A lovable Idiot

THE LOVERS Trailer by Studio Heartbreak

Oh boy! So here's the deal, friends!

I have been training in martial arts for about 17 years, more than half my life, and later this year I'm going to be testing for my 4th degree black belt! Only about 10% of people ever make it to 1st degree, and increasingly fewer ever make it to each consecutive degree higher than that for a lot of reasons (the amount of years it takes, the dedication, school/work, ect).

Due to a 5th degree requirement set by my school to go to / train in Korea to test, I will probably never reach that degree, so 4th degree will most likely be my final big milestone in martial arts! With that test comes a LOT of prep, fasting (mental test), and training (physical test), as well as a pre-test performance, in addition to the cost of the 4th degree test itself.

I don't plan on making the entire cost of these via donations from the kindness of the internet's heart, but anything - seriously, anything at all - will be extremely helpful and much appreciated! The pre-test fee will likely be around $200 (all 7 lower stripe tests that make up each single degree are usually about this much to help lessen the final fee of the big degree test, which can be up to $400.) This is to help cover the cost of equipment and weapons used during the test, the new belt and uniform, as well as to help pay for visiting masters' flights and accommodations (as a show of appreciation for them flying in from Korea to observe our test).

I've still got some time to make this amount of roughly $600, and I will be taking commissions over the summer as well to work toward this. But if you've got a few dollars to spare, I would forever appreciate it!