Cool TKD Pictures

Above is a cool group of pictures that I made. Click to see full-size!
Hope you enjoy it! They are all from our Las Vegas Taekwon-Do club. A few are from when the Mt. Charleston Taekwon-Do class was outside.

Also, we have some bad news. Taekwon-Do at the Heinrich YMCA might not be able to be at the basketball court anymore. A new floor was put in, leaving a huge gap between the floor and the kicking wall pads, and it is possible that basketball will be played there full-time. Will Taekwon-Do have to move to the arobics room, or the small room we sometimes have to have the Red and Black Belt Class in? The full-time basketball is not confirmed yet, as I only heard it from a lady who works at the YMCA, but as far as I know it has been moved to the arobics room.
More news later.

Videos on lvtkd.com!

Click here to see tons of awesome videos on the Las Vegas Taekwon-Do Club site!

The videos I made are up! I hope you enjoy them all!

The Recent Test and New Students

Hello, everyone! Firstly, I would like to congratulation my brothers Roman and Gabriel, my dad, Dan, and Richard on their new belt grades. Roman and my dad got their blue stripes, Gabriel got his green stripe, and Richard his green belt! Second, I am happy to announce that we got two new students! Our class is small with only 8 students (with one not at class because of an injury) and having two more is fantastic! 10 students seems like so many when only 7 come regularly!
Above is a group of pictures illustrating the procedure of a test, from various belt tests in the past at different LVTKD locations in Las Vegas. Of course, sometimes sparring and the question aren't always at the same times as they are listed above, but the picture shows the general idea.

CLICK PICTURE TO SEE FULL-SIZE

Grand Master Trân Triêu Quân is Dead

Grand Master Tran, president of the ITF, was found dead in Haiti under several tons of debris. His death is a sad thought for all Taekwon-Doins. He was there in Haiti in the first place to work with the government to create design guidelines that would make buildings safer from natural desastors, and it is sad to say that he was seen going into his hotel 10 minutes before the earthquake, which he didn't survive. Because of his death, the ITF World Cup in Las Vegas may be canceled, since he was the one in charge of the whole thing. We will discover the final decision this month (Febuary).

Speaking from Argentina, Senior Vice-President Grand Master Pablo Trajtenberg stated: “We are so sorry to hear about Grand Master Trân’s death. We are still in shock. ITF and Taekwon-Do have lost a very strong and devoted leader, a great defender of our art in the tradition of our Founder, General Choi Hong Hi. He will remain forever a model that will inspire us all. We wish to extend our deepest sympathies to Grand Master Trân’s dear wife, Mrs. Nguyen Thi My; his children, Joliette, Cécilia and Nicolas; his son-in-law, François Beaudin; his grandchildren, Jasmine and Sandrine; his brothers, Trân Triêu Cung and Trân Triêu Lân; and all the Trân and Nguyen extended families. The fact that Grand Master Trân lost his life in a country such as Haiti is meaningful because he strongly believed in the contribution of Taekwon-Do to the building of strong citizenship qualities in developing countries. He had set time aside to meet with a group of Taekwon-Do students during his stay in Port-au-Prince. We already miss him.”

Happy Korean New Year!

Above: Korean New Year in South Korea

Happy Korean New Year, and Happy Valentine's Day! Korean New Year happens to be the same day as Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year, and the New Year celebrations of many other places. In South Korea, everyone gathers to see the first sunrise of the new year, and some go to different places where they make wishes as the sun comes up. Throughout the day, they play traditional Korean games and have events. On New Year's Eve, more than 150-thousand Korean people got to see the striking of an old temple bell at the Bosingak pavilion. The bell rings 33 times to greet the New Year's coming. Then, the Korean people will have many festive events, including parades, fireworks and traditional cultural performances until the end of the New Year’s Day on the first January. I don't know what they do in North Korea, though- if anyone knows, you can post or comment!

Korea was where Taekwon-Do was invented and founded, by General Choi Hong-Hi. In class, we use many Korean words, such as for counting, and words that mean such things as 'stop' and 'start' and 'return to ready position' and more. In the Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do, the Korean name for each of the techniqes are even added! And, of course, the ITF Korean Taekwon-Doins that I have seen are awesome- in some of the videos I have on this site, you can see them in action!

Happy Korean New Year!

High Side Kicks

Above: How I WANT my kick to look (a quick Photoshopped image)



Above: My highest side kicks for real.


Imagine: you lift your leg, chambering, and extend your foot, toes pulled back far and footsword aimed, kicking towards the sky- strait into the air, like the Chinese splits in standing position. I want my side kick to be able to do that- to go strait up in the air,like in the Photoshopped image at the top of this post. I've been practicing for it, too- I've done the splits every night for I-don't-know-how-long. From sometime in the Summer, I believe. It seems like since forever. I've also done all sorts of leg exercises and kicks on the wall to help with my techniques as well. Master Bosse said that if I can get my kicks that high, it will be easy for me to kick lower, so easy that, during sparring, my kicks will be like lightning and my foot will dart about like a humming bird! I want to have leg control like Master Joe Bosse, 7th dan black belt and son of our instructor Master Gary Bosse. I want one foot to come up, do a great combination of kicks, and come down before my opponents even know what hit them. I want my kicks to come as quickly as the letters do as I type this sentence. And I will make that happen! I'll be that good- someday. I will not stop trying! I discovered today how high my current side kick can be- I was amazed! Those are the pictures above- and I must say, that's pretty high! But not high enough, though!
Pretty soon, there will be a REAL picture of that strait up side kick on this blog- just as soon as I can get it there!

Taekwon-Do Snowman #2 and #3

Remember the Taekwon-Do Snowman? Here are #2 and #3. They are at the entryway into our do-jang at Mt. Charleston doing a low block (which doesn't look too good, in my opinion) and a high-section side kick!

And also, this Saturday is the Red and Black Belt Class- so be sure to be there, and be on time!

Me in the TKD Times Magazine!

Remember when I posted here a few months ago saying that my picture was going into the TaeKwonDo Times Magazine? It's in there now! On the 'Big Break' page of the 'Women's Special' March 2010 Issue, there is a picture of me breaking a board for my 1st dan black belt test. I took a picture of that page in the magazine, and here it is. That's so cool!

No Red and Black Belt Class

Yes, it was two weeks ago that it was the last Red and Black Belt Class, but this month, the classes are on the 13th and the 27th (you can check the schedule.)Awww...
So no class today. But I hope everyone enjoys the Super Bowl- maybe you could do push-ups whenever the team you don't want to win scores. Or do a pattern.

As for the videos in the below posts, those are from the last End of the Month Tournament. The last sparring video for that division wouldn't load, but hopefully I'll be able to get it in my next post.