news

February 4, 2012

Our Winter Regional Tournament  had a fantastic turnout.  There were over 500 competitors from across our region.  We had 8 students compete and they were MAGNIFICENT!  Our 2 Tigers, Nikki and Melvin received trophies for “Fast Hands” and “Good Focus”.   Matthew, a Yellow Belt, received 3^rd in One-Steps.  Mr. Thielke, a 1^st Degree Black Belt had a tuff ring and did well in forms and received a competitor Trophy.  Good Job Sir, perseverance is the key we will get you to that 1^st Place Victory.  Cassandra one of our Red Belts also received a competitor Trophy.  Ms H. did a great job as  well receiving 2^nd place in Forms, Sparring and Weapons.  That is outstanding.

The story of the day, is our 2 Camo Belts, Isabella and Samantha.  This was their FIRST Tournament and both of them came home with 3^rd in Forms and 2^nd in Sparring!

 It was an unbelievable day and we all had a great time.

Congratulations to all of you.  You make us very proud.

The next Tournament is April 14^th.  It will be at Brookdale College in Lincroft, NJ.  The Host is our regions newest Master, Master Laurie McInerney.

I hope to see many of you there.

January 2012

We hope everyone enjoyed their Holiday.  We would like to welcome everyone back to class.  This month will have 2 special events that you can check out on our events page. 

In January, any Leadership student with a Black XMA/Creative Uniform may wear that it to class on Thursday in place of their White Traditional Uniform.  A Black T-Shirt is required under the uniform.

We will also be holding a Combat Weapons Sparring class on January 21st.  This class is open to ALL students with sparring equipment and a Combat Weapon.

Black Belt Testing will also be in January.  We are working on the date but it looks like it will be towards the end of the month.  Our next color belt testing will be in February, watch the white board or the website for the date.

Past Events and News

Thanksgiving weekend marked our 3rd annual Weapons camp.  During the 3 hour camp we covered Double SJB, Kamas and Bo staff.  We had a great time and the students enjoyed working with these advanced weapons.  If you missed out this time watch our announcements so next time you too are there!

Testing and Rank Promotion will be done over 3 dates this month.  On Thursday, October 13 all Brown - Red Belts will test in their class.  On Friday, October 14 there will be no regular classes as we will be holding testing for our Camo-Blue Tigers, and White - Blue Belts.  Please see the calendar for your time.  And finally on Saturday, October 15 we will test our White-Yellow Tigers.  The Black Belt Testing has been moved to Saturday, October 29 at Noon.  This testing will be for all 1st Degree Recommended and above.  Please check out the Special Events section of this site for more details.

The ATA Fit Test took place on Saturday, October 8 at noon.  Nine students participated in this testing, which is the first part of their Black Belt Test.  All nine did a great job and passed.  They are now getting ready for the second part of the test which will take place on Saturday, October 29 at noon.

Our Fall Regional Tournament was held on October 1st, at St Mark's High School in Wilmington Delaware.  There were 532 competitors at this years Fall Tournament and a record number of Tiny Tiger participants.  We had 2 students compete at this event.  Ms H took home a 1st in Forms, 1st in Weapons, 3rd in Sparring and 1st in Creative Forms.  Mr. Thielke took home a 4th in Forms and 2nd in Creative Forms.  Great Job and Congratulations to both of you.   Both of these students are in the running for this year State Champ.

September 17^th, was our Gum Do Sword Seminar.  This was a fantastic seminar with about 14 students in attendance.  We covered the basic sword strikes and the entire Form.  There was great deal of information provided and the students did well.  Now with a little practice these students should be ready for competition next year with this weapon. 

September 10^th, was our "Back To School Kids Fun Night".  What a great time we had!  In our first game of the evening, "Ring Toss Challenge" 4 teams competed to throw hops over 5 different objects.  After a random selection for teams we had an ALL GIRLS team.  This all girl team were an unstoppable force not only did they come in First on the first round of games but FIRST on the second round as well.  After a short rest and some pizza it was time for Clothes Pin Tag followed by Noodle Sparring.  Our returning Champ from last time made it into the final rounds, but this time he was not able to secure the top spot.  He did put in a great effort and walked away with second place.  Way to go Matthew!  The finalist from these 2 events are up on Facebook.  The Clothes Pin Champ was Andy and the Noodle Sparring Champ was Kelly.  Great job to both of you! 

It was a fantastic night with some wonderful students.  Hope to see you all at the next Fun Night. 

September 10^th, we held our Bully Prevention Seminar for our parents, students and the community.  We had about 40 people in attendance.  We discussed what can be done to prevent being bullied as well as what can be done to help others.  Students, Parents, and Educators need to what together in order to stop the bullying.  This is not a just a school problem or the responsibility of the school, this is a group effort to make bullying stop.  I left the Bully Prevention flyers up in the "Special Events" section in the Student Area for anyone that would like to download the 2 hand outs.  I will leave them for the next few weeks.  If anyone in interested in more information please feel free to give us a call. 

August 27^th, hurricane Irene rolled into town, forcing many people to evacuate their homes.  Due to the mandatory evacuation areas we felt it was in the best interest of our students and families to close.  We are very glad that the storm did not hit our area as badly as had been predicted.  From those that answered us on Facebook most of our students had very little damage, mostly a lot of leaves on the ground, with some branches and tree limbs.  We will resume operations and our normal schedule Monday, August 29. 

August 24th we pulled the winners from our raffle.  First place winner for a new student uniform was Anthony B.  Second place winner of the 3 pack of DVD's Miguel V.  Third place winner of the ATA Cinch Bag Alaysia P.  Congratulations to all our winners!

August 20^th we held our testing and rank promotion.  We tested 52 students 8 of these students were looking to advance to the rank of 1^st Degree Black Belt Recommended.  This testing we introduced a different way of evaluating the students.  The students did a fantastic job and it was a great testing and rank promotion.  The feedback we received from several people has been positive.  We are looking forward to our next testing and rank promotion on October 15^th.  This testing will also be for all our Black Belts. 

August 13-14^th, was the Regions Annual Instructor and Leadership retreat.  This year it was held in Edison, NJ, with approximately 60 instructors and leadership students in attendance.  We participated in strength and plyometric drills, weapons and forms training, tournament sparring and tournament rules.  It was a great camp and next year I want to see several of our leadership students in attendance.

Our Back To School Promotion has begun.  This promotion runs from August 8 through August 31, 2011.  You can see the merchandize that is available in the "Events" section or at the front desk at the school.  We have also included an order form for your convenience.

Saturday, July 23, 2011 we held our first XMA/Creative Seminar.  Our Special Guest Instructor was Ms Jessica Zahn, a 3rd Degree Black Belt from Roselle Park, NJ. Ms Zahn has been a Top Ten Competitor the last 2 years in the ATA in the XMA Division.  She helped the students with their Creative Forms and showed them some new moves to enhance their current forms.  The Students that attended had a GREAT TIME and can't wait to demonstrate their new skills!  Thanks Ms Zahn for a fantastic class. 

Sunday, July 17, 2011 was our regions first tournament of the new tournament season.  It was hosted by Bayonne Karate and it was their first class “B” tournament.  Newly promoted 8^th Degree Chief Master Al Dilegge from ATA Headquarters, was the special guest, along with our regions two 7^th Degrees, Sr. Master Dunn and Raimondi.  There were over 400 competitors in attendance and everything ran smoothly as well as on time.  Our school had 7 students compete at the tournament in traditional forms, sparring, weapons, creative forms and creative weapons.  These students brought home several 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd places medals.  The students all had a great time and if you check our Facebook page we posted several pictures of the students at the tournament.  

With each tournament I see the student’s ability and skill levels improving.  Last year we had several State Champions who will be this year’s State Champion?   

If you were not able to make this tournament I hope you can join us at a future tournament.  The next regional tournament will be on Saturday, October 1^st, in Newark, DE.  This tournament will be followed by Fall Nationals in Orlando, FL, October 19^th – 21^st. 

As a reminder every student must compete in at least one (1) tournament in order to test for their solid Black Belt.  Don’t wait until the last minute to get to a tournament.  If you’re nervous about competing see Ms H or myself.

This Saturday, July 23^rd at 4:30 we are holding a Creative/XMA seminar.  It is being taught by our special guest instructor, Jessica Zahn.  Ms Zahn is a 3^rd degree Black Belt from Texas who is now in Roselle Park, NJ.  She has finished as a Top Ten Competitor the last two years in the XMA divisions and has trained several other Top Ten competitors.  We are very lucky to have her make time in her schedule to come and teach class at our school.  If you haven’t signed up as yet there is still room for a limited number of students.  Don’t miss out on this very special training class, taught by one of the best in the ATA!

We also held our first summer camp the week of June 27^th.  This was a 3 hour daily camp where we covered an entire testing cycles material.  We had 5 students participate and we had a fantastic camp.  The black belts learned their full form of 81 moves plus their weapon form, while the other students reviewed Songahm 1-3.  We worked on sparring drills, blocks, kick, weapons and we even had time for a few games.  Plus two (2) students tested for their next rank!  It was a great time.  If you missed out maybe you can join us next time. 

And let's not forget our DEMO Team who performed at Family Fun Night in the Village of Patchogue on July 7th.  What a GREAT JOB they did!  We braved the weather and put on 2 great shows.  You can see the Demo from licks on our Facebook page.  Just use the lick above to get there.