It’s Summertime!

Summer is in full swing with temperatures reaching well into the hundreds!  We hope that everyone is enjoying their family vacations and summer activities.  While we understand that this can be a busy time of the year, if you are anticipating missing class, it is a courtesy and a requirement to notify Master Todd, Mr. Bushor, or Miss Bowing that you will miss class.  This can be done by e-mail, phone call, text, or by posting a comment on the Axe TKD Facebook page.  Those who fail to do this may enjoy some push-ups during class when they return.

Annual Class Bike Ride-Join the Fun

On Saturday, July 14 at 830 AM, all students, to include their families, are invited to participate in the 2nd Annual Class Bike Ride.  We will begin and end the ride from the trail head near Capehart Road and Highway 75.  Mr. Bushor will lead the pack on an approximately 12 mile long ride, stopping at the turn around point to refuel with water, fruit, and snacks. The entire ride is supervised with Miss Bowing graciously acting as the caboose!  Bring water bottles, hats, sunscreen and bike helmets.  Also, servicing bikes to ensure they are in good working condition to complete the ride is recommended.  It was a great time last year and should be again this year!  Please RSVP to Mr. Bushor at kbushor@cox.net. 

Next Promotion Testing-

The next Black Belt and Color Belt promotion testing will be held on Saturday, August 18th.  All students are encouraged to attend and all Black Belts are required to attend to support and encourage your fellow classmates.  Master Todd, Mr. Bushor and Miss Bowing will be assessing all eligible students.  Each student must be able to demonstrate all of their patterns, kicks, ho sin sul and step sparring formats for all levels up to their current belt level with accuracy as well as demonstrate proper etiquette and attitude during class. There will be a Pre-Test for all students Black Stripe and above to determine who will be allowed to test for their Black Belts.  Students will be notified next month if they will be permitted to test. Now is the time to perfect the skills you have learned!  Work hard, train hard, study hard, and the testing will be easy!

Travel Plans-

This year, we will participate in three more tournaments.  Our next trips will be in September.  All students are invited and encouraged to attend.  Tournaments allow students to test their skills and enrich their moral culture through travel.  Senior Master Martin, President of the USTF, is hosting the 13th Annual Wyoming Invitational in Casper, WY on Sept. 15.  Then the following weekend, we will travel to Kirksville, MO for the Annual Battle of the Belts. For these trips, we carpool and can supervise children going without their parents.  Typically, we leave on Friday and return on Sunday evening.  Please let us know as soon as possible if you are interested in attending.  Costs for these trips will be determined once we have a head count of who plans on going.  Monthly installments can be made to Axe TKD in order to help out the budget. 

“Why Taekwon Do, Why Axe TKD and What am I getting out of it?” (Written by Mrs. Ragone)

Seven years ago, I signed my oldest son up for Taekwon Do with Axe TKD.  He had been bullied by schoolmates since he was in Kindergarten.  I wanted to protect him but knew that he needed to learn to stand up for himself as I would not always be there when he needed help.  Initially, it was the low cost and no contract that attracted us to Axe, but I can say now that Axe TKD has so much more to offer. 

Besides the bumps and bruises, beyond the patterns and the kicks, there is a mental strength that all of us gain. Some students will grow from young bullied children into confident teenagers who can walk with pride, and for some it will be pushing their bodies beyond what they ever thought possible.  Others will learn to control their bodies from fidgeting or their mouths from talking too much.  For each student, it is a different journey. 

There have been times, after a failed attempt to break a board or a ho-sin-sul throw that leaves a bruise that I have asked myself, “Why do I do this?”  I have considered quitting and giving up, giving in to the fear.  It is that mental strength, the perseverance, the indomitable spirit that pushed me through those times.  I remember that Taekwon Do is not a leisure sport or a recreational activity.  As Master Todd says, “This isn’t ballet.”  Taekwon Do is a serious martial art designed to build our spirits in order to fight against an attacker. 

When we walk through the doors of the do jang, we need to keep in mind that we will only get out class what we put into it.  Students need to mentally prepare themselves for hard work and challenge.  There is no giving up, no quitting.  Whether working with an instructor or off to the side, push yourself.  Go over your pattern again, but fix something!  Make it better than it was the first time.  If you step up to the board holder, believe that you can break it.  See it happen in your mind and give it your all.  Strengthen your body by doing one more push up; stretch it beyond where you did the previous week.  While we have fun in class, remember the purpose and why we do this.  The goal is to be better prepared for the “what ifs” and to be mentally prepared to overcome the challenges that life brings.  Please encourage your son, daughter or yourself to stick with it!  There is a personal pay off every step along the way for every student.

Assistant Instructor Schedule (Written by Master Todd)

We have created an assistant instructor schedule for several reasons.  First to be eligible to wear the assistant instructor flashes you need to be certified through the USTF course AND you need to teach.  We help students with this by creating the assistant instructor schedule.  Also, I feel it is important to be good Black Belts and one way to be really good is to know HOW to teach.  Some of you may never have your own school but you will learn your techniques better by teaching them to others.  Mr. Bushor will publish the schedule in advance to allow you to work your schedule.  We expect you to work any changes to the schedule between the other instructors.  Recently I have noticed a trend in others not stepping forward to assist when students have conflicts and email for help.  Ensure if someone asks for help that you all look over your schedules and help.  With the number of qualified black belts we currently have in class you are not on the schedule that often.

Summer Class Challenge (Written by Master Todd)

Sr. Grand Master Sereff has always informed his students when he promotes them to 1st degree Black Belt that they are now challenged to train a person to begin Taekwon-Do and make it to Black Belt.  I have risen to this challenge more times than I can count.  I wish I could remember the name of every student I have taught in the past 29 years, but sadly I can’t.  I can however remember EVERY student that trained in my school and attained black belt, and there have been many.  Axe Taekwon-Do is my 10th Taekwon-Do school where I have been the head instructor; all schools have produced quality black belts.  While some of you have only been a part of Axe TKD, I have been in 10 different schools, all of which have been USTF schools!

I challenge all students regardless of rank to bring more people into Taekwon-Do.  We all have to act as recruiters and bring in those new students.  You may have noticed that I also work on bringing back those that trained in Taekwon-Do and have quit for various reasons.  There have been very few times when I haven’t welcomed a student back into Taekwon-Do.  As long as they left on good terms, they are welcome to train again at my school.  I am very proud of those that have returned and have continued training. 

If you love Taekwon-Do, as I do, it’s really easy to recruit and bring students into class.  Your job is to get them into class.  We will take over from there.  We will help them into the Taekwon-Do way.  We have an excellent beginner’s class.  The pace is intentionally slow so we don’t overwhelm them.  Personally, I care about a large class since my goal is to spread Taekwon-Do.  I think we have the best system of martial arts and when people join the class they will like it.  I could write hundreds of pages on what Taekwon-Do has done for me or what it has allowed me personally to achieve-everything from self- confidence to being comfortable speaking in front of large groups.  There is so much more than just self-defense.  I challenge all of you reading this to bring a person or two into class. Larger classes are more fun and bring diversity into our class.