Hello Students-

The May flowers are up and Kuk Sa Nym is near!  He will be at the school on Thursday for black belt testing and Friday the Super Seminar.

If you haven’t signed up for the seminar yet, please do so ASAP!

Black Belt Testing

Black Belt testing will be at 5:00 p.m. on June 17th.  You are welcomed to come out to watch and support your fellow classmates. Promotions will immediately follow the seminar on Friday.

Super Seminar

The Super Seminar will be on Friday, June 18^th at 5:00.  Please make sure you have your WKSA patch on your uniform!  Remember the Seminar is mandatory for all of my students! 

Promotion Party

We will have a promotion party on Wednesday, June 23^rd at 5:30 p.m. The sign up sheet is located at the school.  There will be great food and fun games.  Be sure to sign up for the fun.  It is a great way to show your support for your classmates and your school! Not to mention we are going to have an awesome time!

4 ^th of July Parade

We will once again participate in the annual

West Peoria 4 of July parade. A sign up sheet will be posted at the school and more information is forthcoming.

Wednesday, June 16-No Class- DBN/BB school cleaning

Thursday, June 17 –No class-Black Belt testing at 5:00

Friday, June 18- Super Seminar 5:00-7:30, Black Belt promotions immediately following

Wednesday, June 23- Evening 4:30 class will be at Bradley Park. The Promotion party will be at 5:30. No evening classes will be at the school.

Thursday, June 24- No classes, Testing

Friday, June 25- No class, Testing

Sunday, July 4- West Peoria 4^th of July Parade

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Hello Students!

If April showers bring May flowers…what do May flowers bring?  Kuk Sa Nym!!

Our next big event is the Grandmasters Super Seminar, black belt testing and promotions.

Black belt testing will be at 5:00 p.m. on June 17^th. This is open

for all students to come out and watch and support your classmates during their black belt testing.

Super Seminar is on Friday, June 18^th from 5:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

The Black belt promotion ceremony will be immediately following the seminar at 7:30 p.m. 

Super Seminar is mandatory for all students to participate. All participants will receive a certificate of participation and the 50^th anniversary DVD, which is a $30.00 value. 

I will be testing in Galesburg on the 19^th and will be traveling with Kuk Sa Nym through the 22^nd of June.

St. Louis Testing and Tournament:

The St. Louis testing and tournament was a huge success.  All of my students passed, but they did not just pass, they shinned! I did not think I was testing, however Kuk Sa Nym put me in charge of the DBN’s testing. I later found out that I was being tested on leadership skills, testing knowledge, group management (48 DBN’s) and time management. We were able to cover the complete DBN curriculum in 2 hours!

I was very happy to see those students that have never competed before in the tournament. They put there fear behind them and participated! What is important to me is not the medals, but your support for your school. You did your best and you gained something, and that gain is "EXPERIENCE" which is priceless. I am proud of all of you and in my book you are all winners! This was the largest tournament that St. Louis has ever had. There were 355 participants. Our school placed 4th over all, we normally finish 3rd, however, this year we had 25 participants and we normally have 45-50 participants. Next year we will at lest meet our norm and hopefully exceed it.

KSN Megan won Black Belt Grand Champion in her division; it was her first time winning this!

I have the 50th anniversary DVD for all students that participated in the tournament, compliments of Kuk Sa Nym ($30.00 value) 

Important dates to remember:

Thursday, May 27, 2010, testing (no class)

Friday, May 28, 2010, testing (no class)

Monday, May 31, 2010, no class (Memorial Day)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010, no class (School Cleaning, Black Belts and DBN's only)

Thursday, June 17, 2010, Black belt testing

Friday, June, 18, 2010, Super Seminar and promotions

Congratulations to KSN Megan! She had to compete against the next age group up. KSN Megan is 14 and she competed against the 19-39 year old age group.

The wimp who made it through the eliminations on luck alone will suddenly turn into Bruce Lee when you're up against him.

The referee will always be looking the other way when you score.

You will have trouble with the ties on your dobok pants when members of the opposite sex are in class.

The day you leave work early to make it to class on time, the instructor will be sick.

The instructor will only use you during demonstrations for joint-locking techniques.

If you have to use your training in self-defense, your attacker's father will be a lawyer.

After a flawless demonstration, you will trip on your way back to your seat.

After years of training without a single injury, you will pull a groin muscle the night before your black belt exam.

In an otherwise vacant locker room, the only other person will have the locker right next to yours.

No matter how many times you take care of it before your promotion exam, you will invariably have to go to the bathroom when it's your turn.

Our annual Pot luck, awards, and class picture are this Saturday, February 13^th from 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. I will be providing the

hamburgers and hotdogs. There is a sign-up poster at the school. Please write your name and what you are bringing.  Also, please come in uniform for the class picture.

The pledge sheets have already been passed out. If you do not have one, please see me.

We will hold this years kick-a-thon/break-a-thon at the St. Philomena’s gymnasium on March 13, 2010 from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.  It is located at 3216 Emery Ave. in Peoria.

I would like all students to participate in the fundraising for St. Jude Children’s Hospital even if you do not wish to participate in the demonstration or you are not able to attend the event. Last year we raised $5,500.00! Let‘s try to surpass that amount this year!!

If you would like to participate in the demonstration you must be able to attend the scheduled practices below.

Saturday, February 27, 2010, 11:00 a.m.

Sunday, February, 28, 2010, 1:00 p.m.

Friday, March 12, 2010, 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 13, 2010, 10:00 a.m.

I want everyone that is participating in the demo to attend the

March 12^th and 13^th practice so we can all practice together.

Please email me ASAP if you would like to participate. This is for ALL ranks! White belts and above can participate.

If you do not participate in the demonstration, you can still participate in the kick-a-thon/break-a-thon.

Adults, yellow belt & above and kids red belt & above will be allowed to break.

We will have two types of breaking. The first will be simple breaks, (palm strikes, front kicks, etc.) The second will be specialty breaking (3 or more stations). For example, I will be breaking several boards with advanced kicks and breaking bricks with hand techniques.

White belt adults and white belt kids through red stripe can participate in the kick-a-thon.

Pledge sheets and money need to be turned in to me by the day of the event.

In order for this event to be a success, I need YOU to make this happen. When we work together for a common cause, we can accomplish anything. This is just another aspect of martial arts behavior. Courtesy, Compassion and Charity!

As always, if you have any question, please let me know.

Sbn

All classes tonight are canceled due to the Icy weather. Classes will resume as normal tomorrow unless notified differently. I do update the local TV stations.  If you have questions, just let me know.

If you are out and about, drive safely!

Sbn

Happy New Year Students!

I am ready to get back in the Do-Jang for classes.  I hope you all are well rested and ready for training!

Speaking of the Do-Jang, on December 26th, I was notified by my realtor that the University property has been approved and meets EPA standards!

Over the next few weeks we will close on the property and secure the location of our new Kuk Sool Won of Peoria school location!  I hope you all are just as excited about this as I am!!

Calendar information:

There have been a couple changes to the calendar.

Black belts and Dbn’s, we will have classes every other Friday. Classes are now 2 hours long, from 5:30-7:30.

Instructors will now have 2 hour classes opposite weeks of the BB classes. Please make sure you check the schedule!

Kids testing will now start at 5:30 instead of 4:30.

Dates to remember:

January 16, 2010-I will be testing in Le Claire, IA. Any of my black belts that would like to test are welcome to participate.

January 31, 2010-Association fees are due no later than TODAY!

February 13, 2010- We will have our annual pot luck, class picture and awards. I will have a poster board up to sign-up. Remember to put what food/drink/utensils you will be bringing. I will be providing hotdogs and hamburgers.

February 20, 2010-There will be testing at the St. Louis school for Black Belts and DBN’s. I’ll be testing at this test as well. I recommend that those DBN’s due to get promoted in June to participate in this testing! It will be a good tune-up testing for you!

March 4th-7th 2010- I will be at head quarters for testing and training.

March 13, 2010-We will be having the St. Jude fund raiser at the St. Philomena Gym. We are looking for parents to volunteer in putting the event together. If you are interested, please let me know. We will have a meeting soon to cover the details.

April 23 & 24 2010- The annual St. Louis tournament is April 24th. I would LOVE to have 100% participation!

You have 4 months to prepare for the trip! With diligent training, we will have a LOT of 1st place medals coming back to the school along with the FLAG!

Black Belt testing is April 23rd in St. Louis.  I will be testing as well.

June 2010 (date tbd)- Kuk Sa Nym will be visiting our school for Black Belt testing, promotion(s), and seminar.  I will be testing as well.

Do you all see a pattern yet?? I will be testing in January, February, March, April and June! Whew!

There will be no class on the following days:

• Monday, January 18, 2010-Martin Luther King Jr.Day
• Thursday, January 28, 2010-Testing
• Friday, January 29, 2010-Testing

As you can see, we have a lot going on over the next few months, not counting the Open tournaments we have been invited to!  We also will be launching a new website soon-hopefully within the next few weeks.  We have a lot to do in 2010!

Remember, if you have questions, please contact me.

Kuk Sool!

Sbn Ben

Happy Holidays Students!

Why did the Kuk Sool Won Student admire Santa...?

Because he has a black belt!  Hahaha

This just may be my last post of 2009!

Do you all have your snow boots out?  I have the snow plow ready!

The Santa Parade was a blast. If you did not attend, I hope you were able to see us on TV.

Weather Reminder-

December is here and bad weather may be near!  Remember that when District 150 closes due to severe weather conditions, Kuk Sool Won of Peoria will cancel all classes.  I will update our local TV stations, WEEK and WMBD.  If in doubt call the school!

Annual Dodge ball tournament-

We will have our annual Dodge ball tournament on December 23^rd from 10:00 a.m. - noon. Everyone is allowed to participate.

Remember… if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!

Annual Membership/Association fee-

The annual fee is due by January 31^st.  Please see me if you have questions.

Testing-

Testing will be on Thursday, December 17^th and Friday, December 18^th.

School Hours-

The school will be closed December 24^th- January 2^nd and will resume normal classes on Monday, January 4^th.  Students can

come to class unlimited in December and January because of the short months. I encourage you to take advantage of this!

No Class-

We will no have classes on the following days:

December 17^th-testing

December 18^th –testing

December 23^rd- no evening classes

December 24^th through January 2^nd

Have a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year!

See you Next Year!

Sbn!

'Twas the night of Thanksgiving, 
but I just couldn't sleep... 
I tried counting backwards, 
I tried counting sheep. 
The leftovers beckoned...the dark meat and white, 
but I fought the temptation with all of my might. 
Tossing and turning with anticipation, 
the thought of a snack became infatuation. 
So, I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door 
and gazed at the fridge, full of goodies galore. 
I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes, 
stuffing with gravy, green beans and tomatoes. 
I felt myself swelling so plump and so round, 
till all of a sudden, I rose off the ground. 
I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the sky 
with a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie 
But, I managed to yell as I soared past the trees... 
Happy eating to all -- pass the cranberries, please. 

The holidays are fast approaching! What does that mean to us? Well, our schedule will be a little different.  Please make sure you look at it closely! Testing will be on a Monday and Tuesday this month. We will also be participating

in the Santa Parade on Friday, November 27th.

Let's hope our warm weather continues!  I will send out more information about the Santa Parade as I receive it. 

There will be no class on the following days:

Monday, November 23^rd- Testing

Tuesday, November 24^th, Testing

Wednesday, November 25^th, Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 26^th, Thanksgiving

Friday, November 27^th, Santa Parade

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!