A gift to the community allowing pre-school children to enjoy running around challenging themselves with various skills developing coordination, strength, and good manners.
This group is for children older and/or who want to get more — a lot more — out of their training experience. This is where children train to begin achieving really big things.
Yongmudo incorporates a variety of techniques (kicks, strikes, throws, jointlocks, submission wrestling) into a comprehensive system of personal health & self-protection.
Big fun for big bodies. Training for bigger, faster bodies.
Off-site Activities
MSE After-School Program
Mon & Wed • 3-4pm
Jan 18 thru Feb 15
MSE Cafeteria
Following-up on the successful fall program, MSMAP continues with more choices for families wanting something more from the school district — providing healthy, positive fun for their children.
Martial Arts for Seniors
Alternate Mondays • 10:45-11:45am
Dunsmuir CRC
MSMAP is resuming its partnership with the Dunsmuir CRC and offering a healthy activity program for seniors.
The Summer Taekwondo Promotion Examination will be held on Wednesday, August 17. We plan to begin at 5:00pm and end by 7:00pm (end time is dependent upon how many people are taking the exam). All MSMAP members and their families and friends are welcome and encouraged to watch this important and exciting event. Bring your cameras!
Please see below for the eligibility requirements to participate in the exam.
Eligibility
MSMAP members in good standing (i.e., dues paid in full) that have been training consistently for 2.5 months, have the approval of the instructional staff, and meet the other requirements (see below) are eligible to apply for the promotion examination.
Requirements
Please note the requirements to participate in the taekwondo exam.
• Consistent training for at least 2.5 months;
• Two tip tests (taken two tip tests);
• Demonstration (participation in at least one demo since last exam);
• Dues paid (member is in good standing);
• Approval of instructional staff;
• Completed application (due 08/15);
• $25 exam fee (due 08/15).
The Promotion Examination Application must be completed and turned in (with $25 examination fee) by Monday, August 15 at 7:30pm. Note that parents/guardians must sign the application for children under the age of 18.
Key Points
Key points to consider when preparing for the promotion exam include the following items:
QUALITIES. MSMAP emphasizes adpatability, creativity, and effectiveness.
PRECISION. Precision of technique is a basic goal of martial arts training. A central concept of martial arts training is that conflicts can be ended with one technique. Without precision, what is martial art? Flailing and guesswork and fear and ignorance. MSMAP aspires to develop precision of movement and precision of mind.
BREAKING. Board breaking is a test of focus and concentration. Oftentimes, participants get one attempt — that's it! After all, this is a test, not practice.
CONFIDENCE & INTELLIGENCE. Supporting the MSMAP vision statement, the promotion exam is a test of each participant’s ability to apply confidence and intelligence in their decision-making process. In this way, we encourage the development of constructive citizens of our community. For children, this is emphasized through the practice of good manners.
Following are a couple of personal stories about how two people — young and old, male and female — persevere through their respective challenges to attain their goals. Don’t let others tell you what is not possible, don’t let your own thoughts hold you back from achieving big things.
Keido Fukuda
We’ve all felt too tired, too old, too [— fill in the blank —] when it comes to training and taking a promotion exam. Here is some inspiration from the life of Keiko Fukudo Sensei — a 98-year-old 10th degree black belt judo master and overall amazing woman. She battled family and gender discrimination throughout her life even being stuck at 5th degree black belt for 30 years because that was the highest rank allowed for women. More...
Fukuda Sensei is also “the only living student of judo’s founder, Jigoro Kano, who opened his judo school, the Kodokan, in Tokyo, in 1882. Kano added a women's section to his school about 40 years later and invited Fukuda to train because of her martial arts lineage. She was the granddaughter of a renowned jujitsu master who had taught that Japanese martial art to Kano.”
“I think a lot of why I am 98 has to do with judo,” Fukuda Sensei said. “I have my health, and judo is my connection to less stress and difficulty. As far as I know, no one has lived their life completely for judo as I have.”
Documentary filmmaker Yuriko Gamo Romer will have a film about the life of Fukudo Sensei in 2012. In the meantime, there is a 10-minute video clip available to get a better understanding of the life of this remarkable woman and martial artist. Fukudo Sensei shares the meaning of the brave and bold decision to walk her own path at 7:12. Video clip:“Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful” (10 minutes) More info:Keiko Fukuda (SF Gate; 07/25/2011)
A Powerful Story of Friends
Read the inspiring story of Dylan Helms and Michael Graef. More...
At the Missoula Taekwondo Center (Montana), "with padded floor mats and compassionate instruction, [Dylan] escapes the crippling neuromuscular disease that locks his cheerful spirit in a body that unravels a little bit each day." Michael, preparing for his black belt exam, "literally keeps Dylan upright and helps guide the boy's uncooperative body through the specific movements."
"Missoula boy fights rare disease with taekwondo, help from friend"
by Betsy Cohen, The Missoulian
“From afar, the duo move as one - Graef providing the legs and strength, Dylan offering the expressive artistry.” Go to:Article in Missoulian
NOTE: Master Steve Rosbarsky is a friend that attended the Korea Trip in 2002 with Chuck Buhs.
The promotion exam is a tool to assist participants in their progress as martial artists. It is not a competition with other people; it is a learning opportunity in which each individual displays their skills and receives feedback towards continual improvement. Sometimes the biggest challenge is just showing up.
Lower rank exams emphasize precision of movement and balance; higher rank exams require participants to include the demonstration of adaptability, creativity, and effectiveness.
Our program emphasizes developing and applying confidence and intelligence in the decision-making process. This becomes more challenging under stress. Part of the promotion exam is to deal with confusion. The individual must filter out the clutter and arrive at a good decision.
