December Newsletter Hi everyone, we would like to start by wishing everyone a safe and happy holidays to all our students and families from all the staff at SGMA. We have some important information and dates that we need to pass on to you.
November Recap We had a hectic November we attended the Tiger Taekwondo tournament in Edmonton and did very well. Our 6 competitors won a total of 7 medals; 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze. All of our competitors did really well we won 7 matches and lost 4 against very high level competition. We are very proud of the effort they showed. We also did 3 outreach seminars; Bishop Grandin High School, Mother Teresa Elementary School, and a Women’s Self-defense Seminar for the employees of the Hong Kong Bank (HSBC). We also held our own Women’s Self-defense seminar.
Student of the Month For the month of December we actually have 2 winners for the student of the month award again. This time we are acknowledging to young boys. Ivan Asparuhov and Esteban Gardiner excelled at their last testing. They are both 6 years old and tested better than any other children at their same belt levels. Both scored over 93% on their promotion test! Ivan tested for his Yellow Stripe Belt and Esteban for his Blue Stripe Belt. If you happen to see them in the club please wish them congratulations.
Movie & Pizza Night We still have about 4 spots left for our Movie and Pizza night. Our Movie and Pizza Nights have always been our most popular event. To start the evening will we watch Kung Fu Panda 2 and then we play a variety of games for prizes. We also give away several door prizes. The cost is $15.00 per child and includes 3 slices of pizza and 3 juice boxes. The movie will be shown on a 300 inch HD Projector with surround sound. Prizes will include new Black Collar uniforms, Taekwondo gym bags, targets, badges and many more. It is important, when you reserve your spot(s), to please let us know if your children will be eating either Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza. Here are the rest of particulars: Date- December 17th Time- 2:45-6:30 Pick-up Time- No later than 7pm Place- Fishcreek Sports Club, Court 7 and the Studios Group Martial Arts Studio Age- 5-12yrs Next Testing Our next scheduled testing will be on December 21st and 22nd from 6-9pm on both days. Remember in order to test you must book and pay for the testing prior to the test date. Also testing students need all their stripes to be eligible for testing (please refer to the handbook for complete details). Next scheduled testing will be at the end of January 2012.
Year-end Celebration In the new year, the date and location have yet to be finalized, we will be holding a year-end pot-luck party. At this party we will be giving out many awards and certificates to the students and staff and we will also be celebrating Master Thibault’s 30 years in Martial Arts. We are tentatively planning the event for the first weekend in February at a location close to the school. The awards will be for Student of the Year, Instructor of the Year, Black Belt and Color Belt Competitors of the year, and Lil’ Dragon Student of the year. We will also be giving out numerous certificates for students who demonstrated excellent attitudes and/or showed perseverance.
School Closures We will be closed from Friday, December 23rd until Sunday, January 8th. We will re-open on Monday, January 9th.
New Lil’ Dragon Instructor:
We’ve added a new Adult Instructor to the Lil’ Dragon program, Karleen Thibault. Karleen has had years of experience teaching young students and special needs. She has already brought a lot more structure and discipline to the classes creating a much better learning environment.
Student of the Month:
We had several students who did very well in testing and at the Sundre tournament. We’ve decided to award 2 students with the Student of the Month awards. Ilya Kostenko and Lawrence Tang both skipped a belt, and as a result they were both awarded the honor. Their picture will be on the front window of the Martial Arts room at the club.
Halloween Party:
We had a pack house for our Halloween Party with almost 50 children in attendance. Every child walked away with a huge bag of candy and we gave away over 16 prizes for the best costumes! Best Overall Girl was Jordan Nolan and Best Overall Boy was Dustin Wright. Thank you to all the Parents that volunteered to make the event a success. Our next Special Event will be a Movie and Pizza night on December 17th from 5-8:30pm, 8:30-9pm is the pick-up time. We will send out all the information on November 10th and then we will start accepting registrations on November 21st.
Women’s Self-Defense Seminar:
This seminar is Free and available to all female students 12 years of age and up. The seminar focuses a providing girls and women basic and strong self-defense techniques. Here’s the date and time: November 30th 8-10pm. You need to register with M.T. by November 25th.
Next Testing Dates:
Remember you need to register and pay for testing 2 days in advance, and we have limited amount of space per test day. Our next Black Belt Test will be December 17th. Here are the upcoming test dates:
November 16th 8-9 pm, November 17th 7-8pm. December 2nd 5-7pm, December 3rd 1-4pm, December 20th 6-8pm, December 21st 6-8pm.
Tournaments:
We did excellent at our first tournament! At Sundre, our 9 competitors in a total of 11 divisions, won 4 Gold, 4 Silver, and 3 Bronze. In 2 of the event we place 1st and 2nd so we took home 6 of the highest medals we could. We also we had 5 students who competed at their 1st tournament. The next Tournaments are in Edmonton on November 5thand in Whitecourt on November 19th.
Bullying:
In 3rd week of November (starting on November 14th) we will teach the children more anti-bullying self-defense and talk to them on more ways to avoid being the target of bullying. We will
School Closures and Class Changes:
We will be closed on Remembrance Day, November 11th.
There will be no Raptor classes on the Tournament days.
There will be no 8pm All-Open class on November 30th in lieu of the Women’s Self-defense Seminar.
-Welcome!
From all the staff from SGMA we would like to welcome back all the members who took the summer off and welcome all the new students who have joined our school recently. We have an exciting program planned for this year with many new additions to our program.
-Bullying
Bullying has always been an issue in society whether it is in school, work or social gatherings. It has always been an issue for Master Thibault. He and his wife Karleen Thibault have seen it negative effects first-hand. They have also had success in helping people overcome it. So as a result, we are very proud to formally start an Anti-bullying program. After years of research and life experiences they have come to understand a lot about bullying and some of the best ways to stop it. As a result, they are going to provide numerous things to ensure that they help all our students in bully prevention. Every month we are going to do something specifically on the prevention of bullying. Starting on October 3rd, we will discuss the importance of Self-confidence to deter bullying.
-Student of the month
This month’s Student of the Month is Sharlene Orsi. Sharlene scored 96% on her White Belt Promotion Test and as a result she received both her Yellow Stripe and Yellow Belt. Her picture will be on the front window of our main training room. If you happen to see her at the club please congratulate her on being selected for October’s “Student of Month”.
-Halloween Party
-Saturday, October 29th, from 2:30-4:30pm we will be running our Halloween Party. This is an exercise party. The party is open to all students 12 and under. Students have to do a variety of exercises for candy. Also we give away various door prizes such as new uniforms, targets, …etc. The cost of the party is $10 per student. We only have room for about 45 students, so please sign up as soon as you can. Every year we sell out quickly. Last year we sold-out in just 1 week with about half of the students we have now! We will be taking registrations starting Monday, October 3rd.
-Recruiting bonus
-We wanted remind all of the students and families that we pay $25 cash for bringing in any member who stays for a minimum of 3 months. Multiple family members will receive a corresponding payout to the family discounted rates.
-October Test Dates
-October 13th 6-9pm, October 14th 5-7pm, October 15th 1-4pm
- October 27th 6-9pm, October 28th 5-7pm
Remember in order to test you must have all the required stripes and register a minimum of days in advance.
-Tournaments
-October 22, Sundre: Mountainview TKD Invitational
-October 29, Edmonton: Min’s Annual Invitational
-November 5, Edmonton: Tiger TKD Annual Invitational
-For Women Only Martial Arts (FOMA)
Our new Women’s program is now up and running. FOMA includes several things just for Women. First, we have Women only classes on Wednesdays and Sundays which focuses on Self-defense and Kickboxing. Next have 3 Free Women’s Self-Defense Seminars per year for all active female members 12years of age and up. Family members of existing students can attend for only $69/session. The price for non-members is $99/session. Our next Seminar is scheduled for Wednesday, November 30th 8-10pm. Space is limited so all interested Women and Girls should register as soon as possible.
-Kickboxing
We’ve started our lunch time Kickboxing class.
Please see the attached flyer
-School Closures
We will be closed from October 7th-10th for Thanksgiving. We re-open on Tuesday, October 11th. Those who are affected by this closure will have 2 weeks to make up classes. Please note make up classes must be pre-booked by either phone or email. Due to space constraints, we will not accept unbooked make up classes.
Master Thibault
Studios Group Martial Arts Calgary March 2010 Newsletter
Spring is coming up fast! As usual we have a very busy month for us. We will be attending an 3 tournaments, starting our Intermediate Women’s Self-defense, preparing for our Open Invitational Tournament, We’ve started accepting deposits for our Summer Camps, and We have to name this month’s Student of the month. FEBRUARY RE-CAP! In our latest session of women’s self-defense, 10 more women successfully past the course and are anxious for the Intermediate session to start. Mason Depatie was last month’s Student of the Month! Our Pot-luck Party was an awesome time with over 75 people enjoying the great food and games. At the Edmonton Tournament we continued our winning ways with our 3 students winning 1 Gold and 2 Bronzes. We also have already signed-up over 15 children for our Summer Camps.
STUDENT OF THE MONTH March's “Student of the Month” award goes to Riley Zuber. Riley is this month’s Student of the Month because of his continued success and dedication as a Raptor. Riley won again last month at the D.K. Chun Memorial Tournament in Edmonton. Riley struggled for a while at the Black Belt level, but over the last year and half has really won more than 80% of his tournaments and is well on his way to become National Champion someday, and for these reasons we congratulate Riley Zuber! TOURNAMENTS If you haven’t heard the big news yet the Raptor Society and SGMA are hosting our first Open Invitational Tournament on April 24th at the South Fishcreek Recreational Center. We are hosting the tournament to raise funds for both our competitors and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. We are the first Taekwondo School to ever do such a thing! We have invited 55 schools across Alberta and expect an excellent turn-out. So, we need your help! We have a very important meeting planned for Thursday, March 11th 7-8PM at the club. We want all the Parents and Adult students to please attend. We need volunteers and competitors! We will be sending information regularly to all the students as it comes up. In March we will be attending 3 Tournaments. On March 6th we will attend Master Chan Lee’s Invitational Tournament in Calgary, on March 20th we will attend the Senior Provincials in Edmonton, and lastly on March 27th we will be attending the Victory Martial Arts Tournament in Calgary. Here are the complete results for the D.K Chun Memorial Tournament held in Edmonton February 6th:
So far we have won a total of 45 out of a possible 46 medals (98%), and won the 25 out of 39 (64%) of the highest medals we were able to win! We continue to do this with new competitors! We are always looking for new students to join our Raptor’s program. Students can join at any time, and students will be placed in tournaments at levels where they will be successful regardless of their current belt level. Training to be a Raptor dramatically increases the student’s speed, strength, timing, techniques, confidence and athleticism. The program is open to all students Yellow Belt and Higher or on Master Thibault’s recommendations. Raptors train to compete in tournaments for Sparring and Patterns. SUMMERCAMPS Every summer our camps are enjoyed by a large number of children. Last year over 50 children took part in 4 in our best camps yet! We were able to go Lake Midnapore over 15 times! The demand is already high, so this year we are going to have 5 Summer Camps! 3 regular summer camps open all children ages 5-13, and 2 specialty camps ages 8-15 (Black Belt & Sparring). Our full-day camps are jammed packed with activities for the children. We do Martial Arts in the morning, and play a variety of sports and games in the afternoons. Every nice day we go to Lake Midnapore where we have full access to all the facilities and boats. Master Thibault has over 15 years of boating experience (Canoe's, Rowboats, Kayaks & Paddle Boats) and will be in every boat the children will be in. There will be no unsupervised boating of any kind. Master Thibault instructs all the camps, and has the assistance of at least 1 other Senior Black Belt Instructor. Since we actually do 15 martial arts classes in one week the lower belts often have the opportunity to test at the end of the week. The regular camps will take place on the following dates: The specialty will be Black Belt camp () and a Sparring Camp August 23rd - 27th. Dates: July 12th-16th, August 9th – 13th, and 16th – 20th Location: Fishcreek Sports Club Times: 9 AM-4PM -Parents wishing an early drop-off time or a later pick-up time please speak with Master Thibault so other arrangements can be made. Costs: The cost of 1 Summer Camp is $129 + GST. Each additional family member is $89. New members are $169 + GST and $119 for each additional family members. New members receive a new uniform and White Belt Ages & Ranks: 6-14 years of age, all belt levels. Promotion Test Fees: Are not covered by the Summer Camp Fees. Deposit to secure your spot: 50% deposit is required to hold your spot.
BLACK BELT SUMMER CAMP! We are creating a summer camp just for Black Belts that will run from July 19th-23rd. This camp will focus on advanced techniques for Black Belts; weapons, self-defence, kicking, striking, blocking, patterns and sparring. The cost of the camp will be $139 + GST, and is open to all Junior Black Belts and Black Stripe Students 8-14 years of age. This camp will focus only on higher level techniques designed to learn the elite level martial arts.
SPARRING CAMP! The Sparring Camp will take place in the last week of August (23rd – 27th), and would be open to all Raptors and students thinking of joining the Raptors in the Fall. This camp we focus on sparring and sparring techniques, higher levels of strategies and superior fitness and coordination. We will include in-depth analysis and formulated action plans so students can develop their sparring abilities to National and International skill levels. The cost of this camp will be $139 + GST. The camp would be open to all Green Belts and Higher ages 8+ or on Master Thibault's recommendation. We have already accepted deposits from over 15 students, so if you are interested in any of the camps so should reserve spots NOW! WOMEN'S INTERMEDIATE SELF-DEFENSE Our Introductory program was very successful with 20 women completing the course. We are now going to expand on that program by introducing Weapon’s Self-defense. This course will focus on self-defense from a variety of weapons. Each Session will consist of 4 – 1½ hr classes held on 4 consecutive Wednesdays. The first class starts on Wednesday, March 17th and will conclude on April 7th. All class times will be from 8:00PM until 9:30PM. All Participants Must Be a Minimum Of 14 Years of Age and have previous training (either the introductory course or a current member of SGMA). This course will cover defending against different knife attacks, and sticks of varying length. Students will also learn defenses against weapons for different distances, the most effective weak spots and pressure points, more advanced striking techniques, advanced assessments of escape routes in order to make proper decisions. The cost of each session is only $60 for family members of SGMA and $80 for outside participants. All Participants Must be a Minimum of 16 years of age or on Master Thibault's recommendation. Also students must have either completed the Introductory course, or an active member in SGMA. We already started accepting registrations for the March Session. Those interested please contact Master Thibault as soon as possible there is limited space. TESTING This month we should see a lot of color belt testing as many of the students have either already received or are very close to receiving all their stripes. Remember Green Belt Students scoring over 95 % on their Promotion Test will skip to the next level, and we only charged 50% of the skipped Belt. As usual Color Belt testing will be done throughout the month when students are ready. Our Next Black Belt Test will be February 27th, 11:00AM-1PM. Please Note: The Testing will be done DURING Class Times, hence NO Cancellations. Students will be required to have all the necessary stripes to test. Please refer to the website www.sgma.biz for testing requirements. Currently those requirements can be found in the Student Handbook on the Training Materials Page. SPARRING GEAR FOR ALL STUDENTS We require all Green Stripe Belts & Higher to purchase Fist-Forearm ($24) and Shin-In-Step ($24) Pads, and all students are required to bring them to every class. Black Belts are required to purchase Vinyl Forearm and Shin-In-Step sparring pads which are $30/set. We provide chest protectors for all students which is the most expensive part of the sparring equipment at $50/chest protector. CLOSURES & SCHEDULE CHANGES -There are closures in the month of March. -We will be closed from April 2nd to the 5th for Easter.
You can sense the children and adults are getting antsy for the Summer Holidays. In June we are going to finish up with several events. We are preparing for the Black Belt Testing, Weapons Demo, Pot-luck Party, and Color Belt Testing. We are planning our evening Summer Hours, so we would like all the members to please inform us of their Summer plans. our Summer Hours are listed below. Please note, some of the Summer Camps are almost full.
SUMMER HOURS Here are our Summer Hours; please read over them carefully and then let us know what your Summer plans are before June 10 th . We will run All Open Classes on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday Nights from 6-7PM. We will have classes on July 13th, 14th, 16th, 20th, 21st, & 23rd and on August 10th, 11th, 13th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 24th, 25th, & 27th. Lil' Dragon families who intend on attending over Summer, please let us know which one of the 3 nights works best for you.
SUMMER CAMPS ARE FILLING UP FAST! Last year our Summer Camps were a huge success with over 60 children taking part! Our full-day camps are jammed packed with activities for the children. The ages range from 6- 14 years of age and from White to Black Belt. Lil Dragon Students and Families Please note: Children who are currently 5 years of age, may attend the Summer Camps. We do Martial Arts in the morning and play a variety of sports and games in the afternoons. We also go to either Lake Sundance or Lake Midnapore at least one (1) afternoon per camp. If any of your childrens' friends have expressed a desire to try Martial Arts, this is a perfect way to get them started. Master Thibault instructs all the camps and has the assistance of at least 2 other Black Belt Instructors. Since we actually do 15 martial arts classes in one week the lower belts often have the opportunity to test at the end of the week. Dates: July Camp 13th -17th , August Camp 10th -14th Location: Fishcreek Sports Club - Times: 9 AM-4PM* Costs: The cost of 1 Summer Camp is $129 + GST. Each additional family member is $89. New members are $169 + GST and $119 for each additional family members. New members receive a new uniform and White Belt. Promotion Test Fees: Are not covered by the Summer Camp Fees. Deposit to secure your spot: 50% deposit is required to hold your spot. *Parents wishing an early drop-off time or a later pick-up time please speak with Master Thibault so other arrangements can be made.
BLACK BELT SUMMER CAMP! We are creating a summer camp just for Black Belts that will run from July 20th -24th . This camp will focus on advanced techniques for Black Belts: weapons, self-defence, kicking, striking, blocking, patterns and sparring. The cost of this camp is the $139 + GST and is open to all Junior Black Belts and Black Stripe Students 8-15 years of age. This camp will focus only on higher level techniques designed to learn the elite level martial arts.
SPARRING CAMP! Last year the Sparring Camp was a great success! Whether you are a current Raptor (our competition team) or you want to try it for the first time this camp is an excellent way to improve your sparring skills. The camp will run in the last week of August (17th -21st ) and will be open to all Raptors and students thinking of joining the Raptors in the Fall. In this camp we focus on sparring and sparring techinques, higher levels of strategies and superior fitness and coordination. We will include video analysis and lots more. The cost of the camp will be $139 + GST. The camp will be open to all Green Stripes and Higher ages 8+.
RAPTORS We wanted to let everyone know that we just finished our last tournament on a high to match the very strong year we had! Our 8 competitors did very well winning 11 out of a possible 13 medals (84%). Bringing our total, for this spring and winter, of 69 medals out of a possible 75 (92%). In Sparring we won 56 out of a possible 57 medals (98%!!) with 28 Gold, 17 Silver, and 11 Bronze Medals. We also won over 78% of our sparring matches. Here are the complete results:
Sparring Winning Percentage of 75% *Did Not Compete **Did Not Place ***First Tournament We are always looking for new students to join our Raptor’s program. Students can join at any time and the Sparring Summer Camp is a great way to start. Training to be a Raptor dramatically increases the student’s techniques, confidence and athleticism. The program is open to all students Yellow Belt and Higher or on Master Thibault’s recommendations. Raptors train to compete in tournaments for Sparring and Patterns.
TESTING Our Next Black Belt Test is scheduled for June 20th . On that day we will have a Testing followed by a Weapons Demo by the Black Belts and a Pot-luck Party. For the Pot-luck Party please bring a dish that feeds a family of 6. We will provide Coffee, Juice Boxes, Plates, Cups, and Utensils. We will also be bringing in our projector to play Wii Sports in the Racquet Ball Court, like we did at our Christmas Party. In June Color Belt testing will take place during classes. Please Note: The Testing will be done DURING Class Times, hence NO Cancellations. Students will be required to have all the necessary stripes to test. Please refer to the website www.sgma.biz for testing requirements. Currently, those requirements can be found in the Student Handbook on the Training Materials Page.
CLOSURES & SCHEDULE CHANGES -We Will be Closed From June 29th until July 12th , We will Re-Open on July 13th with our First Summer Camp and Evening Classes. -We will then be closed from July 25th until August 10th