Tournament

October 21st  was Senior Grand Master Sereff’s Tournament in Broomfield, Colorado. We would like to thank all of those who attended and participated in the tournament. We would also like to congratulate everyone travelled with us and participated in this event. A special congratulation goes to Mr. Graysen Ragone for winning Grand Champion in the 1st and 2nd Dan Black Belt division.  As always these events are open to everyone regardless of rank. For the parents of the younger students, we will always have an adult or either Master Todd, Mr. Bushor, or Ms. Bowing around to watch them.  It is never too early to start planning and budgeting for 2013! 

Promotion Testing

We are delighted that our class has grown and as a result, testing will be split up into two testing nights!  All the written tests will be taken on Tuesday, November 13th.  Written tests are required for all adult students and youth students in 7th grade and above.  Students in the 6th grade and below will take the oral test.  Green Belts and above will test for their new rank on Thursday, November 15th starting at 6:30 pm.  Students testing for their Yellow Stripe thru Green Stripe will test  on the following Tuesday, November 20th starting at 6:30 pm. All who are eligible to test should have already been given there testing forms in class. These forms need to be filled out and returned to Mr. Bushor with the testing fee as soon as possible.

Holiday Party

Our annual holiday party is on Thursday, December 20th 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?  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.

Newsletters

We encourage any student or parent to submit articles for inclusion in the newsletter.  We will review all and if appropriate publish them. There are many new students that may want to hear what they can look forward to in class and at tournaments! Students of any age/ rank can type up their story and submit it, or parents that would like to send one or more in.

Testing (by Master Todd)

Testing is coming soon.  Students taking the oral test can find the exact questions that will be asked on our Axe TKD website at http://www.axetkd.com/StudyGuide.html.  The oral test is taken by all students in the 6th grade and below.  We may ask a few more questions than listed on the study guide but they are not counted.  Usually we only do this if you are very prepared and we want to see how much more you know, again this is not required nor does it count.  Adult students and those in the 7th grade and above will take the written test.  You need to study for these tests.  If you purchase the USTF Gup Testing Requirement Book it has the necessary information to successfully pass these written tests. 

When you are given your testing form I would suggest prior to returning it to class that you either copy it or write down what you will be tested on and practice!  We don't deviate from this format and this way you are not surprised.  Remember testing is graded on different areas, patterns, hand techniques, basic kicking, advanced kicking, flying kicks, step sparring, self-defense, breaking and your written or oral tests.  Every area except the written test is graded on a pass/fail basis.  Students must score 80% or better to pass the written tests.  If you fail any area, for example the written test or step sparring, you will not be promoted until you can show me that you can pass that area.  This is typically not a problem since we ensure that all students are ready to test prior to giving them the testing form.  We do at times have students fail in the breaking area.  When this occurs the student will try the break(s) again during the next class.  They can keep trying each class until they complete all areas of a test.  They are not however, promoted until they successfully pass all areas. 

There are some martial arts schools that do not take promotion testing seriously and I talked with a parent this week where their daughter received her black belt at a school in this area in one year.  This is not possible with us and should not be possible anywhere regardless of your skill.  I guarantee you that our yellow belt green stripes have more martial arts knowledge and skill than that "black belt".  Find the time to prepare for your testing.  Show me what you have drilled on this for the last three months.  Practice at home.  Take commercial breaks or 5 minutes here and there to practice something.  Over the past 30 years not a single day goes by in my life were I don't do at least a few Taekwon-Do techniques, it only takes a few minutes.  If you were not selected this time to test, don't worry.  This only means you are not ready either time wise or your technique needs a little more time.  If we simply handed out belts like that young black belt you would not have really earned your rank and it would be meaningless. Good luck to all!