was trying to embrace every moment, but she didn't think anything could make up for eight years of Saturday classes and the bonds formed there. Cindy said everyone is on their own journey and hoped she would fall in love with martial arts and keep going. Khare passed that test with no mistakes.
On day 83 she took the red double stripe test, which included sparring Thekla Hutyrova, a world champion martial artist. Failing it would have meant retaking it on day 90 instead of testing for black belt. She scored minus one and passed. The instructors then laid out the black belt test: advanced techniques, five punching defenses, two kick defenses, bear hug defenses, knife defenses, combinations from every level, a freestyle black belt combination across the mat, a three-station board break, and the brick. They expected it to take about an hour. In one session she trained for two and a half hours without covering everything.
Before the test, Rhee told her he had felt her nervousness. He said that when she first proposed testing in three months, he almost told her to find someone else, but now they were here. Of everyone he has taught over 45 to 50 years, he said, she was one of the most dedicated. His warning was not to get negative or scared, "because if you do you already lost a battle."
Day 90: The Black Belt Test
The test at the Korean Friendship Bell covered advanced techniques one through eight, punching and bear hug defenses, multi-opponent sparring, three-station board breaking, and her forms. She also read an essay on the meaning of a first-degree black belt.
In the essay she returned to the father's email. It surprised her at first because she wasn't a martial artist and hadn't felt comfortable trying it herself, even though she had always seen Taekwondo as a superpower out of her reach. She wrote that she approached this challenge the way she approaches all of them: fully committing, setting deadlines, and muscling through. That energy carried her through the first few belts, but her desire to earn belts began to get in the way. She listed the feedback: Phillip Rhee said she needed to be effortless, Benny Urquidez said her movements were too robotic and memorized, Peter Iacangelo urged her to find the expression in the art form, and Master Rhee kept reminding her she was performing an art.
She tied this to the Korean flag her class bows to, whose center symbol, um-yang, is known in Chinese as yin and yang and stands, in Taekwondo, for the balance between aggression and peace. She called yang her lifelong superpower: running into the burning building, bracing for the pepper spray, breaking her nose in front of 15,000 people. Cindy's question had made her see what she had given up by speed-running: the flow, the peace, the joy, the chance to express herself, to help teach other students, and to laugh with them. In her words, she had been "missing the art in martial arts." She ended with news from the father the week before: his daughter had earned her black belt that July at age 10. Khare wrote that whether she earned her own black belt that day or years later, she stood there on day 90 excited to truly begin.
The Brick and the Panel's Decision
The brick came last, and Khare said she was most nervous about it because she had never broken one in practice. One of the black belts, Cindy, had just broken two bricks. She had three tries, and if she didn't break it she wouldn't pass. Her instructors told her to get angry and put her whole body weight behind it. Rhee mentioned that many of his students break their hands doing this. The brick did not break.
The black belts then held an open meeting. Fariborz Azhakh argued against failing her for the one thing she hadn't done when she had done everything else, said he couldn't have done what she did, and said that to him she earned her black belt that day. Another panelist pointed out that in their school you fail if you quit, and she never quit. Others agreed they wouldn't penalize her for the brick. Cindy suggested a provisional black belt, which the school gives when someone hasn't broken. Peter Iacangelo disagreed. He said she wasn't physically ready for the brick because there hadn't been enough time to prepare her, and that she, and all of them, would feel better if she came back in a couple of weeks and broke it. James said that in her heart she is a black belt, but agreed they should hold to what is required.
Rhee gave the decision. All her testing material was excellent and she made no mistakes, but every black belt sitting there had broken their brick, and giving her the belt now wouldn't be fair to them. Her breaking technique wasn't quite right, so he would teach it better, and she would try again in a couple of weeks once her hands had fully healed.
Day 112 and Beyond
Khare reflects that she started the challenge focused on the belts themselves and missed their deeper meaning. Master Rhee helped her see that excellence isn't defined by the belt around your waist but by commitment to growth, learning, and perseverance. Cameron, the girl whose father wrote to her and now a black belt, reminded her that the core of the journey is the inner desire to keep going. If Cameron could keep pushing for her black belt, Khare says, so can she.
The video ends with the result still open. She did not earn her black belt on day 90 or on day 112, and she says she might still not have it by day 200, but that this is okay because you can always keep trying.
This video is sponsored by Dove.
Taekwondo: the way of foot and fist, the Korean martial art of unarmed self-defense.
I have always seen Taekwondo as a superpower wielded by only those who are willing to do what it takes. The average student's journey to achieving a black belt takes three to five years. But could the right student, with the right master, earn it in only 90 days?
No one has ever gotten a black belt in such a short amount of time.
For the next 90 days, under the guidance of legendary Taekwondo masters, I'm going to see how far I can progress from white belt to red belt, all the way to black belt.
I took this as a challenge for myself. I don't know if this could be done. I don't know if it should be done.
Michelle, you already failed this test.
But I feel like I've let you down.
I want to know what's inside your heart. After all this training, what have you learned inside, not outside? That's what I want.
Thank you, sir.
How bad do you want it? What are you willing to do? It's not a given right. It's a known right.
Michelle, your black belt testing begins now. Sir.
I knew if I wanted any chance at earning a black belt in Taekwondo in 90 days, I would need to be coached by the best of the best. And the best of the best is Master Simon Rhee. He is a literal '80s action hero who stars alongside his brother in the 1980s classic martial arts franchise Best of the Best. He also is on the cover of Black Belt magazine looking totally badass. This man is a legend, and I am so lucky that he said yes to working with me.
I wanted to see whether it's possible for Michelle to be able to test for black belt in such a short amount of time. I have flunked my sons. I have flunked my assistant instructors. I do not give out my belts.
So, Michelle, I want to show you what you need to know to become a black belt. Begin when you're ready. Sir.
Our human body has lines. When the punch is done correctly and the line is straight, it's pretty. But as soon as the wrist is either like that or like that, it breaks that beauty line, so it becomes ugly. What I'm going to be teaching you is an art form of self-defense. I want to know what's inside your heart. After all this training, what have you learned inside, not outside?
Hold on. What did you think? It was amazing. That was incredible. Wow, I felt it in my whole body. You just felt martial arts. You're next. Okay.
To become a good student, first thing you have to do is you have to listen well. Bring both your hands up like this. When I say one, just punch with the left hand. One. When I say two, punch with the right hand. Simple, right? Yes, sir.
First thing I wanted to see is how well she listens. High block, inside, outside, knife. Outside in. That's how. Give me inside.
Second thing is I wanted to see how strong she is by doing push-ups and sit-ups and things like that. And third thing is I wanted to see her coordination.
You're cut. Cut. Your toes are cut off. Come on, Michelle, you got to have a better reflex. What if your boxing coach sees this? He's going to be so disappointed.
When Michelle first called me, I laughed because no one has ever gotten a black belt in such a short amount of time. It was her boxing video, when she broke her nose and she still won the fight. I was like, okay.
There's a difference between martial art punches and boxing punches, and I want you to know how to do both. When you punch, you don't want to hit me here. You want to hit me in the center of my body. That's the solar plexus. If you hit somebody in the solar plexus really fast, you knock the wind out of them.
When I studied boxing, there was a lot of emphasis on effectiveness and power. In Taekwondo, not only do I have to throw a good punch, I have to throw a good-looking punch.
It was already a little bit crooked like this. Straight. Martial art means military art. Just like yin and yang, Michelle has to look strong, but she also has to look effortless.
Michelle. Yes, sir. Your kihap is cute. I don't want it cute. Okay. Okay, you felt that, right? So now watch this, Michelle, from here. And when you go like that, there's that extra power and energy that goes behind the punch.
If I make that noise, it gives me more power. Everybody here has an amazing kihap yell. I sound like a Chihuahua.
Michelle. Sir. I want your kihap to be strong because that's your internal power. Get angry. Okay. Get really angry. Okay, okay. Fighting stance, roll, and you're going to come up and fight me. Scare me with your scream. Yes, sir. Go. That's what I want.
Everything you learned today, you have to be able to perform on Friday of this week. This week? How long do most people spend in white belt before they go to yellow? Three months. Okay, so I have four days. You have four days. You have Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday to make this perfect, and then Friday we go for your first test.
So in Taekwondo, belt colors are used to show a student's progression. White belt represents a blank slate, all the way to black belt representing expertise. In Master Rhee's school, there are 13 belts, and each belt is earned through a belt test. So in order for me to attempt a black belt by day 90, I'm going to have to take a belt test almost every single week, which brings us to Operation Black Belt. However, we have already made our first schedule change.
What do you think of us double testing next Friday instead of tomorrow, yellow and purple at the same time? How does that work? You have to do the white-to-yellow belt test, make sure you pass that first, and then we go to yellow-to-purple belt test.
Great, so we're going to group the yellow and purple belt tests on day 10. We're going to group orange and blue on day 20. Now, if we make it to the black belt test, I'm going to have to do things like sparring three black belts at once and breaking a brick with my bare hand. But before we get anywhere near the black belt tests, right now I have only seven days to learn everything I need to know for my yellow and purple belt tests.
With your horse stance, the reason why I have it here is because the closest distance between two points is a straight line. So when I punch, I'm going straight to the target. My name is Peter Iacangelo. I'm a fourth-degree black belt, and I've been studying with Master Rhee for 41 years.
I just took this as kind of a challenge for myself as a teacher. My first thought is, I don't know if this could be done. I don't know if it should be done. Is there a way of doing it right? And baro. Baro means come back to ready stance in Korean. Baro.
I want to be really clear that none of us have any idea if this is even possible. But in order to try my best, I'm going to be training Taekwondo six days a week, learning kicks, punches, self-defense techniques, and even learning some Korean.
What's the name of this form? Kicho Il Bu. Kicho Il Bu. Good. That means basic form number one in Korean.
One aspect of Taekwondo I've been most excited to learn are forms. If you've ever seen martial arts movies or competitions where people are doing choreographed moves in perfect unison, those are forms. Historically, Taekwondo forms were used to keep martial arts techniques alive and passed down through generations. But they're also a way to teach students focus, precision, and discipline.
And so this is the form I need to perfect by next Friday for the purple belt test? Yes. Right after I take the yellow belt test? Correct. And this is all about memorization of 20 steps? Twenty. Twenty. Okay, sir. Okay.
Most forms are anywhere from 20 to 30 steps, with each step being inspired by a fight technique like a punch or a block, almost as if you're fighting an imaginary opponent, but with perfect rhythm and grace.
What I don't want you to do: step and block at the same time, because it's not going to have a snap. It's not going to have power. Done, snap. Done, snap. Okay? Snap is what makes it look good, Michelle. So if this was a testing, Michelle, you would have lost two half-points. So one-point mistake is passing grade, but I would like you to try to pass without making any mistakes.
Today, here we are, ready to double test. Yes, sir. You worked hard for this. Relax, don't get too nervous, and do your best, okay? Yes, sir. Let's do this.
I am so nervous just being in this room, seeing Master Rhee and Kane with the black belts on, clipboard in hand, ready to judge me.
What makes testing so intimidating is because I make it that way. When my student comes to test, first thing she'll see is all the black belts sitting on a panel, and I'll make it as intimidating as possible so that they could overcome their fear of testing.
Ping it. Me. Canect. Here we go, white-to-yellow belt testing. Horse stance. Single punch, one, two. Double punch, one, two. High, middle, low punch, one, two. Outside block, one, two.
Relax. Right leg back, fighting stance. Front leg roundhouse kick, one, two. Front leg side kick, one, two. Student creed.
To build true confidence through knowledge in the mind, honesty in the heart, and strength in the body. To keep friendship with one another and to build a strong and happy community. Never fight to achieve selfish ends, but to develop might for right, sir.
From white-to-yellow belt testing, you did everything excellent. No mistakes. I'm going to pass you to a yellow belt today, Michelle. Congratulations, you're officially a yellow belt now. Thank you, sir. Good. Sir, may I celebrate? Yes, of course. Of course. Go ahead and put it on. Get ready for your next testing. Yes, let's go. Let's go. Respectfully, let's go.
I'm so excited to have passed the yellow belt test. I'm getting ready to go for my purple belt test, and all of a sudden, Master Rhee's next surprise walks through the door. It's none other than Mr. Phillip Rhee, his brother, world-renowned martial artist and the star of Best of the Best. There is this incredible photo on the cover of Black Belt magazine that shows Master Rhee and his brother Phillip. They truly are a master duo and the epitome of Taekwondo.
Oh, now you're in trouble. My brother's going to watch your purple belt testing. So, Phillip, that's my newest student, Michelle. Hello, Michelle. Hello. I told her, you sure you want to take it from me? Because I don't give my belt away. And she accepted the challenge. This is a challenge for myself too.
It's a very interesting challenge, and if she looks good, I look good. She doesn't look good, I don't look good. That's why I accepted her challenge too. We'll see how far she could go. Fantastic. Can I ask you a question? Yes, sir. Why do you want to do this?
I personally think that I have a lot to learn from martial arts. I've been very curious about the dedication it requires to do something like this, and I feel like there's a lot that I don't even know that I'm excited to learn from people like Master Rhee and Kane. So to me, I'm excited to discover what I don't know yet.
Great, great. Okay, are you ready? Yes, sir. Yellow-to-purple belt testing. Right leg back, fighting stance. Jab, one, two, three. Reverse punch to solar plexus. Reverse punch to solar plexus, one, two, three. Lost half a point on your reverse punch. Yes, sir.
Right leg back, fighting stance. Stepping forward, front stance, high block, one. Front stance, please. Sorry, sorry. One. You lost another half a point. I asked for front stance. You gave me a walking stance. Yes, sir. You didn't listen correctly.
Basic form number one, please. Sir. Begin when you're ready. And baro. Excellent. Good job. Thank you, sir.
So this concludes your yellow-to-purple belt testing. You lost two half-points. That's minus one. Yes, sir. It's a passing grade, but I wanted you to get perfect score today. For your next testing, try to get a perfect score, that one. Okay, sir.
You're doing really well. You have a lot of good energy, but I want you to work effortless. Effortless. And the higher ranks, you have to be effortless. Yes, sir.
Michelle, come forward, please. Minus one, passing grade, so I'm going to pass you to a purple belt today. Congratulations. Thank you, sir. You're welcome. Go put that on. Good job. Thank you. Yay!
So she did good. Nine lessons in a short time. Yeah, that's really good. She has a good focus. Yeah. Wait, purple is such a slay.
Two, three, eight. Two more. One, two, three, nine.
Today is the day I break a board, and I am so excited about this because I feel like it is a big milestone in any martial artist's journey. In martial arts, breaking is often used to showcase the power and effectiveness of a strike, similar to a cutting demonstration to test the sharpness of a blade. But over time, the art of breaking has also become an allegory for overcoming barriers, both physical and mental.
This is really thick. It is, it is. This is not what you see on Instagram. It is not what you see on Instagram.
I'm going to be attempting another double test this week, going for both orange belt and blue belt in one day. But to pass blue belt, you have to break a board.
We practice with the plastic one. These ones we can reuse and reuse and reuse over and over again. So it's like a training wheel for... Exactly, it's a training wheel for the real thing.
You're going to want to get into a back stance, and then you're going to do a fist. So we're going to have a fist up here, right? Yeah. And then from here, I use my hip, my shoulders. Everything's going to pivot down, and I'm not just stopping at the board. You want to go all the way through. Yep. And notice even my shoulder, everything's kind of going through that.
By breaking a board, you're learning whether your punch, your kick is effective. So you have to hit it with precision. If you put your whole body weight, speed, strength, and precision, the board has no other choice but to break.
When you're ready, ask me permission to break. Okay. Permission to break, sir. Okay, do it. Oh no. Oh, I missed. Rest for a moment.
So you were very forward like this, right? You want to aim this right here. There's a straight line driving it all the way through to the ground. Okay. Right? Feel confident. Let's try. Permission to break, sir. Do it. Nice. How'd that feel? Hand's getting sore. Yeah.
You ready? You want to try the real thing? How's your hand doing, though? You know what? I need to push myself because this is probably the only time I'll get to break a real board before the test. Okay. So I'd like to try it. Yes. Okay. All right. Okay. Will there be splinters or anything? There might be. Okay. I can do this. Yes. I can do this.
Permission to break, sir. Do it. Nice, you got it.
Forty-eight hours until the next two tests. I mean, if I'm totally honest with you, when I posted about the challenge, specific people who were black belts were saying, oh, well, at my school it takes 10 years to get a black belt. Like, this is impossible. Is it okay that I'm wearing a purple belt and going through the tests at the pace that I am?
Good luck to you today, Michelle. You're testing for purple to orange right now. Right leg back, fighting stance.
Your kicking, your punches, and everything else, it looks up to the level that you're at. If I wasn't wearing any belt and you saw me kicking and moving, would I look like a black belt? It's a challenge for you, but it's also kind of a challenge for us. We're testing to see how good a teacher we are. If you were not the exception to the rule, and we didn't think you were, we wouldn't have even taken on this challenge. Will it look like a blue belt, though, in a couple days? I don't know.
Okay, here we go. Orange to blue, Michelle. Right leg back, fighting stance. Go.
I am dripping sweat, and I'm about to launch right into the blue belt test. There are new kicks. I still see a little bit of a hesitation on your back kicks. There's a totally different form with a different style altogether. But the most difficult part about this test is you can go through the entire thing, and if I don't break the board, I have to redo the entire test.
Permission to break, sir. Permission granted. Well done. Good job. Thank you. Done. Pass to a blue belt. Congratulations. Thank you, sir.
We do the test and then immediately start training for the next one. I'm now training for blue stripe.
I posted on Instagram, my hardest-working new student. Somebody wrote, 90 days, black belt? Come on. Of course, to be honest, I said the same thing, like, really? But I didn't know what kind of person she was before.
Ten push-ups. Sir. I don't want to see that kind of front. Got to fix that habit.
In order to get my blue belt, I had to break a board with my fist. However, to get the next belt, which is blue stripe, I have to break a board with my foot doing a sliding side kick. Nice.
Good luck to you. This is your first advanced testing. Go young. Sir. Breaking next, sliding. Penine. You're going to pass to a blue stripe today. Yeah.
She got four weeks of experience, was better than me when I had four weeks of experience.
Today's a big day. I am training for my next test, which is the green belt. Taegeuk Jang, sir. There's just
So much information to memorize that I feel like my brain is exploding. It feels like I'm cramming for a science test right now.
It's only a green belt test. I know, sir. Wait till you get to the red belt test. Yes, sir. And then black belt test. I didn't say pudle. Ten push-ups.
So after this test, I still need to remember all these forms? You better. Yes, sir. If you want to test for black belt. Yes, sir.
Okay, and 25 jumping jacks. Go. Get that blood pumping.
Sorry. Where did she go all of a sudden? This has not happened to me since literally middle school, but as I was warming up, my period started, so I ruined my dobok. Thank you, Master Rhee. That has not happened to me before. Hey, it's life. Didn't you say we'd have to have blood, sweat and tears to get to the black belt? Hey, we did it.
Advanced form number one. Taegeuk Il Jang. Oh, you remember I told you when you test for green, you got to do number one, number two, number three. This is my fault. Okay, the first one was for advanced form number one, purple belt. Advanced form number one, orange to blue.
Okay, one point off. I think this is going to happen. Two points off. Oh my God. One more, you flunk. Wrong leg. If this was a test, you failed. That's the three mistakes right there. Number one again. Again. Again. Michelle, again. Mistake number six. Goat. One mistake on that.
Okay, so that was a mistake there. That's a full point off. Lack of concentration, that's a half a point. Making a lot of mistakes today, Michelle. Michelle, I'm not going to have you do sparring and breaking today because you already failed this test. Minus three is a failing status. Today you got minus five. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Study it.
I've taught many, many students, and there are people who blame their failure on something else or somebody else. It's never their fault. But Michelle didn't do that. That's when I knew she didn't take this challenge lightly.
I just hate wasting people's time, and I'm not going to do that again.
I'm going to be honest that the biggest failure of this green belt test was wasting everybody's time. I was taught all of this material, but I did not do everything within my power to fully memorize and own this material.
But what I am realizing is that in order to move forward and truly progress, I'm going to have to be putting in considerable hours outside of the gym. From now on, I'm going to be showing up 30 minutes early to every lesson. I'm going to be practicing my forms in the parking lot. I'm going to have to be treating this like the freaking AP Calculus exam.
Okay, guys, I'm also going to be going a little bit crazy here because look at this book. So what I've actually done is I've set an alarm on my phone that goes off 15 times a day at random times. This is how crazy I am. And whenever one of these alarms goes off, I'm going to stand up and do a practice test with all of this material.
Next thing, I booked the location today for the final black belt test. This is the Korean Friendship Bell. Whatever I am at on day 90, I will be testing here.
I realized that sparring is probably my weakest area right now, and it's a big part of the green belt test.
In boxing, you get a point from a jab, but in martial arts, we don't score points on a jab. Are you serious? Oh my God. But if you do a backfist... Oh, so that's equivalent to a martial arts jab, right? Okay. So you do a backfist, like boom, to the face, like that. Then you could score a point.
So because I'm insane, I called an Olympian, and tomorrow they are getting on a plane to come here to kick my ass. She's like a foot taller than me.
Hi, I'm Anastasija Zolotic, and I'm the Tokyo 2021 Olympic gold medalist, and I'm ready to kick it with Michelle.
The first American to win gold in women's taekwondo at the Olympics. Eighteen-year-old Anastasija Zolotic becoming the first American woman to win gold in the sport.
I am so nervous about this. Hopefully today I can learn from Ana some ways that I can be more effective and actually land a few shots. I'm about to spar an Olympian. This is going to be so humbling.
If I get kicked in the face... If I can reach. I sense. Go. Oh, oh my God. Point Ana. Point Ana. Point Ana.
I thought that the experience that I had in boxing would be a huge asset to taekwondo. Sparring feels completely different when you incorporate that the entire lower half of the body is now a weapon and fair game. I find myself almost forgetting that I'm sparring taekwondo, and I'll focus on hands only and then get kicked in the head by my opponent.
And time. Good. There, up. Can they. All right, how do you feel, Michelle, after that? That was crazy. Wow. Okay. What do I do different? That was really bad, right?
Basically, what I saw happening is you were fighting her fight. You were just waiting for her to make a move. My biggest thing, because you seem like you're being very defensive... Okay. We have this thing called a cancel. Cancel? Yeah. It's a lifesaver for defensive fighters. I use it 95% of the time when I'm being attacked. It's like if you were to come at me with a kick... Oh my God. It's almost like a knee block. Almost like you're being rude. Just move it like it means absolutely nothing. It's a version of a hook kick, but it's a defensive hook kick rather than an offensive one.
Oh, sorry. You don't have to apologize. It's taekwondo.
Like I said, it's an expression. The way you fight is different from anybody else. To get your black belt, you have to understand stuff like that, and I think that's what makes the difference between somebody who walks off the street and just wants to get a black belt and somebody who's trying to understand and learn. You pick up on things like that. It shows that you're progressing in the sport rather than just doing it to do it. Thank you.
When I first heard she was trying to get a black belt in 90 days, my first thought was, how are you going to do this? But I think hearing about the stuff she was doing, the hours she put in, she's learning, she's applying it all, she's trying to understand the sport and learn more about it rather than just doing it for a YouTube video, and I think that's where my respect came in.
Oh, see, there you go. Okay.
Sparring doesn't ever feel natural to me, and the last time that I boxed, I broke my nose. The ending of that last episode was really positive, like, woo, I won the fight, everything's great. But the reality was, after we finished filming that, it was a four-month recovery process for me. I had black eyes for six weeks, and I really struggled with that. And it was kind of a situation where I was thinking about the implications of Challenge Accepted. So I really liked today because I felt like I was able to remat that fear.
I love taekwondo because I feel like it's a way of me expressing myself. In a way, it's my therapy, and I feel like that's why I succeeded so much. It's because I've taken all of my hurt and my pain, and I used it as motivation to get to where I wanted to be.
Man, I know that feeling. Oh my God. Ana really opened my eyes to a more dynamic interpretation of taekwondo than I could have ever imagined, and I really think Ana's approach of balance is what has made her so successful on the world stage in some of the most stressful circumstances.
What is yin and yang? The moon is yin. The sun is yang. Night is yin. Day is yang. Ultimately, one seeks to find a perfect balance of these two things. Learn how to use your energy better. Being a good, balanced person, that's what a martial artist is all about.
There is this concept of yin and yang, yin being the flow, the softness, the expression, while yang is the rigid and disciplined approach. And from the outside looking in, I would have imagined that Ana's approach would be one very focused on yang, but what I was surprised to find out was that her approach is surprisingly one that is focused on yin.
My initial approach to this challenge, which worked for the first couple belt tests, is of yang: just muscle through everything that I do. Failing the green belt test made me realize that that strategy was simply not going to cut it.
Michelle, the retesting begins right now. T commit.
I was really forced to look inward and question how much attention I had not been paying to the yin part of this challenge.
Touch gloves. One minute. Begin when you're ready.
Yin happens outside of the gym. Yin is sitting down quietly in a dead silent room and not watching Netflix, but reviewing my notes. It is closing my eyes for 30 minutes and just imagining myself doing the techniques properly.
Go. Go.
It's walking through all of my forms at half pace to make sure I have every single movement really within my bones.
Tu Jun, sir.
Yin is also knowing the material so well that it just flows through you effortlessly.
I am going to pass you to a green belt today. Congratulations. Thank you, sir. That was a great day. Thank you, sir. You're welcome. You earned it.
I passed! Yes, yes, yes, yes! Literally passed the test. I'm so, so excited. I didn't freeze on anything.
I feel like I blinked and you were a white belt, and then now I'm blinking, you're a green belt. So what does the next test entail?
It's not a big laundry list until you're testing to red belt level, but for this particular one, it's more advanced material. So it's less material-wise, but it's more advanced material. Your cardio is going to be really, really tested on this testing especially.
I failed myself. You failed the black belt test? Yeah. When you failed the test the first time, what changed for you between the first test and when you passed?
I felt like I disappointed everybody, and then after that, it was more determination. I'm going to nail it even better the next time. I'm going to make no mistakes. I think it will make you a better martial artist. If you win all the time, you never learn, right? But you have to fail sometimes to learn.
I'm going to have you sit down and close your eyes, and you're going to just meditate. Go over all your testing materials. Inhale slowly through your nose, deep. Exhale slowly through your mouth.
Name advanced form number four. Taegeuk Sa Jang, sir. Begin when you're ready. Focus. Right double chop, left back stance, spear hand, right hand front stance. Focus. Left hand double chop, back stance, spear hand, left leg front stance, double chop. Nope. Front, front. Wrong. Open hand high block, chop.
How much of this is a trophy? Because people do martial arts for many different reasons, and all the reasons are right, by the way. But I'm just curious to know, for you, if you don't receive the black belt, how does that affect you in your life?
If I don't deserve the black belt, then I don't deserve it. I would rather wear a white belt the entire time and just have the opportunity to train with Master Rhee.
Taegeuk O Jang, sir. When you're ready.
Something I haven't even told Master Rhee yet is that a few years ago, I got an email. It was a father. He wanted to put his daughter in a dance class, but she really wanted to do a martial art. And after watching the channel, he felt inspired to put her in martial arts. The ability to feel like a hero, I think, is something that a lot of people don't get to experience, and martial arts, in my opinion, offers a journey into achieving that feeling of confidence and spirit.
Something I was surprised to learn is that 45% of girls quit sports by age 14, and that's why I'm really grateful for this episode's sponsor, Dove, whose mission is supporting women in sports by nurturing self-confidence.
As someone who typically has dry skin, when I'm sweating this much during a belt test, it's super important for me to keep it hydrated. Dove Body Wash is the number one dermatologist-recommended body wash. It's mild, pH balanced, and is made with plant-based moisturizers.
So that was for green to green stripe. This is for double stripes. Make it a little bit faster, stronger. Yes, sir.
It's also PETA-certified cruelty-free and made in 100% recycled plastic bottles. My personal favorite is the cucumber and green tea, which cools and refreshes my skin.
Put on your sparring gear. It's really hard.
I've also been using the new Dove Advanced Care dry spray in Caring Coconut before and after training.
Fighting stance.
It's got 72-hour protection with Pro-Ceramide technology to help strengthen the skin's natural barrier, and it goes on clear.
And time.
So thank you again to Dove for being aligned in the mission to support women in sports, for sponsoring this episode, and for making this journey possible.
I will pass you to green double stripes today. Thank you, sir. You worked so hard for this simple piece of tape, but there's a lot of meaning behind that. Thank you, Master Rhee. You did good today. Thank you.
There you go. Oh, nice, Michelle.
At this point in my education, Master Rhee has suggested that I join in on his group classes. Initially, I was quite nervous because before I started this challenge, I had gone to a few martial arts classes by myself and ultimately didn't continue because I found those classes very intimidating and intense.
How long have you all trained with him? I think this is my 12th year. Twelve years? I'm excited to watch you. Thank you. Yeah. Black up.
Watching the black belts perform their forms together is so inspiring. I'm just watching each of their moves and the way that they breathe and perform. Oh my God. And hit each mark perfectly in tandem together.
It's not bad, but the timing wasn't quite there. Five push-ups. Let's go.
Honestly, it's just exciting to be in a group class because it inspires me to be better.
Michelle. Sir. Stay together, and go.
A lot of martial arts and forms are meant to be performed in a group. Take a step, Michelle. Now she has to make sure her timing is perfectly with the group. It should move you. You look at it, and you're just like, wow, that's amazing. That's why I emphasize so many forms.
Hello, Michelle. Five push-ups. Mistake. So you're not used to having people next to you? Yeah. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Typically in all of my challenges, and up until this point, I attack my challenges by myself. But being a part of this group class makes me feel like I'm a part of something larger than myself, and I'm getting to work on material alongside students who are having the same struggles that I am. It's really cool to get to meet all of the red belts who are at that stage just above me. Red belt is where it gets very serious, and Alexya and Darielle are totally badass.
How long have you been training with Master Rhee? I've been training with Master Rhee for maybe three years now. I do stunts as well. Yeah, your kicks are so pretty. Thank you.
It was also really interesting to watch a white belt learn material. Give me a loud kihap. Okay, so one, two. And also see how far I've come since day one of this challenge. It was like having the ghosts of taekwondo past, present and future there.
It was nice to meet you. You look so good. Are you testing for a double stripe soon? I am. June 11th, I'm going for my double stripe. Are you going to test? Why not? Yeah, I'll come do it in a group setting. I actually feel better around other people because I feel like I'm not alone, suffering and scared by myself. As long as you know your material really, really good, you should be fine. We should all test. Let's all test.
I now have a new mission to hopefully pass the red belt test in time so I can test for red single stripe alongside them. I felt so excited because Alexya and Darielle came today to support me at the red belt test.
Do you have any advice for me? Yes. Take your time, breathe, and be loud. Good luck. When we spar you, no hard feelings, okay? Yes. Okay.
Michelle, are you ready for your red belt test today? Yes, sir.
Red is a big milestone because it's the beginning of advanced material, and this time Master Rhee pulls out all the stops. He invites his most accomplished and decorated friends.
Today you will be tested in front of Master Fariborz.
Sensei Fariborz, the founder of Team Karate Centers and a multi-decade martial artist.
Mr. Sensei Benny.
And Benny Urquidez, also known as Benny the Jet, an undefeated, world-renowned kickboxer and memorable opponent to Jackie Chan. Benny has been in some of the most insane and iconic fight scenes from your favorite movies.
And come here. Good luck to you, Michelle. Thank you, sir. Michelle, right leg back, fighting stance. Advanced technique number four. Go. Number five. Go. Number six. Go.
Taking half a point off on your kicking number four. I asked you to fix that back kick. Still a little bit crooked. Sir. I've seen you kick better, Michelle. Stay focused. Kane, up. One-step two punching defense. Go. Behind wrist grab.
For this test, I have to design my very own self-defense technique using the skills I've learned up until this point. The panel will then judge me on practicality and performance.
Begin when you're
Ready. Opponent is coming at me with a right-hand hook. I defend by taking a back stance, left-hand knife-hand block. He comes with a left-hand hook. I defend with a right-hand knife-hand block, counterattacking with an under punch. As they're falling, they grab my neck. I grab theirs, knee them in the groin, put my foot on their hip for a monkey roll, bring them to the ground, punch, punch. As they're reaching up, I grab their arm, swing around, finish them off with an arm bar, sir. K on talk, please.
Begin. Put on your sparring gear, ladies. Put on your sparring gear, please.
It's really intimidating to spar Alexya and Darielle. They have both achieved something that I am hoping to achieve, getting a red belt, and they're far more advanced than me.
Face each other. Fighting stance. There's two against one, and begin.
To me, all this is memorized. She memorized technique, which is one thing. Knowing it is another. To own it is another. I like to see ownership. If I put her under pressure, would she be able to do it?
Do it. And time. Thank you, ladies. Have a seat. Take your equipment off. Drink some water. Michelle. Yes, sir. Excuse me.
I want to see when she's under pressure, when she's threatened, when in a time. You go in front of her. You go behind her. You turn around, grab her. Hey, you turn around, grab her. Give and take until I say stop.
Who? Sensei Benny wants to see if you really know all your self-defense technique that you did.
I'm here to see your ability, of your hunger, how bad you want it. What are you willing to do? Do you own this material? It's not a given right. It's an earned right. Yes, sir. If I asked you to do it all over again, you feel you can do better? I do, sir. This is about self-defense. Defend yourself.
And time. That was a surprise for me too. Thank you, sir. That was great. Thank you. Black th, come on in.
At this point in time, I love your courage, because it takes a lot of courage to do what you're doing. You've done a lot of things. And for me, we're human beings, we're not human doings. My wish for you is you become a black belt, and not just do it and get it, but to be able to be one. Thank you, sir. Okay, you are more than welcome. How about you ladies?
It's really inspiring to watch you on this side of the mat and hearing their words, because martial arts is very spiritual. You learn a lot about yourself through each belt and through each mental hiccup. So it's inspiring to watch, and I hope you expand yourself spiritually into the art as well. Thank you.
Today your score is minus one point, which is a passing grade, so I will pass you to a red belt. I congratulate you. Thank you, sir. Go, go.
Today was a really big test, not just in terms of volume of material, but also the people who came to support me.
You really did a good job out there. Yeah. I love your courage.
It may feel like red belt is only a few steps away from black belt, but I actually think I have a lot of work to do within red belt before I move on at all. I really, really want to push myself to the next level to make sure that I fight for and earn every step of the way.
Red belt is a pretty big milestone achievement. That's a beginning advanced level, intermediate advanced level. Now red belt is advanced, advanced level.
We're about a month out from the currently scheduled black belt test, but we're going to begin preparing for the pinnacle moment of the black belt test, which is breaking a brick. These are your standard three-inch red bricks that you'd find at your local hardware store, and if I make even the slightest mistake, the strike can actually result in me breaking my hand. So to avoid injury, I have to start strengthening my hand on training boards before I can attempt the real thing.
What we're going to be doing is we're going to be toughening up your hand, hitting the same impact, same spot, 50 times. So we're going to do 50 reps.
Breaking a brick is the last thing, after performing everything else that you have to do in order to complete the black belt test. The concept of breaking a brick with this hand feels almost impossible to me right now. I think that it really represents the marriage of the physical, mental, and spiritual coming together to face something that feels like it should be humanly impossible to do.
It's kind of a rite of passage, rite of courage. When I tested for my third degree, I had to break three bricks. Then flash forward, about a year and a half ago, I tested for my fourth-degree black belt, and I had to break four bricks. It takes a strong will and strong mind to be able to go through the brick. You have to overcome that fear.
Now, I'm no expert in physics, but I do know that force equals mass times acceleration. And as a relatively tiny human woman, I have very little mass, meaning speed will be absolutely crucial for me to generate the force needed to break the brick.
When I'm watching you, you're kind of going instead of all together. Yeah. Putting your weight behind it. So you see how you kind of stopped in the middle there a little bit? Okay. You okay? Yeah. Did it slap you a little bit? It's just hard.
Mr. Peter, it is not lost on me that we have, I think, three weeks until the black belt test on day 90 of this challenge. I have to learn all of the black belt material whilst training for the double stripe test. So I'm actually going to be learning material a belt ahead. Yes.
For the final black belt challenge, Michelle will have to do nine advanced forms. You're up to number seven now. Taegeuk Chil Jang, sir.
There's definitely art behind your forms, because when people see it, they feel it. Good. So I'm really happy about that. Thank you, sir. And this is one of my favorite forms, so make it pretty. Yes, sir.
Are you guys ready, red belts? Sir. Okay, turn. She would have to do eight advanced techniques. Go.
You'll have your red belt kicks, so red to red stripe kicks: shuffle axe, jumping axe, spinning axe, jump spinning axe, spinning round, jump spinning round. So those are your red belt kicks. And then after that, she has to read her essay.
Darielle. The theme of essay is meaning of a first-degree black belt. Alexya. I want to know what kind of person she is, what she learned during this time that we've been training.
I do have a question for Michelle. Yes, ma'am. It took me eight years to get my black belt, first degree. My journey is different from yours, and I applaud your journey, but I'm wondering if you think you'll be missing out on anything because of your short training time.
Something that's been really special to me is coming to these group classes and seeing that community element, and it's something that really elevated things for me. I'm doing my best to embrace every moment as I can, but I don't think it can make up for eight years of Saturday classes and the bonds that you build with one another here.
Just to reiterate that we're all on our own journey, and I hope you can kind of fall in love with the martial arts and continue with it. Thank you, ma'am.
Michelle. Sir. What can I say? No mistakes today on your testing. Very good test. Congratulations. Put on the stripe.
Spinning heel, it's going to be probably a little tricky, but we'll work on it. Then after you have all of that, we have your sparring. Sparring gear on, class. Sparring gear on, please. What you're going to do: one-on-one, two-on-one, three-on-one. My rule of thumb: prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Begin. Today is day 83, my red double stripe test, and as a part of this test, I have to spar T. Nice. Pyic. T, who is a world-time world champion martial artist.
If I don't pass this test—30 seconds—it means I will not have the opportunity to test for a black belt before day 90. Ten seconds. Come on. Instead, on day 90, I'll have to retake the red double stripe test. And time.
That didn't hold back. I think that was good. Obviously, it's tackle. I'm still standing. That's a win for me.
The result is minus one, passing score. Thank you, sir. I will pass you to a red double stripe today.
And then after that, she would have to do five punching defenses, two kick defenses. Then after all that, two bear hug, three Twan punching, and then you have five knife defenses. How long does this test take? Takes a while. It's like an hour. Yeah, easily.
And then after that, she would have to do all the combination techniques that she learned from blue belt, green belt, red belt. And a black belt is all the things that she learned. She's going to express herself with the black belt combination across the mat. Cartwheel, rolling, you can do whatever you want, kind of creatively. This is a combination that should make you look your best.
Trained for two and a half hours today, and we still haven't even gone over all the material in the black belt test.
And then after that, three-station board breaking. Nice. And after that, finally, she has to break her brick with her hand.
I felt your nervousness on our last lesson. You are already worried about the black belt testing. Yes, sir. And you know how hard that testing is going to be. Your mind and body has to be ready to be a black belt.
When you came to me and said that you wanted to test for black belt in three months, I was like, not going to go, find somebody else. But now we are actually here. There's one more hurdle that you have to go over. You have been a very special person to me because you're so dedicated. I've taught for over 45, 50 years now, and you're like one of the most dedicated students that I've ever met.
Permission to break, sir. Do it. Permission to break, sir. Do it.
I just hope that you prepare your mind and body. You have a big battle in front of you. Don't get negative. Don't get scared, because if you do, you already lost a battle. Permission to break, sir. Let's do it.
[Music]
Get.
[Music]
Michelle, your black belt testing begins now. Sir. Right leg back, fighting stance. Sir. Advanced technique one through eight. Begin when you're ready.
[Music]
Kane, get ready. Punching defenses. Ready. One. Two. Bear hug defenses.
[Music]
DEA up. Ready.
[Applause]
Go. Number two. Number three.
[Applause]
Get your three-station breaking ready. Permission to break, sir. Permission granted.
[Music]
She's going to get three tries, and if she doesn't break it, she does not pass her test today.
[Music]
Get ready for your forms. Koryo, sir. Begin when you're ready.
I want to know what's inside your heart. After all this training, what have you learned inside, not outside?
[Music]
Oh.
[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]
Thank you, sir.
[Music]
Get your essay ready.
Wow, I'm just blown away with everything. Of course, with the guidance of what you guys did. Yeah. She's been on nonstop. Yeah. Michelle, your essay, please.
Sir. A few years ago, I received an email from a father who shared how our YouTube channel had inspired him to enroll his daughter in martial arts classes. This message initially took me by surprise because I was not a martial artist even myself. It was something I had always wanted to do, but even I had not felt fully comfortable to try it myself. I've always admired taekwondo, viewing it as a superpower, yet something too far out of reach for myself to achieve. But this email from a loving father about his kick-ass daughter inspired me to finally go for it myself.
I approached this challenge the same as I do for any of my other challenges. I fully commit. I set deadlines. It gave me an immediate sense of focus.
Abby and Erica and Thekla, let's go. This is the state where I personally believe I excel. Face each other. Andette. Fighting stance.
[Music]
Begin. I take on a challenge, I muscle my way through. Time. And this boundless energy and passion carried me soaring quickly through the first few belt tests. Kicking review. Green. Red. Fire.
[Music]
Lock. However, along the way, my burning desire to earn the belts themselves began to stand in the way. Mr. Phillip would famously say I needed to be effortless. Mr. Benny said my movements were too robotic and memorized. Mr. Peter would urge me to find the expression in the art form, and Master Rhee would remind me that I'm performing an art. And that's when it started to hit me.
Face flags. Toight. At the beginning and end of each lesson, we bow to the Korean flag. At the center of this flag sits the symbol of eum and yang, widely known as yin and yang in Chinese. It represents the balance of life, the cycle, the push and pull, and in taekwondo, the balance of aggression and peace.
My initial approach to this challenge, and honestly every challenge I take on, has always been one of yang. I take on a challenge, I muscle my way through. Let's go. Hurry up. Keep pushing. Almost there, baby. I run into the burning building. I brace for the pepper spray. I break my nose in a boxing ring in front of 15,000 people. Embracing the yang has always been my superpower.
On day 65, upon earning my red belt, Mrs. Cindy asked me what I thought I may have been missing by speedrunning this journey in only 90 days. Taegeuk Chil Jang, sir. Go. It's been made clear I've been missing out on the yin, the flow, the peace, and the joy. I was missing an opportunity to express myself, to help teach other students, to laugh with other students. I was missing the art in martial arts.
Just last week, I received a follow-up message from the father of the young girl who inspired me to take this challenge on. This July, the young girl achieved her black belt at just 10 years old. She doesn't even realize that she has inspired the continued cycle of yin and yang, and I hope that in doing this challenge, I can inspire someone else to go after their dreams as well, to continue this cycle.
As I've heard many times before, the earning of a black belt merely marks the beginning of one's journey. And whether or not I earn my black belt today or years from now, I stand here on day 90 with boundless excitement to truly begin mine. This moment right now is just the beginning.
It's the last thing of the test. Thing standing between you and your black belt. You're so amazing that you broke two, Mrs. Cindy, two bricks. You can do it too. Your hand is like steel. Rong. Okay. I need all the Mrs. Cindy energy I can get.
Mr. Peter. Sir. I'm most nervous about this part because we didn't ever succeed at it. I know. Got to put all your energy into it. Okay. You know what it feels like to hit something hard. Yes, sir. Doesn't hurt. You just got to put whole body weight behind it.
Michelle, this is the last thing that's in your way. Okay. You got to really go for it this time. Okay. Yes, sir. A lot of my students break their hand doing this.
Permission to break, sir. Permission granted.
[Music]
Get angry. Permission to break. Do it.
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
Yes. Permission.
[Music]
Black belts want to have a little meeting. Jim M. Mr. Fariborz, what do you think? Mr. Fariborz.
To stop her because of one thing she didn't do versus all the stuff she did, she showed up and she's on it, and she went on and on. I couldn't do that many forms. To me, she got her black belt today. Doesn't matter if it's from you or typically, or put it on or not.
Ph up. I think she needs time and then have her come back.
In my school, if you quit, you fail. She never quit. I have to side with Sensei Fariborz. She did incredibly well, and I wouldn't penalize her for the one. Again, same thing, it's your way of testing, but I wouldn't penalize her for that.
Cindy, what do you think? So I think today we give her a provisional black belt. It's the black belt that we give when someone hasn't broken.
Peter, what do you think? She's not ready for that brick. She was not. We just didn't have enough time to give her to break it. So taking all the feelings, everything else out of it, she was just not physically ready for it. I think in a couple weeks, I think she would feel better, knowing her, not getting a black belt today and coming back stronger and breaking either a brick or a board. I think she'll feel better about it. I think we'll all feel better about it too.
James, what do you think? In her heart, she's a black belt. I agree. Staying with what is required seems like you need to stay with that. This is my feeling.
You guys all agree with that? Yes, sir. Okay.
Michelle, all your testing materials were excellent. Thank you, sir. You did not make any mistakes. Everyone that's here, that you did a very, very good job on your testing. But at the same time, you did not break your brick. And all the black belts that are sitting here, they did it. So if I gave you a black belt now, it wouldn't be fair for the rest of my black belts that's sitting here. Sir.
Your breaking technique wasn't quite right, so we have to go back and make sure that I teach you how to do that better. We'll try breaking again in a couple of weeks when your hands are completely healed, okay? Thank you, sir.
And face flag. Face Master Rhee. Face us. Come there. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much.
[Applause] [Music] [Applause]
When I started this challenge, I was so focused on earning the physical belts themselves, I was missing out on the deeper significance of the journey each belt represents. Master Rhee helped me see that true excellence isn't defined by the belt around your waist, but by the relentless dedication to growth, learning, and perseverance.
Cameron, the young girl and now black belt, reminded me that the heart of this journey lies in your inner desire to keep going. And if Cameron could keep pushing for her black belt, then so can I.
I didn't get my black belt on day 90 or on day 112, and I still might not by day 200. But that's okay, because you can always keep trying.
Our starts again. We'll take it to the end. Let's keep this going on and on and on and on.
And thank you to Dove for sponsoring this episode.
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