I am frequently asked about the difference between martial arts, Karate, and Tae Kwon Do. Karate or Tae Kwon Do are specific types of martial arts, as are arts like Jujitsu, Kenpo, Judo, and many others.

What I find works best for most people is trying to relate martial arts to ice cream. Karate might be vanilla ice cream, tae kwon do might be chocolate, but in the end, they are both types of ice cream.

We teach a blend of martial arts, composed of Jujitsu, Tae Kwon Do, and Kenpo. Using the strengths of each art to create a curriculum that is challenging, diverse, and effective in developing physical, technical and mental skills.

As many of you know we hold in-school tournaments for our students twice a year. These events always bring up several key questions such as:

Who can attend?
Children in 4-6 year old and mainstream programs may attend. Each event is broken down into small groups to provide each student with a fair chance to compete. We don’t recommend this event to children in our Future Black Belt program, and students with less then a month of training.

What events should my child compete in?
We recommend students compete in events that they enjoy. Over the next month we will expose students to the various events to help them get a feel for them. We do recommend that if you choose to compete, that you compete in two or more events.

When is it?
One week prior to the tournament, once registration is complete, each event time is carefully predicted. Before that, we can’t give you a very accurate event time. An easy rule of thumb however is, the lower the rank of the student the earlier they will compete.

Where is it?
The tournament is held at the school in lieu of regular class groups.

How are groups setup?
We set up groups based upon two criteria, rank and either age or weight. In events like sparring, board breaking and prince pad pushing size is a critical factor so we use that to split up groups. In other events, forms, self-defense, punching and kicking sprints, and pairs self-defense age is a more critical factor in making the competition fair.

We remind you that students need to be weighed in at the school at the time of registration. Having each student use the same scale to base weight classification to be the most fair.

What prizes are there?
All students receive a patch for participation. Having the courage to compete is one of the greatest indicators of success in any venture. Beyond that trophies and medals will be awarded to winners in each division.

What events will there be?
We will run seven events at the tournament. Four are traditional tournament events, three are special events not normally found in open tournament.

Continuous Point Sparring: Only available to students who participate in sparring at the school. Divisions are based upon size and rank. 

Forms: Only for students Green belt or higher. Divisions are based upon rank and age. Students may preform any form taught to them at the school.

Prince Pad Pushing: Divisions are based on rank and size. Students try and knock each other off balance with body shields, while hopping on one foot.

Punching Sprints: Divisions are based upon rank and age. A competition to see who can punch two hand targets the most in a 30 second period.

Kicking Sprints: Divisions are based upon rank and age. A competition to see who can do the most front kicks in a 30 second period.

Pairs Self-Defense: Two children each perform two self-defense techniques. Techniques will be judged on difficulty, speed, form, and energy. The two partners will share a team score, and prizes will be awarded in pairs.  

Power Breaking: Divisions are based upon rank and size. Students attempt to break several 1/2" by 5" boards.  

As the year comes to a close, we will have three seperate events to ring in the new year.
Game Day, Buddy Day & Family Day

On family day, students are encouraged to bring either a parent or a child to class with them. (Basically, teens/adults with kids) Again, class times will remain unchanged.
On a buddy day, each student is allowed to bring one friend or family member with them to class. The buddy you bring must be similar to you in size and age. (Basically, kids with kids, teens/adults with teens/adults)
As with game days, your class times will remain unchanged on buddy day. : We will have two game days in December. We will play a number of team games each day and most students will win a prize in class. Class times will remain the same on game days so just plan on making it to your regular class time.

Each week in August we will be asking you about the martial arts. If you can answer the question correctly, or complete the project, by the Saturday of that week you will receive one knowledge stripe.

Knowledge stripes are the white stripes that you get on your belt that can then be turned in to attend events at the school.

As many of you know we have several rewards for our dedicated students over the summer. Students who reach 8, 14, and 21 class milestones will all be able to paticipate in unique events.

Once you reach 8 classes your name will be added to a posted list in the school indicating you are eligible to attend one of the weapons classes. Once your name is added to that list you can sign up for appropriate weapons classes. Each weapons class will have some category, limiting it by either age or experience.

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The next black belt promotion has been scheduled for April 25th and 26th. This event is quite different than most promotions, and is held only twice a year at most.

Unlike a standard promotion, a Black Belt promotion is a two day event. The first night generally lasts about 6 hours. During this time students demonstrate their entire curriculum. During this phase of the promotion only Black Belts and students promoting are allowed to attend. At the end of this first evening students sleep over at the school, and oh boy do they sleep.

The following morning we wake up bright and early, around 6 AM, and continue the testing process. Around 9 AM students and instructors are given a short time to return home and prepare for the next phase of the promotion.

Early that afternoon students return with friends and family for the demonstration portion of the promotion. This part of the promotion is much like a regular promotion. It lasts roughly an hour and ends with the belt ceremony. However, the belt ceremony is more complicated.

For the belt ceremony the black belt candidate picks 1 or 2 people to participate in the ceremony and remove their brown belt. This honor is given to the one or two people who were most directly responsible for the students success.

The Black Belt promotion signifies the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end. Participating in it requires maturity and discipline. It is a substantial accomplishment to have reached this milestone. We wish you all the best of luck in preparing for it.