Our Goal: To provide quality instruction and provide the tools for any student
to properly defend themselves
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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2007 |
Student of the Month: The student of the month for August/September is Mr. Glenn DeMars. Mr. DeMars distinguished himself by volunteering to supervise over 20 young students at the recent Region 6 Summer Camp. Mr. DeMars, as white belt, stepped forward and ensured the other students were supervised and were in a safe environment. We believe they he is an excellent example of the finest qualities in TKD, and displays the tenets of Taekwon-Do (Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control and Indomitable Spirit). Congratulations! Please visit the webpage to view his information. Testing: On Saturday, August 25th we held a promotion testing. Congratulations to our newest Axe Taekwon-Do Black Belt – Mr. Luke Carter. Mr. Carter, at only 10 years old, requested to take the adult black belt written test. This test is 100 questions in length and covers all areas of Taekwon-Do from white belt through black belt. Typically junior students do not take this test and even some of our adults have not scored that well in the past. Mr. Carter scored in the high 90’s and only missed small portions of the multi part questions. Mr. Carter also requested to break a tile which is not required for his age and he successfully broke it at testing. Mr. Carter is an excellent example of what we would like all black belts to accomplish which is to exceed what is expected of them. Congratulations Mr. Carter. Class Times Changing: Due to events at the Youth Center our class times will change starting September 4th as follows: As a reminder the first class is mainly for white belt and yellow stripe students. Once students are promoted to yellow belt they will need to move to either the junior or adult class. We consider students ready for the adult class when they are in 7th grade or older. We try to accommodate all students, so if you have conflicts with the class times please see Mr. Bushor or Mr. Todd. Battle of the Belts Tournament: Recently we sent out an email concerning this tournament on Saturday, September 29th. We usually have a pretty large group from our class attending. Harrisburg Missouri is approximately 305 miles (4.5 hrs) from Bellevue. Since this is a long trip and we try to keep the expenses down and we typically leave on Friday and drive to Knob Noster (Whiteman Air Force Base) which is approximately 247 miles (3.5 hrs) from Bellevue and camp out at Mr. Rangers Taekwon-Do School. Then early Saturday we drive to Harrisburg which is approximately 88 miles (1.5 hrs). Basically for an additional 30 miles we can stay overnight free. Please refer to the email or the website for further information. We do want to take a large group to this event. I am certain all the Axe Black Belts will attend. USTF Membership: We have been experiencing problems with students not joining USTF in a timely manner. From this point forward the test fee for green belt will include the membership fee ($30 for green belt & $25 for USTF). If you join prior to your test for green belt the fee will remain $30.00. No students can be promoted to green belt without satisfying this requirement. Region 6 Camp: We took 39 people from Axe Taekwon-Do and this was the best year for attendance. We sent out camp critiques to all students that attended. It is essential that you complete the critique and return to Mr. Todd or Mr. Bushor. Master Cope and Master Winn will review all comments for possible changes next year. The camp will be as good as we make it. 2007/2008 Events: (all dates are tentative) New Articles Perseverance (By Patrick J. Finan, 2nd degree) You can set both short term and long term goals or yourself. For instance, if a new student wanted to set a goal to promote to his next belt, which could be a short term goal, while his long term goal would be to promote to Black Belt. Both goals are good and very attainable. You just need to work hard to achieve your goal. Focus on your short term goal and practice when you are at home. This will show improvement as time goes by. Be persistent in ensuring you are studying what you need to know and your hard work will pay off. If you set a goal for yourself and you do not do anything to ensure you attain it, you are doing a disservice to yourself. Perseverance can help you not only in Taekwon-Do, but in your everyday life as well. Set out to accomplish something and be persistent, even if there are obstacles in the way. Push through them and continue the journey. The reward at the end, attaining you goal, will be well worth the effort. Reflection: (By Ricky J. Todd, 6th degree) For me it will have been a 25 year journey. This is 25 years of training/teaching every week at least twice per week. Unlike other “arts” we require many years of training to accomplish the title of master. You will not find 16 year old masters in our Taekwon-Do. The very minimum training time now to attain the rank of master is 24.5 years of training. A change in our rank requirements occurred a few years ago. For example it was typical that you waited
the number of years for the degree you were trying to attain, an example is a 5th degree would wait 6 years to test for 6th degree. Now the change is that a 5th degree will wait 5 years to test for 6th degree. When I started Taekwon-Do the estimate to obtain the rank of master was 30 years. My career has been a mix of the two progression time lines. I have started 8 different Taekwon-Do schools in my career inheriting Axe Taekwon-Do here at Offutt from my instructor Master Meek. I have tried hard to be a good martial artist and practitioner of Taekwon-Do and hope that I do carry the title of master correctly and inspire those around me to be a better martial artist and person. When I first started Taekwon-Do there were no masters in the USTF. Grand Master Sereff was a 6th degree black belt and all the current master instructors where 3rd and 4th degree black belts. They are the first wave of pioneer instructors in the United States and USTF. I hope that I am the start of the second wave that will carry Taekwon-Do forward as the founder General Choi Hong Hi intended. We state that we are the original Taekwon-Do and we can without doubt trace our lineage directly to the founder of Taekwon-Do. I have met with him and trained with him personally in the past and he was larger than life. He was Taekwon-Do, 24 hours per day. We do not practice Olympic or sport Taekwon-Do. As you probably know I take Taekwon-Do seriously. It’s not just an art or sport; it’s a way of life. This is one reason I become irritated with the distractions we face from grappling or other martial techniques. They are not an art but simply physical exercise. We should be training on the same principal that Gen. Choi stated “a single blow is sufficient for victory”. Actual self defense situations will not rely on 2 minute rounds or grappling on a mat in a controlled environment for a specified time. Actual defense will be quick and brutal. We need to train this way and not lessen our technique or skill by trying to do too much. If you seriously train on the requirements for each belt level you will find you are more than challenged. If I struggle with the upcoming testing and promotion to master in my mind how can those with less time training feel they actually know Taekwon-Do? It’s a lifelong challenge to learn and stay proficient in Taekwon-Do. It has all the aspects of an art and is technically difficult enough to challenge you for your life time. Keep training and you will be amazed at the things you will be able to do and how quickly the time passes.
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