Promotion Testing:

On Saturday, June 7 we held our quarterly promotion testing.  We had students testing to Yellow Stripe through to 1st degree black belt.  Congratulations to all the students who were promoted and a special word of recognition to Mrs. Angelique Jocson, Ms. Samantha Jocson, Ms. Gabrielle Jocson and Mr. Robert Cardoza for their promotion to 1st degree. The next promotion testing will be scheduled for Saturday, August 23rd. 

Sereff World Camp (by Master Todd)

I attended this camp with 9 Axe TKD students, Ms. Bowing, 5th dan; Mr. Bushor, J., 3rd dan; Mrs. Ragone, 3rd dan; Mr. Toppi, 3rd dan; Ms. Brumbaugh, 2nd dan; Ms. Ragone, 2nd dan; Mr. James, 1st dan; Ms. Seaman, 1st dan and Ms. Chamberlin, 1st gup.  The camp was led by Grand Master Sereff and the camp director was Sr. Master Steadman.  I was honored to be named the assistant camp director and had a great time. 

We left around 4am on Sunday, June 22nd.  We arrived at USTF HQ in Broomfield, Colorado meeting up with the remaining campers for another 2 hour drive to Snow Mountain Ranch near Winter Park, Colorado.  On the drive to the camp we stopped at Berthoud Pass which is at a elevation of over 11,000 feet.  There was still snow on the ground and the students all posed for some pictures.  The days at camp were long and the students can share their individual stories.  Each day began at 6am with a warm-up outside prior to eating breakfast.  The days and evenings were full of TKD related activities including a concert, singing around the camp fire, actually there are too many events and activities to list. 

One day Sr. Grand Master Sereff taught and then the day was divided by each of our three USTF Grand Masters teaching.  Grand Master Winegar, Grand Master Sereff and Grand Master DeBaca all sharing their experience with the campers.   On Wednesday we travelled to Grand Lake for a day of training in the park near the lake.  Grand lake is the largest and deepest lake in Colorado.  The training day ended with the students all taking the Polar Bear plunge by diving into the lake.  They will tell you it was extremely cold, roughly 40 degrees!   On Thursday we travelled after training to a waterfall high in the mountains where the students all stood in the cold waterfall and posed in various TKD stances.  On the way to and from the waterfall we were about 20 yards from a moose! 

On Friday we woke early and departed but took a different mountain pass toward Estes Park.  During that drive we saw more moose and several elk herds.  We returned after midnight on Friday, June 27th.  The entire week (Sunday through Friday) consisted of waking at 6am, training and special activities and hitting the bed around 11pm.  There were roughly 75-80 students in attendance with roughly 20 students from Australia.  I will encourage some of the campers from Axe TKD to share their experiences about camp in future newsletters.  Grand Master Sereff is posting hundreds of pictures on Facebook and you don't need to have a Facebook account these pictures.  I encourage you to look for the Axe TKD students! 

You can see the pictures at: https://www.facebook.com/SereffWC2014

USTF World Camp 2014 (by Ms. April Bowing):

This past week Master Todd took 9 students to the Sereff World Camp. It was a rainy drive but we arrived safely. The first day of training Senior Grand Master Sereff and the three Grand Masters taught. The classes were all full of knowledge and priceless information. The rest of the week was full of mountain climbing, dalion, cold showers, hiking, etc. On Wednesday the camp trained at a park in the middle of a town and then most of the camp did the “Polar Bear Plunge”  where all of AXE participated (for the exception of Master Todd who is injured) and we all had such a great time we all went two or three times! Mrs. Ragone took a group of students on a horseback ride of which I heard nothing but great things! Everyone was excited when they returned and got a horse toy to remember their time from GM Sereff and Senior Master Steadman. Thursday the camp hiked up to a waterfall where we got to stand under cold water and pose for pictures. Yes, all of Axe went in to show that we have perseverance over the cold water and slippery rocks! We also got to see a young moose. I say “young” but the shoulders were easily 6 foot tall! Friday before we left for Nebraska we took a detour through the Colorado National Park. Almost right off we saw two young moose drinking out of a stream. Some students climbed (took stairs and a path) up to the top of the mountain that was 12,005 feet. Of course we posed in TKD fashion. It was hard to laugh and walk at the same time due to lack of oxygen! We also saw a herd of elk and deer. The views were surreal. After the park we made our way back safely through storms at 130 Saturday morning.

4th Annual Axe TKD Bike Ride:

On Saturday, July 12^th, starting at 10:00 a.m. we will have our 4th Annual Bike Ride.  We will start and end at the trail head near Haworth Park off of 370 near the Bellevue Toll Bridge.  We will ride south along the trail about 5 miles to the turnaround point (near Harlan Lewis Road).  There will be drinks, fruit, and some food at the half way/turn around point.  Everyone, to include your family members, are invited to ride along as long as you have a bike that will make the trip (about 5 miles each way).   It was a great time last year and should be again this year.  We will talk about moving it to a different day if the weather is too bad (rain, temperature, etc.). 

Upcoming Tournaments:

Tournaments are a safe way for students to challenge themselves and utilize what they have learned in class instruction.  A reminder, students who are red belt and above are required to attend at least one tournament per year to be eligible for promotion.    

There are three remaining tournaments to participate in this year.  In September, we have two opportunities, one in Casper, Wyoming and one in Kirksville, Missouri.  Finally, in October we will travel to Broomfield, Colorado for USTF headquarters, Sereff Tournament.  All traveling tournaments are planned in advance to include hotel, food and gas expenses.  In order to keep costs down, we would like to know if you are planning on attending, even if you are a maybe at this point.  Students can travel without their parents and will be supervised at all times.  If you are considering going to a future tournament, it is never too early to let Ms. Bowing know.  She will keep you informed and up to date as we have information to share.  As always, we welcome any questions to help you make a decision.  The Wyoming tournament flyer is located at http://www.axetkd.com/PDF/WyInvit.pdf.  The tournament is September 13th.  There is a $5.00 discount if registered by 9/5/14.  All forms will be processed through Master Todd.  The remaining tournament flyers will be posted on our website as we recieve them. 

USTF Class B Instructors Course:

There will be a Class B course in Broomfield on November 8-9^th.  You must be a 3^rd degree black belt to certify for the Class B, but the course is open to all black belts.  This course covers requirements from 1^st degree black belt through 4^th degree black belt.  It also covers all the various flying kicks, it is very challenging but a fun course.  Only the 3^rd degrees will take the written test.  Cost for certification is $200.00; 2^nd degrees are $100.00 and recertification is $75.00.  You must be Class B certified prior to being allowed to test for 4^th degree.  This course is typically offered every other year.  Please let Ms. Bowing know if you are planning on attending.  We encourage all black belts to attend, all information is taught by the USTF Director of Technique, Grand Master Winegar.

Sparring for Beginners (by Mr. Kevin Bushor):

One of the most scary parts of Taekwon-Do is Sparring.  This is true for the brand-new White Belts, many Color Belts, and some Black Belts.  While it is a necessary part of the Cycle of Taekwon-Do, it takes some time and conditioning to allow someone else to punch and kick at your head and body.  According to the Rules and Regulations of USTF Tournaments:  "Continuous sparring demonstrates the beauty and control of Taekwon-Do, and allows fighters the training necessary for self-defense and personal development.  Sparring also promotes tenacity and courage in the student."  I believe that the most common fear of Sparring is getting hurt.  No one can guarantee that you will never get hurt in Taekwon-Do, but the more you practice something the better you will become.  This is true with Sparring. 

Sparring should be thought of as just a game of tag.  Like the game of tag, no one is trying to hurt you, but that doesn't mean you can't get hurt.  You want to kick or strike your opponent with a legal technique to a legal target area more often than your opponent strikes you.  You can hit your opponent with your hands which are covered with gloves.  You can use your forefist, backfist, knife-hand, and reverse knife-hand to score points; and you can use your forearms and palms to block your opponent's attacks.  While these block don't score points for you, they will prevent your opponent from scoring points against you.  You can also kick your opponent with your feet which are also covered with boots.  You can use your footsword, reverse footsword, ball of the foot, and heel.  You can also use your feet to block your opponent's attacks.  You cannot use your head, elbows, knees, shins, butt, or anything that is not listed above.

Now for the hard part, you can only hit your opponent in certain areas.  You can kick or strike to the front of the body, above the belt.  You can attack the front, sides, top, and back of the head and the face, but the neck is off limits.  You cannot strike below the belt or to the back.  You can hit the arms (but they won't count as points), and you can hit the legs provided they are above the belt (and again they won't count as points).  You only score points if your technique is executed with proper control and balance to a legal target area with a legal technique.

This is not a contest to see who can hit the hardest, it is a contest to see who can hit their opponent with a legal technique to a legal target area with control (light touch) and balance.  You get more points if you attack the head or if you execute your techniques in a jumping or flying motion.  You will lose points and possibly be disqualified if you break the rules.  Safety of the competitors is the Center Referee's primary duty, so you don't need to worry about someone trying to hurt you.  The Bottom Line is: if you score more points than your opponent you will win.  There are 4 Corner Judges that actually watch the fight and award points that they see.  They can't see everything, and you may think that you won a fight, but if the Corner Judges don't see the technique or don't score the technique then you may still lose a fight you think you have dominated. 

Remember that sparring is a demonstration of the beauty and control of Taekwon-Do.  If you win, don't gloat or boast, congratulate your opponent; if you lose, congratulate your opponent on their victory, and don't whine or pout.  Learn from each match, watch every match to see if they are doing something that might work for you, or are they doing something that you want to avoid doing!  Sparring is easy, but you must train very hard to be good at sparring.  While each match will only last 2 minutes, those 2 minutes will seem like 2 hours if you are tired.  You should always be ready to defend yourself, whether on the street, in school, or in the ring.  If you don't take sparring serious, you could be injured; but if you train and try hard, you should be successful in the ring.