Schedule Changes at American TKD and Fitness

Starting October 1st, Master John McCrackin will be teaching a hapkido class every Saturday morning from 9:00am-10:15pm.  A typical class will follow this schedule:
1.  Stretching and Warmups
2.  Ki Development Exercises
3.  Breakfalls & Rolling
4.  Striking Drills
5.  Sweeps, Throws, Takedowns
6.  Joint Locks, Escapes, Submissions
7.  One-Step Self Defense

Grandmaster Henk Boese will be emphasizing free-sparring during his Monday night classes this fall.  Expect a grueling workout that includes kicking and situation drills thrown in between rounds of free-sparring.  The expectations are high as we enter tournament season early next year.

Starting October 14th Master Mike Fenske will be moving his TKD/Ground Fighting class from Tuesdays to Fridays at 6:30pm.

Tuesday nights will still have a kids class at 5:40pm, but there will not be an all belts/ages at the regular 6:30pm time.  A class may be set up for this slot later this fall.

A copy of our class schedule may be found here http://www.atf.nu/schoolinfo/index.html

In Memory of Ben Oude Louttikhuis

Grandmaster Ben Oude Louttikhuis of The Netherlands passed away Aug 27, 2011.

Grandmaster Suggs and I met Grandmaster Louttikhuis in Chicago in 2009 and we quickly became friends. Grandmaster Suggs and I have run into many people over the years in Taekwondo but Grandmaster Louttikhuis was someone special. A man of dignity and character with a warm heart. His contribution to Taekwondo has been huge and he has touched the lives of many people. He will be missed.

In the photo: Henk Boese, Oscar (Columbia), Ben Oude Loutikhuis, Ronald Suggs, Charles Dingman.

The World Taekwondo Federation posted this note In Memory of Ben Oude Loutiikhuis.

Condolences to his family, friends and taekwondo family.

Founders Day Seminar - United Hapkido Federation

On June 26th, Master Henk Boese and Master John McCrackin attended the Founders Day Seminar hosted by Grandmaster Ron Suggs and the United Hapkido Federation in Swisshome, Oregon.  The event was well attended by martial artists near and far, and representing multiple disciplines  A special thank you to GM Suggs and his wife Deborah for their hospitality and organizing such an event.  We appreciate the time spent and showing us the sites of west coast Oregon!


Here is a brief itinerary of the program:

• Warmups led by GM Suggs including meditation and ki development exercises
• Breakfalls and rolling competition
• Judo throws
• 3 - Step Sparring
• 3 Basic Forms
• Hapkido defense against clothing grabs
• Sword demonstration and forms taught by Master Mark Hino
• Hapkido defense against wrist grabs
• Nunchaku demonstration and training by Master Charles Podzaline
• Rope defense training by Master Charles Podzaline
• Testing and closing ceremonies

On Friday, June 25th 2011 Master Henk Boese successfully tested to Kukkiwon 7th Dan.  The examination was overseen by GM Suggs, GM Scott Rohr, and Master Jack Fennessy.

On Saturday, June 26th Master John McCrackin successfully tested to Hapkido 1st Dan.  Testing and certification awarded by GM Suggs.  A special thanks to Master Mike Town for assisting in the test.

Congratulations also go out to Master Mark Hino and Master Gary Martin on their successful tests!

Classes Canceled Over Memorial Day Weekend

There will be no TKD classes on Saturday, May 28th or Monday, May 30th.

May TKD Testing

Testing will be held:

Friday, May 6th at 6:00pm

Be there at least 10 minutes early
Please fill out the testing form prior to the testing date.

Art Crawl at the Banbury Place

The Art Crawl is coming back to the Banbury Place this weekend (Feb 11 - 12).

Visitors will be wandering the halls of Building 13 from 9:00am - 3:00pm, and perhaps stopping to watch the morning Taekwondo class.

For more info, check these websites
http://volumeone.org/articles/article/2037/Banbury_Art_Crawl_Returns
http://www.banburyartcrawl.com/

Kicking in the New Year With Taekwondo Testing

On January 7th, 2011, American Taekwondo & Fitness featured promotion testing for a small, but determined group of martial artists.  The applicants consisted of one yellow belt testing to green stripe, and several green belts testing to blue stripe.  The testers were graded on their performance of selected Taegeuk form patterns, self-defense/one-step sparring, free-sparring, kicking techniques, and board breaking.  The testing was presided over by Master Henk Boese & Master John McCrackin with the assistance of black belts Mr. Deverick Ohms, Mr. Drew Ohms, and Mr. Dan Andersen.  Following the test, the group met at Sammy's Pizza Palace and Pub.

On November 5th, 2010, Mr. Dan Andersen successfully tested and was promoted to 2nd Dan Black Belt.  He survived 2 hours of testing and was graded on all Taegeuk form patterns including Koryo and Keumgang.  Several rounds of free sparring, one-minute kicking, and slow-motion kicking were next.  Then the self-defense portion which consisted of one-step freestyle sparring, hapkido techniques, and ground fighting.  The examination concluded with board breaking.  Mr. Andersen's first choice was a Flying-Front-Kick, traveling 11 feet and breaking a 2"  thick board.  His 2nd choice was a Jumping-Spin-Crescent-Kick.  The examiners chose a Knife-Hand-Strike break through four 1" thick boards.