Sereff TKD Tournament

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the tournament.  Our school had a great tournament, both the adult and the junior breaking teams placed first in their divisions, and Miss Ragone was the Junior Black Belt Grand Champion for the third time in her career.  Photos have been posted on Facebook; a special thanks to Mr. Jones for acting as our official photographer!

Promotion Testing-

The next testing is scheduled for Saturday, November 23 at the Youth Center.  Doors open at noon for set up and warming up.  Testing will promptly start at 12:30 and should end by 4pm. We should have a fairly large testing with students testing for various color belt ranks.  We also have students testing for 1^st degree through 5^th degree black belt.  Ms. Bowing will be testing for her 5^th degree black belt.  She will also be the first student that Master Todd has ever tested or promoted to 5^th degree black belt.  Mr. Keith Buckley and Miss Ashleigh Ragone will also be testing to 2^nd Dan, and Mr. Don Duralia will be testing to 1^st Dan. All students who are eligible for promotion will be observed over the next few weeks to determine if they are prepared to test in November.  Remember just because you have met the attendance requirements, does NOT automatically mean you will test.  You must demonstrate your pattern with correct motions and stances, perform kicks and hand techniques with balance and control, and demonstrate your step sparring requirements.  Parents, please note that information can be found in the Study Guide on www.axetkd.com and also there are books for sale on Patterns, Testing and Step Sparring.  The guidelines on our website are only applicable to students that are in 6th grade and below who will take the oral test.  Students in 7th grade through adults will take a written test and require both the USTF Testing Requirements Book and the Patterns Requirements Book in order to be fully prepared.  Please see Mr. Bushor for the books.  Testing forms will be passed out to those who are determined “ready to test”. Don’t wait until the last minute to show you are ready.  EVERY STUDENT NEEDS TO START PREPARING NOW! 

Promotion Party-

We are planning a party after the testing on November 23^rd.  The details are not finalized at the time of this publication, but we will let everyone know the details as they come available.

USTF World Camp 2014-(by Master Todd)

Sr. Grand Master Sereff will be hosting the World Camp, Sunday thru Friday, June 22-27th, 2014.  Students will travel to Snow Mountain Ranch in the Rocky Mountains for one week. This will be a full week immersed in Taekwon-Do education, etiquette, training, and building relationships with others in TKD around the world!  Past camp students have went hiking, stood in waterfalls, enjoyed the peaceful scenery, and been trained and challenged in a variety of fun and unique ways of teaching.  All students, 13 years and older, are invited to attend.  Students under 13 may be permitted to go, but only with the approval of Master Todd as required by the USTF.  The total cost of the camp is $550 per student which covers housing, daily meals, a camp T-shirt, and all training by the highest ranked instructors in the USTF.  A non-refundable deposit of $250 is due to Master Todd by December 5, 2013.  The remaining portion is due by April 30^th, 2014.  Payments can be made by check or credit card.  Make checks out to USTF.  Those paying by credit card see Master Todd for further instruction.  World Camp has been a Semi-Annual event since 1968 and everyone that has gone to the World Camp has had an amazing experience!  I hope you make it part of your summer plans!

Comments by Master Todd:  Early in my TKD career I went to this camp several times.  It is a full immersion into the TKD world.  You are with fellow TKD students and instructors 24 hours per day.  They do have scheduled “fun” and other activities and the purpose of the camp is to have fun and learn TKD.  I know some of you have been to the Missouri camps in the past, but this camp will by far exceed that camp, since that is really a “mini-camp”.  I plan on going to this camp and I would like to see as many Axe TKD students attend as possible, however you need to be very serious with this camp.  It will be instructed by 9^th degree Grand Masters and a few others.  This is a “World” camp and there will be TKD students there from other countries.  The learning potential at this camp will be outstanding. I am required to personally recommend in writing any students under 13 that wish to attend.  It will be a great summer event and you will be surrounded by your TKD family.  The USTF will keep us busy during this week with a schedule full of training activities.    We traveled a lot in 2013 for tournaments and seminars.  If you have to make a choice on tournaments next year or camp, you may want to consider this camp.  I will pass out flyers this week in class.  If any parents and/or students have questions about this camp or process please contact me.  You can come into the school or email me at ustfneb@cox.net.

Holiday Party

Our annual holiday party is on Thursday, December 19^th from 6-830pm.  All students will attend in regular clothes, no Taekwon-Do uniforms!  This is a casual event to share and grow as a TKD family.  We are looking for an adult or two to volunteer to plan and organize the party.  Typically, it is a potluck type of affair with some games for the students.  Email or talk to Master Todd, Mr. Bushor, or Ms. Bowing if you would like more information.

Taekwon Do Gift Ideas!!

Looking for holiday gift ideas?  Now is the time to start thinking about what to order.  We have a commercial account with Century Martial Arts, and a new uniform is always welcomed in class!  In addition, the company offers cool T-shirts, gear bags, sparring gear, and other martial arts gift ideas! Browse their website at http://www.centurymartialarts.com/. The prices listed may not be the actual prices as we receive specials all the time.  Please contact Mr. Bushor for more information.

Class Cancellation and Weather

Here comes the cold weather, snow and ice!  Our first priority is student safety; if you feel the weather is too poor to attend class, simply let one of the instructors know that you will be missing class. The only time class will be canceled is if the Youth Center closes.  Generally, they will decide by 5pm. An e-mail will be sent and a posting on the Axe TKD Facebook will be made as soon as possible to notify all students of any cancellations.

New Students- 

As with the start of every new school year, our class gets a lot of new students and this year is no different.  We have many new faces in the class, and just like you when you first started they probably don’t know many people (if any) in the class.  If you remember how nervous and scared you were when you started, the new students all feel just as nervous and scared as you did.  We are all Master Todd’s students and as such we all have that one thing in common.  We all need to welcome each of the new students, to include those former students who have returned, into our class and our Taekwon-Do family.  Aside from our weekly training classes, we travel to other schools in other states for tournaments and training classes, and we meet outside of class in social environments.  Treat your fellow new students and their families the way you would want and expect to be treated, make them feel welcome into the Axe Taekwon-Do family.