Welcome Back:

Welcome to 2016 and welcome back to class.  With a new year we hope you rededicate your efforts in our class.  It is time to start working hard to prepare for testing next month.  Get to class on time, line up quickly, and try your hardest in class.  If you are given an exercise or task to do in class while the instructor is working with another student or group, work on that until the instructor returns.  Your instructor is giving you their very best and we expect you to give us very best in return.

USTF Initial & Annual Membership Fees: 

It is time again for the Annual USTF Maintenance Fees.  The Initial Fee for USTF first time memberships is $75.00.  The Annual USTF Maintenance Fees are determined each year and for 2016 the fees are $75.00.  This fee is due no later than Thursday, February 25^th, payable to Mr. Bushor.   The Annual USTF Maintenance Fees for 2016 stayed the same this year. These fees allow the USTF to operate a full time office.  In order to continue to help our Taekwon-Do families, the following discounts will apply:

  For family discounts;  

1^st family member is $75.00

2^nd family member is $50.00

3^rd family member is $25.00

4^th family member is Free

Final Payment World Camp – Apr 1^st:

The final payment for the USTF World Camp to be held at Snow Mountain Ranch in Colorado from July 10^th-15^th 2016 will be due on not later than April 1^st.  The final payment is $300 per person, which covers housing, meals, t-shirt and training.  The flyer is posted on the Axe TKD website.  Last year 11 students attended, and we are excited to have even more interested this year.  A large group from Australia will be in attendance again.  This is a wonderful opportunity to be submerged in not only TKD but different students around the world.  It is still not too late to attend, so see Sr. Master Todd ASAP.  Get your final payment to Sr. Master Todd by Tuesday, March 29^th.  Credit card information, if desired is located on the registration form.

USTF Region Restructuring:

Starting with the new year the USTF restructured how the Regions are organized.  We are now in Region II, and Sr. Master Todd is our Regional Director.  Region II now includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.  As students this will have little effect on you, but it is a huge honor having one of the few Regional Directors as our head instructor.

Axe Family Class Party:

Our Annual Holiday Party was held on Tuesday, December 22^nd.  All students and family members who attend said they had a great time.  We had our 2^nd Annual chili contest and the winner was Mrs. Sharon Buckley, II Dan (with some help from her husband Mr. Keith Buckley, II Dan).  They won the free month of tuition. 

Get your calendars ready!

Axe TKD has a full year of Taekwon-Do excitement planned in 2016!  Some dates are still being coordinated, but the year will begin with a promotion testing on Saturday, February 6th, starting at 12:30, in the large gym at the Youth Center.  The remaining testing dates will be scheduled in late May/early June, August, and November.  Also in February, students will travel to attend the USTF Class C Instructors Course in Missouri. Those students who interested in competing in tournaments will have the following opportunities: Arvada, CO in March for the Maestas TKD tournament; Axe TKD home tournament in May; and our busiest month, September with a tournament in Casper, WY and Kirksville, MO. Tournament travel commences in October with travel to Broomfield, CO for the annual USTF tournament. Most importantly, in July we will travel for a week of training for the USTF World Camp.  Pay attention in class and to our website as details for each event are finalized! 

Giving Back by Ms. Brianna Grant, I Dan:

After training and making my way through the color belt ranks, I have now earned the rank of first degree black belt. Earned: at least, that was what I thought when I imagined becoming a black belt someday. I thought, as I believe a great many people do, that to be a first degree black belt is to be a true expert and master of your art. That you have earned it. And in a way, yes you have. My instructor Sr. Master Todd told us that it is indeed an accomplishment to achieve first dan. But he also told us something else: that there is another path to start on once you have finished the color belt ranks.

a good grasp on it. I personally have to practice my kicks more often, get more power in my patterns, and stretch out more often to become more flexible. I have a great deal of studying and learning to do.

But at the same time, I feel that I also have a lot to give back. At a referee course I attended, I heard Sr. Master Kirk Steadman say, "Keep that legacy alive that we owe."  I was in Taekwon-Do for about 2 years and then had to move away for 2 more years. I actually believe the time away was a blessing in disguise, because it made me realize just how much I missed getting to be in the dojang. Now to have moved back and be welcomed back by my instructors, I feel ready to start this new journey. My instructors have invested so much time in teaching me and all the other students at Axe Taekwon-Do. I have watched my instructors and seen that they point out what you need to correct or improve, but at the same time they are encouraging you to do your best. They want you to succeed. They never tear down, but instead they instead build people up. I have been blessed with incredible teachers here at Axe, and I know the bar is set high.

But in spite of the probable soreness, bruises, pulled muscles (hopefully not those!), I am still eager to train and become the best student that I can be. I want to pass on what has been passed on to me, and to earn my black belt every time I step in the dojang.