Youth Center Sign-In:  All Students, Parents, and Guests need to sign-in when you arrive at the Youth Center.  There is a small desk near the front desk with books for sign-in.  This is MANDITORY for the Youth Center so they can track building usage and building capacity.  Students also need to sign the class attendance book to get credit for attending the class(es).

Students of the Month:  The students of the month for August are Mr. Jacob Souchek and Mr. Dylan Araujo.  We believe they are excellent examples 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 their information.

Testing:  We held our latest promotion testing on Saturday, August 30th.  Mr. Randall Hake, Mr. Dempsey DeMars & Mr. Dakota DeMars all successfully tested to 1st Degree Black Belt, make sure you congratulate them when you see them.  Mr. Hake did an exceptional job considering he is only 8 years old!  Everyone else did a great job as well.  As always there are some things that need to be refined and fixed.  Master Todd and Mr. Bushor will go over your test forms with each of you in the next few classes.

*NEW* Our next scheduled testing will be on Friday, November 21st, starting at 5:30pm (in the evening).  This is a new day and time for testing.  The Youth Center will no longer allow us to use the building before their official opening time, and Master Todd and I do not want to spend all day Saturday on testing.  So we have decided to do the next testing on a Friday evening and we will see how that goes.  Please mark your calendar now and plan on this date.  We want to eliminate any testing on other nights.

Battle of the Belts Tournament: Region 6 is hosting their 20th Annual Battle of the Belts in Harrisburg Missouri on Saturday, September 20th.  This is about 4 ½ hours from Bellevue.  We have attended the tournament for the past few years.  It is a great tournament and is USTF sanctioned, meaning it will be identical to our tournament and feature the same rules you are familiar with for team patterns, individual patterns, sparring and breaking.  Arrangements have been made for everyone who has signed up to go.  It is not too late to go, but time is running out quickly.  If you have questions please ask.

The cost for the tournament is:

1. 15 and under $25 for patterns and/or sparring (no breaking allowed)
2. 16 and older $30 for patterns and/or sparring & breaking is included
3. Team Patterns $20 per team (Black belt and Gup teams can be 4-5 members, one black belt can be on a gup team)

Additional costs include:

1. Hotel
2. Gas
3. Meals
4. Incidentals

We intend to leave the Youth Center at 11:00 am on Friday, September 19th and will return on Saturday evening after the tournament.  We will call to let parents know when we are departing Harrisburg to give them an estimate of when we will return.  Last year we drove home in a rain storm that delayed our arrival, so we will keep everyone updated as time permits.  If you have any questions please contact Master Todd or Mr. Bushor.

Grand Master Sereff Fall Championship 2008:   USTF will host this tournament in Broomfield, Colorado on Sunday, October 12th.  This tournament will feature team breaking, individual patterns & sparring.  It is open to all ranks.  We are planning on driving to Denver, staying Saturday and Sunday night and returning Monday.  We will have more information in the future regarding travel arrangements.  The cost will be:  $25.00 for Sparring, $25.00 for Patterns, there is a $5.00 discount for pre-registration.  The team breaking is $50 per team and must be pre-registered by Oct 1st.  All competitors will be matched according to rank and age.  Team breaking must be 5 competitors.  Adult teams will perform (punch, downward knife hand, turning kick, side piercing, 180 back kick).  Junior teams will perform (downward knife hand, turning kick, side piercing kick, front kick, 180 back kick).  All breaking will be with real boards.  Adult teams must include one woman and 1 color belt.  Junior teams can be any rank.   If you have any questions please contact Master Todd or Mr. Bushor.  More information is on our website.

Sparring Gear:  Safety of the competitors is the most important part of any tournament and all competitors are required to wear Head, Hand, and Foot Gear as well as a mouth piece in order to compete.  Male competitors are also required to wear an athletic cup.  While our school has a limited supply of sparring gear for your use, it is a good idea to have your own sparring gear.  Mr. Bushor can order sparring gear for those who wish to have their own at any time, but it takes about a week to receive it.  The cost is $69 for Head ($25), Hand ($22), and Foot Gear ($22).  There is a variety of sizes and colors available, so see Mr. Bushor if you want to place an order.  You can purchase a mouth piece and athletic cup in the sporting goods section of most larger department stores.

Saturday Classes:  As you may know, the Youth Center is undergoing some construction and we are holding all of our classes in the Large Gym.  This presents a problem starting in the next month because the Youth Center will be using the Large Gym on Saturdays for Basketball.  We will look for another location to hold the Saturday classes, but we may have to put them on hold until the end of the Basketball season.  This only applies to the Saturday classes.  We will let you know as far in advance as possible so you can adjust your schedules.

5:30 Class:  The early class was created for the White Belts.  The other classes are often too busy for the White Belts to get the in-depth training they need to establish a good foundation for their TKD.  So unless you cannot attend any of the other classes during the evening, only White Belts and Yellow Stripes can attend the 5:30 to 6:30 class.

Upcoming Events:  (all dates are subject to change)

September 20th – Battle of the Belts – Harrisburg, MO
September 27th - USTF Advanced Ho Sin Sul Seminar – Colorado
October 12th – Grand Master Sereff Championship – Broomfield, CO
November 8th & 9th –  USTF Class A Instructors Course
                                    IV & Above Grand Master Winegar – Colorado
November 15th – Basic Ho Sin Sul Course – Kirksville, Missouri
November 21st – Axe TKD Testing, NEW START TIME 5:30pm
December – Axe TKD Holiday Party
February – USTF Class C Instructors Course – Colorado
June 26th – 28th – 2009 USTF Nationals – Kelso, Washington

Try Your Hardest and do Your Best. (Mr. Kevin Bushor, V Dan)

I asked one of the classes last week “who thinks they were the best at the last promotion testing?”  Only one or two people put up their hands, and I was surprised at the response.  One of the things we try to teach each of you is self-confidence.  I don’t expect you to be boastful or talk trash, but I do expect you to try to do the absolute best that you can every time you test.  You should not just train hard enough to pass but to be the best student at the testing.  Master Todd and I have two different personalities and teaching styles but we have one thing in common, we both thought we were the best person testing each time we tested.  Now, that doesn’t mean we were the best every time, and we were seldom as good as we thought we were, but we were always confident that we trained as hard as we could and we would be able to do anything the test board asked us to do.  Obviously there can only be one person who does the best at any one testing, but Master Todd and I would much rather have to spend 20 or 30 minutes deciding who was the best than only having one or two people to choose between.