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March

Student of the Month:  The students of the month for March are Mrs. Kelly Burden and Mr. Benjamin McVay.  We believe they possess the finest qualities in TKD, and display the tenets of Taekwon-Do (Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control and Indomitable Spirit) in class every day. Taekwon!  Please visit the webpage to review their information. 
 
AXE TKD Tournament:  We will be hosting our 2nd Annual tournament on May 9th at the Youth Center.  I have received commitments from students in Missouri, Kansas, Wyoming, and Colorado that will be attending our tournament, but for this tournament to be a success we must have full participation from our school.  The cost is only $30 and you can participate in Patterns, Sparring, and Breaking competitions.  There will be a separate Team Patterns competition for a slight additional fee.  This is a USTF sanctioned tournament which means that it will meet your requirement for participating in a USTF tournament without having to travel to another state.  While we encourage all students to attend, this is a requirement for black belts.  You must participate in one tournament per year as a red belt and above.  Last year we hosted our tournament and attended one in Missouri and one in Colorado.  We should have the opportunity to attend three tournaments again this year.  Information for the tournament can be found at:    http://www.axetkd.com/2009AxeTKDTournament.html

Promotion Testing:  The next promotion testing is scheduled for Friday, April 17th, at the Youth Center.  As always, all students who are actively training (at least 7 days per month) will be considered for testing.  Mr. Bushor will hand out testing forms to those deemed ready to test to their next belt level.  If you are not selected to test this time it is because you are not ready.  It is a big breach of courtesy to ask your instructor (Master Todd or Mr. Bushor) to be allowed to test.  If you think you may have accidentally been overlooked, talk with Ms. Bowing.  If she agrees with you, then she can bring up the subject with one of the instructors.  This test is taking place sooner than the normal 3 month period between testings.  If you are not ready, then you will not test.  If you are only attending the minimum number of classes to be eligible, then you probably won’t be ready to test any time soon.

Black Belt Pre-Test:  Mr. Bushor will be conducting a Black Belt Pre-test for ALL Black Stripes on Thursday, March 26th starting at 6:30pm.  This is a regular class night and all black stripes are expected to be there unless specifically excused ahead of time. You will be expected to know all patterns, step sparring formats, and be ready to complete your breaks.  You should be thinking of what you need to do for your Ho Sin Sul and have a prospective partner picked out.  As mentioned above, testing will be early this time, but you still need to be able to complete all your requirements.  Please ask if you have any questions or have a problem making the pre-test.

Saturday Classes:  The Saturday classes resumed on March 7th.  Master Todd led the Black Belts and Black Stripes in a vigorous 2 hour workout.  Due to restrictions the Youth Center is enforcing on us we can only hold one Saturday class each month.  Master Todd has decided to use this class to further the knowledge of our instructors, Black Belts, and future Black Belts. Until further notice the Saturday classes will be for 1st Gups (black stripes) and above.  We will still offer 6 classes per week: Tuesday & Thursday, 5:30-6:30pm, 6:30-7:30pm and 7:30-8:30pm.  All students are invited to attend one or all of the available classes.

USTF Class “C” Instructors Course:  The results are in…  On February 21st and 22nd, Mr. Bushor lead a contingent of students to Broomfield, Colorado for a Class “C” Instructors Course held at the USTF Headquarters.  Ms. Bowing, Mr. Finan, Mr. Carter, Mr. Fleischmann, and Mrs. Ragone were in attendance.  We met two former Axe TKD students, Mrs. MacCaffrey and Mr. MacCaffrey, who shared the experience with us.  This course was taught by Grand Master Winegar, IX Dan and Director of Technique for the USTF.  Grand Master Winegar is a wealth of knowledge and an amazing martial artist.  He shared as much knowledge and his experiences as he possibly could over the 2 days and 16+ hours of class time.  And most importantly, Mr. Finan, Mr. Carter, Mr. Fleischmann, and Mrs. Ragone all passed the final exam and are now officially certified USTF Class “C” Instructors.  Congratulations to all for your fine efforts (and long nights of studying).  All students and certified instructors need to remember that Master Todd is the final authority for technique taught at our school.

USTF Referee Course:  We hosted the USTF Referee Course on Saturday, March 14th.  Master Todd and Mr. Bushor taught 24 students ranging from Black Stripe to IV Dan, and coming from as far away as Alabama, Missouri, and Kansas; for Certification to Class A, B, and C Referees.  After almost 8 hours or lecture, demonstrations, and examinations, Master Todd collected all the tests and sent everyone home.  We will mail the tests to the USTF Headquarters who will grade the tests and evaluate the applications.  As soon as we receive the results we will announce them to you.  Good luck to everyone who took the test!

USTF Class “B” Instructors Course:  We will be travelling to Denver, Colorado April 25th and 26th for this course.  Like the USTF Class “C” Course mentioned above, Grand Master Winegar will be the instructor.  Students must become certified Class “B” Instructors prior to testing for 4th degree black belt and Class “A” Instructors prior to testing for 7th degree black belt.  Due to the availability of these courses you are advised to obtain the certification as soon as possible.  USTF has granted extensions due to the non-availability of courses in the past, but these are very rare now.  If you are a black belt you can attend this Class B course but only 3rd dan and above can become certified.  All others will bow out when the course passes your pattern levels.  Please see Master Todd or Mr. Bushor if you have any questions. 

2009 Tentative Schedule:
March 26th – Black Belt Pre-Test 6:30 pm
Mar – Ho Sin Sul Course – Kirksville, Missouri
April 17th – Testing 6:00 pm Large Gym
Apr 25-26 – USTF Class “B” Instructors Course - Denver
May 9 – Axe TKD Tournament – 2nd Annual
Jun 26th – 28th USTF Nationals – Kelso, WA
July – Testing (early in the month)
Jul 24-26 – Camp - MO
Sep 19 – Battle of the Belts – Missouri
Oct – Testing

Advanced TKD Training: (by: Mr. Kevin A. Bushor, V Dan)
When you were a brand new student, everything was new and difficult.  Very few people are able to quickly learn and correctly apply all the things their instructors are teaching them.  Like me as a White Belt, most people need a lot of instructor time so things can repeated again and again so they can fully understand.  But as you progress from rank to rank, your reliance on having the full attention of the instructor should decrease.  You are performing many of the same moves in your patterns and some kicks and hand techniques are just variations of ones you already know.  You still need an instructor to teach you the new and unfamiliar things, but you should be able to apply old knowledge to new requirements.  Let’s take Step Sparring for instance.  You will need the instructor to learn about a new format (1-Step vice 3-Step) but you should not need to have the instructor tell you how to put attacks and defenses together.  All of the required knowledge for Step Sparring is in the Yellow Book, and much of that is also in the Student Study Guide.  You should be able to do your new Step Sparring format, with only minor corrections from the instructor, before it is taught in class. 

As you progress in TKD you will need to take over more and more of the responsibility of learning from the instructors.  You will probably always have questions (as I still do), but you should be able to learn on your own, outside of the classroom.  This will make you a better student and a better instructor some day.  If you only rely on learning from your instructor 1 or 2 hours a week, your progress will slow down as will your promotions.  Take pride in your Martial Art, your school, and yourself.  You may be surprised by how much you can improve with just a little more effort on your part.

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
     
     
       
Last modified: 3/18/2009 Send mail to ustfneb@cox.net with questions or comments about this web site.