Student of the Month:  The student of the month for February is Ms. Amy Buckley.  We believe she is an excellent example of the finest qualities in TKD, and display the tenets of Taekwon-Do (Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control and Indomitable Spirit). Taekwon!  Please visit the webpage to review her information. 
 
USTF Maintenance Fee:  It is time to renew your USTF memberships.  For all current members (Green Stripes and above are required to be members) that received a USTF Membership card last year, your 2009 USTF Maintenance Fee is $50.00.  The USTF is offering a family discount again this year:  $50.00 for the first student, $35.00 for the second, $25.00 for the third, and all other family members are FREE.  The fees are due to the USTF Headquarters by the end of March, so we are establishing February 26th as the cut off date so all the appropriate paperwork can be completed and turned in on time.  Make your checks payable to AXE TKD.  Mr. Bushor will send one check for all memberships.

As mentioned earlier, all students Green Stripes and above must joint the USTF to be able to test or participate in any USTF sponsored event (tournaments, instructor / referee / ho-sin-sul courses, etc.).  All students Green Stripes and above that are not currently members must join immediately.  The cost is $50.00 per student.  Sorry, there are no family discounts for new memberships.  If you are joining for the first time, you do not have to pay the maintenance fee until next January.

Please talk to Master Todd or Mr. Bushor if you have any question about either the USTF Maintenance Fee or joining the USTF for the first time.

Notes from the USTF: 

To:  All USTF Members

From:  USTF Headquarters

We want to thank you for renewing your USTF Membership via the Maintenance fees 2009.  All events within the USTF will require this card to be presented including USTF Tournaments, Seminars, Workshops and Camps.  Start planning now for USTF Nationals in Region 1, 2009!
As you know the USTF is very busy planning many of the required events.  Your Instructors are working hard to provide you with some of the best training in the World! We are proud to have Grand Master Sereff still teaching throughout the USA!  He is teaching and training by example to all of the students of Taekwon Do.
We have put your Instructors e-mail on file and will be sending information throughout the year of coming events and information.  Remember to check your USTF Testing Gup or Dan Syllabus for requirements for your rank and plan on attending the planned events in your area. 

Saturday Classes:  The Saturday class will resume on March 7th.  However this will be for 1st Gups (black stripes) and above. At this time the first Saturday of each month will be for this advanced class.  Due to our contract with the Youth Center, no other Saturday classes can be offered.  We will still offer 6 classes per week.  Tuesday & Thursday, 530-630pm, 630-730pm and 730-830pm. 

USTF Referee Course:  We will be hosting the USTF Referee Course on Saturday, March 14th.  The course will be at the Youth Center from 9am-3pm.  Master Todd and Mr. Bushor will be teaching the course.  Students are reminded that you must become a USTF Class “C” referee to be promoted to 1st degree black belt.  Students must become a USTF Class “B” referee to be promoted to 2nd degree black belt and a USTF Class “A” referee to be promoted to 4th degree black belt.  These are optimal guidelines and all efforts must be made to complete the requirements.  As you may see we have several 2nd degrees that will now obtaining their Class “B” certification.  If you are a red belt or above you should consider this course mandatory.  For those Class “C” referees wishing to move to Class “B” you should start making a list of tournaments you have attended since you tested for Class “C” and have worked before this course.  You must submit your list along with your application.  Please see Master Todd or Mr. Bushor if you have any questions.  The cost for the course is $65.00.  Information can be found at:  http://www.axetkd.com/2009RefereeCourse.html

USTF Class “B” Instructors Course:  We will be travelling to Denver, Colorado in April for this course.  Mr. Bushor took several students to USTF Class “C” Instructors Course this month for certification.  As a reminder students must become certified Class “C” Instructors prior to testing for 2nd degree black belt.  Students must become certified Class “B” Instructors prior to testing for 4th degree black belt and Class “A” Instructors prior to testing for 7th degree black belt.  Due to the availability of these courses you are advised to obtain the certification as soon as possible.  USTF has granted extensions due to the non-availability of courses in the past, but these are very rare now.  If you are a black belt you can attend this Class B course but only 3rd dan and above can become certified.  All others will bow out when the course passes your pattern levels.  Please see Master Todd or Mr. Bushor if you have any questions.  All students and certified instructors need to remember that Master Todd is the final authority for technique taught at our school.

Tournament:  We will be hosting our 2nd Annual tournament on May 9th at the Youth Center.  I have received information from students in Missouri, Kansas and Colorado that will be attending our tournament, but for this tournament to be a success we must have full participation from our school.  This is a USTF sanctioned tournament which for you means that it will meet your requirement for participating in a USTF tournament.  While we encourage all students to attend, this is a requirement for black belts.  You must participate in one tournament per year as a black belt.  Last year we hosted our tournament and attended one in Missouri and one in Colorado.  We should have the opportunity to attend three tournaments again this year.  Information for the tournament can be found at:    http://www.axetkd.com/2009AxeTKDTournament.html

2009 Tentative Schedule:
Mar 14 – USTF Referee Course – Axe TKD
Mar - Ho Sin Sul Course – Kirksville, Missouri
Apr – Testing
Apr 25-26 USTF Class “B” Instructors Course - Denver
May 9 – Axe TKD Tournament – 2nd Annual
Jun 26th– 28th USTF Nationals – Kelso, WA
July – Testing
Jul 24-26 - Camp - Knob Noster, MO
Sep 19 - Battle of the Belts – Missouri
Oct – Testing

Discipline & Respect (By Master Ricky Todd)

General Choi, The Founder of Taekwon-Do stated “A good student must be willing to sacrifice for his art and instructor. Many students feel that their training is a commodity bought with monthly dues, and are unwilling to take part in demonstrations, teaching and working around the dojang. An instructor can afford to lose this type of student.”

This requirement has always been one of my favorite quotes from General Choi.   We require many things from our students in Taekwon-Do and even more from the black belts.   Taekwon-Do is not a dance or exercise class where you simply pay your monthly dues and exercise.  It is a martial arts class.  It should be evident from the uniforms, the strict attention to detail and the many requirements placed on each student that you have joined something different. 

Throughout my journey in Taekwon-Do I am amazed when people tell me they don’t have time to train.   We all make time for things we think are necessary.  If Taekwon-Do doesn’t fit your plans or what you want in life I can respect that, but time is always there.  I still found “time” working full time to finish college, raise kids, play hockey, spend family time AND do Taekwon-Do.  What do you give up?  Free time.  Yes that precious time spent watching TV, reading books, napping or whatever else you can give up.  I never missed my children’s events, family or work events.  Yes, I even somehow managed 21 years in the military and moved 6 times.  I estimate that I may have missed 2-3 weeks (at the most) training time during the moves over the course of my career.

Is this crazy?  Depends on what you want out of the martial arts.  I chose Taekwon-Do at that time not knowing it was the most well rounded martial art, it just happened to be available.  If you are in the class I can guarantee you it's the most well rounded martial art.  No, it’s not MMA, ultimate fighting or anything else; we don’t grapple (which is a sport).  We teach self-defense.  Taekwon-Do is not meant to be something you play as a game, it's meant to defend you.  We do spar and participate in tournaments but actually that is more about encouraging self confidence and allowing you to test techniques that might work.  Of the over 3000 techniques in Taekwon-Do most people only use about 10 or 11 techniques when they spar.  You quickly learn that some techniques are for art and some are simply too dangerous to use on others. 

You need self discipline to remain in Taekwon-Do.  You will see people become injured or leave Taekwon-Do for various reasons.  It takes discipline to remain, study and train hard.  My job as an instructor is to make sure you are taught correctly and encouraged to pursue your goals.  If your goal is black belt, it's a rough road and there are no short cuts.  It takes hours of sweat and discipline.  It also requires a tremendous amount of respect.

An old saying is “respect is a two-way street”. I always interpreted this as to get respect you have to give it.  Many new students walk in off the street and most of us consider them untrained and they appear disrespectful.  Most of the time it's just an education in teaching them about respect.  We require the titles of Mr. and Miss (or Mrs.) and we are not on a first name basis in Taekwon-Do, it's a martial art and very militaristic.  Typically when a new student is what I might consider disrespectful I become more respectful.  I use this tactic outside the school also.  The more upset someone becomes the more calm I become. 
One of my favorite stories at this school is when I met a certain young girl I thought was disrespectful (really just immature).  I thought she would never make it in class without a lot of pushups or corrective measures and she would eventually give up.  However the Taekwon-Do must have influenced here, she has become a strong black belt and role model.   The respect does work.  Respect yourself and others.  It will come back to you.

My final statement on respect is if you are going to miss class or discontinue for any reason you should contact me or Mr. Bushor.  This will not be an easy talk for you, but if you respect us and yourself you will do it.  In all my time only one student came to talk with me face to face.  I am sure it took that young man tremendous effort (or maybe parent pressure); regardless he did it and has my respect for a lifetime. 

Train hard, be disciplined about your training, respect yourself, others and Taekwon-Do.  You will be amazed at what you can get out of it in self-confidence and making you a better person.  If you ever have questions about any aspect of Taekwon-Do please feel to write me or discuss it at anytime.