The Family Album - Family Martial Arts of Chelsea, MI

The Family Album
A Monthly Publication of Family Martial Arts
http://www.familymartialarts.us
July 2006
Vol. 3, Issue 7
Upcoming Events:

Sat., July 15
President’s
Challenge

Mid-August
Summer Gup
Testing (date to be
announced)

Mid-August
Fall 1 registration
begins (dates to be
announced)

Sunday, Aug. 26
Summer Session
ends

Sat., Sept. 2 —
Monday, Sept. 4
Labor Day
Weekend

Tuesday, Sept. 5
Fall 1 Session
begins
June Testing Results
Family Martial Arts and the Ann Arbor
YMCA TKD Club held its June testing on
Sunday, June 18 in Studio C. Thirtyseven Little Dragons tested for
achievement, skills, and recognition
patches; in addition, 18 students tested
for their next Dragon or Gup ranks.
Congratulations to all our testing
candidates! Rank belt testing results are
below.
Gup Ranks
th
Grenmarie Agresar, 6 Gup
th
Billy Dering, 6 Gup
th
Xin Li, 6 Gup
th
Beth Pascoe, 6 Gup
th
Mike Byers, 7 Gup
th
Alan Castro, 7 Gup
th
Jenna Castro, 9 Gup
th
Sean Handler, 9 Gup
th
Lydia Jones, 9 Gup
th
Tricia Masing, 9 Gup
th
Erica Watkins, 9 Gup
Dragon Ranks
Jade Colvin-Garcia, Yellow Dragon
Noah Holdeman, Yellow Dragon
Liam Kincaid, Yellow Dragon
Giselle King, Yellow Dragon
Lara King, Yellow Dragon
Elliot Sklar, Yellow Dragon
Mina Wyatt-Ngom, Yellow Dragon
We will be holding our quarterly
President’s Challenge on Saturday, July
15. Testing letters will be presented this
week to those students for whom the
Challenge is a requirement of their
current or next rank; all students are
welcome to tae the Challege, however.
Testing fees are $5 and summer
uniforms and running shoes are required.
Our Summer Session testing will be held
in mid-August. We will have more
information as that time draws near!
North American Chung Do Kwan Association
You may have noticed the new bluewave patches being worn on our
instructor’s uniforms as well as on some
student uniforms. These are the patches
of our new Tae Kwon Do association,
North American Chung Do Kwan
(NACDKA). Founded by several black
belts seeking an association free of
favoritism, politics, and personalities,
NACDKA promotes the art of Tae Kwon
Do Chung Do Kwan via a challenging
curriculum, structured rank
advancement, and ethical behavior
inside and outside the dojang.
Students who were members of our
former association, American Chung Do
Kwan Ltd., have been grandfathered into
NACDKA and receive NACDKA rank
certificates and ID cards upon
completion of a successful testing. These
students also receive an NACDKA
member patch to wear on the upper right
sleeve of their uniform.
Gup-rank students are welcome to
become members of NACDKA but are
not required to do so; students preparing
to test for Dan ranks must become
NACDKA members prior to their Black
Belt test. Students interested in
becoming NACDKA members can
request an application form from Miss
Ana or Mr. Hotaling
For further information on the North
American Chung Do Kwan Association,
please visit http://www.nacdka.org.
Page 2 of 4
The Family Album
All Rank vs. Intermediate and Advanced
Intermediate- and advanced-rank
students have an array of skills to learn
not covered in the beginning ranks:
advanced falls, takedowns, throws, and
sparring are just a handful of the skills
covered. Because our students are
starting to move from the beginning
ranks to the intermediate ranks, we are
considering adding a Gup-rank class for
intermediate and advanced students
only, so the skills introduced and learned
at these ranks can be concentrated on
and receive more attention.
We would appreciate your feedback on
this! Should we continue with all-ranks
classes or would you be interested in us
adding a class for intermediate and
advanced ranks? Please let us know by
voting in our new TKD Survey on the
FMA Student Site. Thanks!
Page 3 of 4
The Family Album
What Those Gup Testing Grades Mean
Students who have tested for their next
Gup ranks have noticed that there are
three grading options for each testing
requirement: pass, recommend, and
unsatisfactory. Unsatisfactory and pass
are self explanatory; recommend is the
option selected when a student either
displays only limited knowledge of a Tae
Kwon Do skill or makes enough mistakes
to not warrant a passing grade.
The spring TKD
tournament season
wrapped up on
th
June 10 with the
Great Lakes Cup…
and three trophies
won by FMA
students
Based upon the total skill grades, a final
testing grade is given: pass, recommend,
and not pass. If the majority of a
student’s skill grades are “pass,” a
student has successfully tested for his or
her new rank with a “pass.” If the majority
of a student’s skill grades are
“unsatisfactory,” a student has failed to
demonstrate the skills and knowledge
necessary for rank advancement and
receives a “not pass.” Students with a
“not pass” will meet with the instructors
and, if of junior age, the student’s
parents, to discuss the testing results
and devise a training plan that will allow
the student to learn and improve upon
those skills so that, with the instructors’
approval, he or she can re-test sometime
in the months following the original test.
If the majority of a student’s skill grades
are “recommend,” a student is promoted
to the next rank conditionally with a
grade of “recommend.” Students with a
“recommend” test grade must
demonstrate improvement and/or
corrections to those skills marked
“recommend” in class on a consistent
basis before being allowed to progress
towards the next rank (or, for juniors,
earn stripes towards the next rank). At
their next rank test, those skills originally
marked as “recommend” will be reexamined in addition to all new skills
learned for that rank testing.
Should you or your child have received
an overall test grade of “recommend” or
“not pass” or a skill grade of
“recommend” or “unsatisfactory,” please
don’t hesitate to ask questions or
address your concerns to us regarding
training and rank progress. We wish for
all of our students to excel in Tae Kwon
Do and are more than willing to work with
those who need additional training to
advance in rank with the skills required
for each level.
Great Lakes Cup Results
The Great Lakes Cup Championships
th
were held on Saturday, June 10 , at
Gannon Gymnasium at Lansing
Community College in Lansing, MI.
Three Family Martial Arts students
competed in forms at this annual Tae
Kwon Do tournament, and all three came
away with trophies. Congratulations to
the following students on their
tournament performance:
nd
th
Carlene Colvin-Garcia, 2 Place, 10 to
th
8 Gups, Ladies’ 34 – 40 year old
division
nd
th
Xin Li, 2 Place, 7 Gups, Combined
Ladies’/Men’s 17 – 33 year old
lightweight division
nd
th
Beth Pascoe, 2 Place, 7 Gups,
Combined Ladies’/Men’s middleweight
division
Photos from the tournament can be
found in the Tournaments album in the
Photo Gallery on the FMA Student Site.
The fall tournament season begins in
September, so keep your eyes posted for
information on tournaments in
September, October, and November!
Page 4 of 7
Summer TKD Uniforms
Mailing Address:
2531 Jackson Road #175
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
734-998-3627 Phone
734-665-0853 Fax
info@familymartialarts.us
Training Mind, Body,
and Spirit
We’re Online!
Visit us at:
familymartialarts.us
Through August 26, all TKD students are
welcome to wear a T-shirt to class along
with their dobok pants and rank belt
instead of the full formal dobok. Please
note that the only kinds of T-shirts
permissible are:
• a solid white T-shirt (no designs, prints,
embroidery, transfers)
• a T-shirt in a solid color matching the
student’s belt (ie., yellow shirt for yellow
belts, green shirt for green belts, red shirt
for red belts, etc.)
• a Family Martial Arts T-shirt
Please note that the FMA T-shirt is the
only shirt with a permitted print design
(company logos, like a Nike swoosh, are
also acceptable). Students wearing Tshirts with other print designs will be
asked to change into their dobok tops
before class. Please also note that, for
Gup rank tests, the full formal dobok is
required.
Show Your School Spirit!
What better way to display your
Tae Kwon Do spirit than with an
Family Martial Arts T-shirt?
Our T-shirts feature the full-color
FMA logo selected by our
students on the front, with a
whimsical list of what it takes to
become a Black Belt on the
back. Wear one under your
dobok, wear it to class during
the summer months, wear it to
school, to the gym, or anywhere!
Shirts cost $16 for sizes Child S
(6-8) through Adult XL ($19 for
Adult XXL). To purchase an
FMA shirt, request a T-shirt
order form from Miss Ana or Mr.
Hotaling, or email us at
sales@familymartialarts.us
Location Reminder!
A quick reminder that, for the Summer
Session, all Tae Kwon Do classes are
being held in Studio C, opposite the
Fitness Desk. Classes will return to
Mailing Address:
400 W. Washington
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
734-996-9622 Phone
We build strong kids,
strong families,
strong communities
On the Internet
Visit us at:
Annarborymca.org
Happy Birthday!
Family Martial Arts extends wishes for a
very happy birthday to the following Ann
Arbor YMCA TKD Club students:
July
William Lupia
Imani Watkins
Kai Garcia
Carlos Soto-Ricci
Pam Stout
Dominic Zampardo
Francesca Lupia
Ben Millunchick
Studio E in time for the Fall 1 session
and beyond. We apologize for any
confusion this room switch may have
caused!