May Championship Tournament
Saturday, May 17th was the date of Grand Master Kim’s 36th Annual Championship Tournament. There were eight students from our school that participated.
Here are their individual results:
Jeanie Ahn
Women’s Sparring Grand Champion
Honorable & Dedicated Award
Milton Orellana
2nd Men’s Black Belt Adv. Forms
Honorable & Dedicated
Tobi Wesley
1st Women’s Black Belt Breaking
3rd Women’s Black Belt Adv. Sparring
Christopher Wesley
1st PeeWee Black Belt Sparring
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Sebastian Luzuriaga
1st Men’s Brown Belt Forms
2nd Junior Brown Belt Sparring
Jair Sanchez
1st Junior Brown Belt Sparring
Mary Jo Foseid
1st Women’s Brown Belt Sparring
Arthur Jury
1st PeeWee Purple Belt Sparring
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REGISTER NOW for the 16th Annual Renton Tournament
What Happens at a Tournament?
Every year in the summer, we hold a tournament at the Renton Community Center. Every year we also have students who have never been to one ask us, “What happens at a tournament?” So, here’s a little info about what to expect when you attend.
First, a Tae Kwon Do tournament is a competition. It is an all day event at which people compete in forms, fighting, and in breaking if they are brown stripe and above. Students compete against people at their own belt level and at their own age. For adults you also compete only against people in your gender. In the PeeWee and Junior divisions, boys and girls compete together.
Awards are given to the winners of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in each division. At championship tournaments there are medals or trophies. At most friendship tournaments there are plaques. The focus of all tournaments is to provide a fun, safe environment for all students to test their skills against other martial artists and to make friends.
Grand Master Kim presides over the tournaments and he delivers opening remarks and then leads everyone through a set of forms. As each form is finished, lower-ranked students sit down until all the advanced Black Belts have completed their forms.
Next, there is a team competition in which teams of Black Belts from different schools compete as a group. Next, the advanced Black Belts compete in forms, fighting, and breaking so that they are then free to referee the rest of the competitors.
When the Black Belts are done, they call competitors to their rings, and the main competition starts. At our tournament, your belt rank and age will be assigned to a ring and all your competition will be in that ring.
During the day you can get up, walk around, and watch others compete. You can bring lunch and eat, but you should stay in the tournament facility. At the end of the day, awards are handed out and the competition is over.
After our tournament, we host a picnic for all of our students and their families who attended. This year our tournament is Saturday, July 19th, starting at noon at the Renton Community Center.
All students are highly encouraged to attend this event.
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8 Ways to Make Tae Kwon Do Last Your Whole Life
Grand Master Kim always tells us that Tae Kwon Do is a lifelong activity. He should know. He is nearly 70 years old and has been practicing Tae Kwon Do for almost 60 of them. Here are some ways that you can make Tae Kwon Do an activity that will last your whole life.
1. Enjoy Your Belt Level. Although it is great to become a Black Belt, all the other belt levels have great potential for growth and learning. The martial arts is a journey, not a destination. If you are just beginning your journey at white belt or you have been on it for a while and are a Black Belt, you can savor each practice, each class, each accomplishment, and each technique and have fun doing it. Don’t focus on racing to the next level, but instead focus on enjoying the climb.
2. Warm Up. A very easy way to get injured is to rush into the studio just before class starts and race onto the floor as the class is lining up. A better plan is to get to the school a little early and take time to practice a set of forms, kicking techniques, or hand and feet combinations with a partner. If you aren't properly warmed up, you run a much greater risk of injury and if you get injured, you may derail or even end your martial arts career.
3. Fix One Thing at a Time. When you are in class, your instructors often give you pointers to improve technique, critique your forms, or make suggestions to improve your kicks or your sparring. It can be overwhelming to try and make all changes at once. It is much better to focus on making one change at a time and make the correction part of your routine before you try and move on to the next improvement.
4. Learn the Basics. As a beginner you learn basics like how to make a good fist and how to execute a front stance and back stance correctly. As you progress, you must make sure that you are still doing techniques correctly and that you continue to do so. No one wants to be a brown belt and still learning how to do a front kick correctly. Learn the basics and build on them and they will last a lifetime.
5. Make TKD Part of Your Fitness Goal. Tae Kwon Do is a great workout, but if your fitness goals include weight loss, you should also be conscious of what you are doing outside of class. Even the toughest workout doesn’t burn enough calories to compensate for a Big Mac and large fries or half a pizza. TKD is one contributing piece of your fitness routine, but pay attention to the other pieces as well.
6. Keep an Open Mind. We all like routines and being comfortable, but sometimes the best way to learn is to break out of them. When your instructor asks you to try something new, to try a new way of doing something you already know, or even to try not to do something you are comfortable with...keep an open mind. It may be a turning point in your learning.
7. Practice Every Day. Grand Master Kim often refers to “daily Tae Kwon Do exercise.” He means that to improve you should practice every day. Can you get to class every day? Of course not. However, on the days you cannot get to class, you can have mental Tae Kwon Do practice. On a day you can’t work out in class, take some time to go through your forms in your mind, mentally picture yourself executing your next breaking requirement, or just running through Korean terms in your head. You will be amazed at how much daily mental practice will help the physical practice of Tae Kwon Do.
8. Connect with Other Students. We are lucky to have many great people who study Tae Kwon Do at our studio. If you see someone with techniques you admire, talk to them about how they got to that point. If you are working on learning something new, ask someone else to practice with you. If you see someone struggling, offer them a tip that helped you with the same problem. Connecting with other students at the school is a great way to create lasting friendships and to make TKD something you enjoy your whole life.
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REGISTER NOW for the 16th Annual Renton Tournament
Saturday, July 19th
@ Renton Community Center
All students please mark your calendar today
and plan to attend this event.
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What Do Successful Martial Artists Have in Common?
- They write down specific goals for themselves.
- They spend some time each day pursuing their goals.
- They enjoy class and they attend consistently.
- They believe in themselves and their ability to improve.
- They review their successes and they learn from their mistakes.
- They associate with other positive, successful people.
- They are committed to doing their best… both in and out of the studio.
RENTON TOURNAMENT MYTHS
The 16th Annual Renton Friendship will be held Saturday, July 19th at the Renton Community Center. Here are some myths surrounding the tournament experience:
MYTH: Only Black Belts can go to tournaments.
FACT: All belt levels are eligible. Students compete against others at their own age and belt level and for adults, within their own gender
MYTH: Tournaments are scary.
FACT: Tournaments are fun! Friendship tournaments in particular focus on fun competition and making new friends. And remember, we have our annual student picnic in the park right after the tournament.
MYTH: The other competitors are serious, mean, and even professional.
FACT: The other competitors are just like you. They are martial artists who want to have fun, learn more about Tae Kwon Do, and go home without any injuries.
MYTH: There are lots of other tournaments I can go to.
FACT: This is the ONLY LOCAL TOURNAMENT during the year. There are other tournament opportunities but you will need to travel to Portland or Boise to compete. Remember, you must compete in at least 3 tournaments to be eligible to test for Black Belt.
MYTH: Tournaments are not really important.
FACT: Tournaments are a learning opportunity for you. Tournaments challenge you. Tournaments are a chance to test your techniques and see how well you are doing. Tournaments are extremely important to your growth as a martial artist.
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Michaela Kusumi Earns Youth of the Month Award
Congratulations to 3rd Degree Black Belt Michaela Kusumi for being recognized by the Rotary Club of Renton as one of their Youth of the Month.
Michaela is a senior at Hazen High School. She has a 4.0 GPA and is involved with many extracurricular activities at school including Honor Society, FBLA, and Key Club. She also has an active volunteer schedule.
Way to go, Michaela.
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Ms. Jeanie Ahn,
4th Degree Black Belt
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New TKD Class Starting in Seattle!
We are excited to announce that 4th Degree Black Belt Jeanie Ahn is starting a Tae Kwon Do class in Seattle at the Queen Anne Community Center. The class begins April 8th and will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-7pm. She will be assisted by Leah Koch-Michael, who formerly taught the TKD class in Bothell.
If you know someone who lives in that area interested in taking class, contact Ms. Ahn by email at jeanie2312@hotmail.com.
Good luck to Jeanie and Leah!
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Ms. Jeanie Ahn,
4th Degree Black Belt
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Bellevue School!
In April, with the help of Master Henkel and Rick West, I opened a Kim’s Tae Kwon Do school in Bellevue at the Northwest Arts Center, 9825 N.E. 24th.
So far there are just a few students, but I’m hoping for more in the fall.
I would also like to thank Art Jury and his son Arthur for coming to a Wednesday class to help out the new students and Leah Koch-Michael for teaching a Saturday class. If anybody would like to help, feel free to join us Wednesdays 4 to 5 pm or Saturdays 11 to 12 pm. Your support is greatly appreciated.
-Kristen Kleinsasser, kiscoa@verizon.net
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Mrs. Kristen Kleinsasser,
2nd Degree Black Belt
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STUDENT CORNER
"How Can I Help?"
by Rick West
Your Tae Kwon Do training extends further than just coming to class regularly and working yourself up through the various belt levels. Initially, becoming a black belt is your focus, but after a few years you’ll see that this self-centeredness expands to a bigger picture. That picture includes always asking yourself, “What can I do to help?” If we asked ourselves this question in every situation we could change the world.
If you look beyond the physical training of Tae Kwon Do and focus on the five tenets you’ll see they say nothing about belt levels. Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control, and Indomitable Spirit apply to our daily actions whether in or out of class, and, whether or not orientated around Tae Kwon Do. For example, you see an older lady struggling to get her groceries out of her cart and into her car as her cart tries to roll down the parking lot. Ask yourself, “What can I do to help?” I can choose to ignore her and walk into the store or I can offer to help her out. Choosing to ignore her will initially be easier because helping a complete stranger is hard to do, but if we make it a habit we’ll discover it’s really easy. And, helping out can be a very satisfying experience not to mention eliminating not having to carry around the guilt of not helping out! Think about that.
Will you be in the minority for helping out? Yes. What will your friends think? Who cares? What you think of yourself is more important than what your friends think about you. I know that’s hard to believe but sometimes we do not always have to fit into the “What my friends think” role. Sometimes it is better to step out and risk your friendships by helping others than it is to ignore others in need. And, who knows, maybe your friends will help out too?
Another example for you to think about, you have a school mate who is “not cool” and he tries to be friends with you. You know that if you are friendly toward him your other friends may leave you alone; and not being friendly with him will keep you safe and in the “in-crowd”. Ask your self “What can I do to Help?” Maybe in this situation you can do both, be friendly to your schoolmate and be friendly to your friends. If one of your friends asks you why you are being friends with him you can tell them that it is not nice to shun someone’s friendship. If your friend sticks with you then they are a true friend, if not then maybe they were not a real friend after all.
Now a story within a story. Two monks are traveling and come to a stream where there is a lady trying to cross it too. The first monk, picks her up and carries her across the steam; something monks do not do. The two monks go on their way. That night the second monk asks the first monk “Why did you carry that woman across the stream?” The first monk answered “I carried her across the stream, but you’ve been carrying her all day”.
**We are always accepting submissions to Student Corner. Please see Master or Mrs. Henkel to contribute.**
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