Developing Courage and Community through Martial Arts
Tonight was Pine Tree Taekwondo’s first sparring class in about six months. It was a good night. Everyone fought hard and worked on developing techniques, even adding new kicks to their strategy. This was the first night that I’ve sparred since having to add a knee brace. The contraption pictured to the left is the […]
Today was a day of helping the eldest youngling with some driving practice. He’s waited to get his license as he’s not worried about too much riding his “longest of skate board.” We were out for about an hour. I’ll back up just a bit as I have done this before with another pair of […]
My students regularly hear from me that “if you aren’t actively trying to make your techniques better, you’re wasting your time.” I guess that one of Master Justin Koivisto’s students, Kent Olson, may have heard that. He forwarded an article to me – This Coach Improved Every Tiny Thing by 1 Percent and Here’s What Happened […]
Keep Learning and Growing by Bill Hedrick In class the other night, Master F. talked about intelligence and remarked that he was just a “dumb jock.” He talked about his high school years were the coach would run his players through the woods, the ones that ran around the trees would be running backs and […]
It is really unbelievable how an injury can cause thoughts of being completely out of the loop. I’ve been struggling with finding a proper knee brace to continue training and teaching. My eczema apparently like neoprene and has a major reaction to more than an hour in a brace. This creates an imbalance that the […]
The following where taken from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary Definition of gymnasium plural: gymnasiums or -nasia 1a: a large room used for various indoor sports (as basketball or boxing) and usually equipped with gymnastic b: a building (as on a college campus) containing space and equipment for various indoor sports activities and usually including spectator accommodations, locker and […]
We were featured in the Sun Focus newspaper Wednesday 12/21/2016! You can find the article here!
The learning process, regardless of the subject matter, has the same potential to find sticking points. Whether it is intellectual problem solving or physical development plateaus. These have only one way to finally develop further – the acceptance of being stuck. Getting stuck should be viewed as a chance to develop your problem solving skills […]
Starting January 2017, there will be some schedule changes to add training opportunities.These can be seen on the calendars connected to each dojang location page. We have also partnered with Spring Lake Community Education to provide Taekwondo classes as part of their programming. These classes will happen during the scheduled times below. Below is a […]
So, last night WTMA students and some family members got to attend a movie premier at the Mall Of America theaters. This came about due to having connected to JJ Stomp after learning that he was a Brooklyn Park (MN) martial artist…and actor. When he announced his movie (JKU: John Kincaid Unleashed) would be playing […]
Life changes! Are you keeping up with these changes? Are you following dreams or goals? Do you recognize who you are? Are you ignoring who you are? Yep, pretty deep thoughts recently. It stems from the big changes in my life. The main changes include the opening of a dedicated martial arts school (having a […]
I finally took the time to watch the whole documentary. There is SO much that connects to our martial arts training! This is one that I think should be watched and studied. Part of our responsibility as a martial arts school is to help prepare you (The Hero) to go out into your Journey!
As Song Moo Kwan moves forward under the director of SGM Joon Pyo Choi, he has stated that the accomplishments of SGM Bung Jick Ro’s direct students should be recognized for the impact that they’ve had on Taekwondo. Among these students are Senior Grand Master Il Joo Kim and Senior Grand Master Jun Seon Hyon. […]
I hope that I’m this much of an inspiration when I’m 75 years old! Actually, I hope that I’m still moving at all.
What seems like a lifetime ago now, my Aikido teacher in Duluth, MN challenged me to read Joseph Campbell’s Hero With A Thousand Faces. Sensei Brad Bergeron had the right idea. I have never read well and the book is a textbook, not a novel, so it took a while to get through it. The […]
The following post was written by Bill Hedrick, a 60+ year old 3rd Gup student, who has been an inspiration to many as we watch him work. You can see a bit more about Bill on his Facebook page. BTW, he’s also a Klingon! I thought of calling this the warrior in winter, but I’m […]
The key factors to getting things done and being successful! So many of us look for people or things to motivate us to accomplish goals. Motivational speakers, Business (and Personal) coaches, the latest “How To” book are all examples of this. As these SEALs state “Motivation is a fickle emotion…” It is discipline that gets […]
A 30 step sparring drill to work on timing, distance and concentration. The first 10 cuts done by each are the same (attack/attack). The second 10 has on student matching the others cuts (attack/reflect). The last 10 are a combination of cuts and blocks (attack/defend). The concentration and focus is important as the students may […]
I’ve been following Randy King’s Rants for about two years now. He along with Kasey Keckeisen have been building upon the personal protection material that started with Rory Miller and Marc MacYoung. One of those rants was “Stop Practicing Dying“. This rant finally gave words to the concept that I’ve been taught since starting my […]
One of the strangest parts of being in my martial arts school is that the less I talk to you, the better that you’re doing. This doesn’t mean that you receive less instruction for your curriculum. What it means is that you are figuring out what I want and developing how you do it best. […]
Understanding that not every person or body is the same and helping to work through that. The love and passion you and your students have. The geekiness we can all be. You allow your students to be their own person.
