Toby Kinstler - Promoted to Black Belt

On April 4th, 2014, Toby Kinstler was promoted to 1st poom black belt after a very difficult testing.  At 13 years old and finishing his 8th grade year at Delong Middle School, Toby is currently the youngest black belt at American Taekwondo & Fitness.

The examination began with an oral presentation detailing the history of Taekwondo, his experiences in the martial art, and his plans for future goals.  The physical portion of the test was next, beginning with poomsae. Toby demonstrated the forms of Koryo, Taegeuk Pal Jang, and Taegeuk Oh Jang.  After poomsae, Toby endured three 2-minute rounds of free-sparring against three different black belt opponents.  Next portion of the test was self-defense.  Toby deflected multiple attackers using striking skills, ground fighting, joint locks, and throws.  After self-defense was board breaking.  Toby developed a breaking routine to highlight his taekwondo strengths.  Techniques in this routine included a drop punch, spinning backfist, jump-turning-backside kick, jumping-spin-hook, tornado roundhouse, flying-turning-backside kick, and a flying side kick.  The next breaks were determined the judges panel.  The first was a elbow strike through a cement paver, and the second was a dashing-sidekick through three boards.

The panel of examiners and black belt assistants for this test were GrandMaster Henk Boese, Master John McCrackin, Master Mike Fenske, Master Davin Ohms, Master Deverick Ohms, Drew Ohms, Dan Andersen, Jesse Scheuermann, and Morgan Andersen.

Toby Kinstler's Martial Arts Timeline

• 2009 - Began martial arts
• 2011 - Started classes at American TKD & Fitness
• 2012 - GM Ronald Suggs Hapkido Seminar - Eau Claire, WI
• 2012 - Competed at the Central WI TKD Champs - Stevens Point, WI
• 2013 - Day of Dance Demo - Chippewa Falls, WI
• 2013 - Exceptional Athletics Demo - Eau Claire, WI
• 2013 - Competed at the Central WI TKD Champs - Waupaca, WI
• 2014 - Evolution Circuit Free Sparring Seminar - Wausau, WI
• 2014 - Black Belt Test 

Morgan Andersen - ATF's Newest Black Belt

On Friday, December 6th, 2013 Morgan Andersen tested and was successfully promoted to 1st Poom black belt.  She is now the youngest black belt, and also the first female to achieve this rank from American Taekwondo & Fitness in Eau Claire, WI.

Morgan's exam began with an oral presentation detailing the history of taekwondo, her experiences and achievements in the martial art, and her future goals.  Following the presentation, Morgan demonstrated the poomsae of Koryo, Taegeuk Pal Jang, and Taegeuk Oh Jang.  Then she endured five rounds of free-sparring against five different black belt opponents.  Next was the self-defense portion of the test where she was required to protect herself from a host of black belts acting as assailants. Drawing from her experience from taekwondo, hapkido, and ground fighting Morgan defended herself with multiple strikes, joint locks, throws, and grappling techniques.  Board breaking was the final segment of the test.  Morgan's first break was a routine she devised that highlights her special abilities that require great flexibility, speed, and muscle control.  Over a dozen breaks were included, and most of them involved spinning, jumping, and flying kicks.  Demonstrating Morgan's power technique, she broke a cement brick with a heel stomp.  The grand finale involved a self-defense and board breaking routine - blindfolded.  Without her eyesight, Morgan needed to break free from several grabs and locks and finished with a spinning-heel break.

The panel of examiners for this black belt test were Grand Master Henk Boese, Masters John McCrackin, Mike Fenske, Davin Ohms, and Deverick Ohms.  Black belts assisting with the test were Mr. Skye Doering, Jesse Scheuermann, Dan Andersen, Mike McCrackin, and Toby Kinstler.

Morgan Andersen's Martial Arts Timeline:

• 2007. Began taekwondo at age 6.
• 2008/3. AAU National Qualifier. Forrest Lake, MN
• 2012/11. Central Wisc Championships. Stevens Point, WI
• 2012/12. AAU Judo Tournament. St Paul, MN
• 2013/3. Day of Dance Demo. Chippewa Falls, WI
• 2013/5. USAT Wisc State Championships. Middleton, WI
• 2013/7. USAT National Championships.  Chicago, IL
• 2013/10. Central Wisc Championships. Waupaca, WI
• 2013/11. Exceptional Athletics Demo. Eau Claire, WI
• 2013/12. Test for 1st Poom black belt.  Eau Claire, WI

GM Brian Jang's Poomse Seminar

On Saturday, September 14th John McCrackin, Dan Andersen, and Mike McCrackin attended GrandMaster Brian Jang's Poomse Seminar in Waupaca, WI.  The event was well attended by taekwondoists from all over Wisconsin and Illinois.

GM Jang provided a refreshing look at all the Taegeuk poomse and also the black belt poomse from Koryo - Jitae. The group spent 6 hours breaking down the individual steps in the forms while GM Jang gave critical adjustments to our techniques in accordance to the rules and regulations of sport poomse.

American Taekwondo & Fitness is very grateful for this unique opportunity and would like to thank GM Jang for sharing his expertise and spending his time with us.  We would also like to thank Master Stephen Decker and the Wisconsin Taekwondo Association for organizing the event.  And also Becky & Dar Peterson of Waupaca Taekwondo for providing the venue.


More info on Grand Master Brian Jang:

• 7th Dan Kukkiwon
• Owner & Master Instructor of Jang's Taekwondo in Elgin, IL
• US Official Referee
• PATU International Official Referee
• WTF International Referee
• 2011 - Illinois State Taekwondo Championship- Gold Medal
• 2011--US Open Taekwondo Championships--Silver Medal
• 2010--US Open Hanmadang-- Gold Medal
• 2006--US Open Taekwondo Championships-- Gold Medal
• 2002 - Present--Officiating Referee at many national and international championships
• 2000 - Present--Master Instructor/Owner of Jang's Taekwondo, Inc.
• 1998 - 2000--Master Instructor at Y. H. Park Tae Kwon Do, Inc.
• 1996 - 1998--Tae Kwon Do Instructor at Korea University International Summer School
• 1992 and 1995 - 1998--Tae Kwon Do Instructor at Korea University Taekwondo Club
• 1997--Korea National Collegiate Tae Kwon Do Competition Winner
• 1993-1994--Military service in the Korean Army; Tae Kwon Do Instructor in Battalion, Company and Platoon
• 1993--Korean Army Tae Kwon Do Competition Winner at Battalion, Regiment, Division and Corps levels
• 1992--Korea National Collegiate Tae Kwon Do Friendship Championships-- Bronze Medal

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jangs-Taekwondo/149851071691680
http://jangstkdinc.tripod.com/masterjang.html

August 2013 Testing

On Friday, August 2nd American Taekwondo & Fitness held promotion testing for several advanced ranked belts.  Morgan Andersen successfully attained the rank of deputy black belt, and Toby Kinstler achieved the rank of senior red belt.  

Both martial artists were tested on the required material of poomse, free-sparring, self-defense, slow-motion kicking, and board breaking.  Morgan Andersen performed several board breaks consisting of a flying-spin-heel kick, back fist, and also the routine used at the TKD Nationals in Chicago.  Toby Kinstler broke his boards using a flying-turn-backside kick, and an elbow strike.  

Testing was presided over by Masters Henk Boese and John McCrackin.  Assisting with the test was Master Deverick Ohms, Master Davin Ohms, Drew Ohms, and Dan Andersen.  

After the test, the group met at Mr. Dan Andersen's house for a bonfire, pizza and drinks.  

Thank to Ohms Bros. photography for taking the pictures!

Master Instructor Seminar

On August 10, 2013, John McCrackin attended the Master Instructor Seminar in Stevens Point, WI.

I would like to extend a big 'thank you' to GrandMaster Robert Stevens for conducting this excellent seminar, and also to Master Stephen Decker and the Wisconsin Taekwondo Association for hosting this event.

The topics covered at this seminar included how to properly create respect, show rank, nurture students, training tips, and techniques to use at demonstrations.  Many of the things we learned we were already expected to know as higher ranking black belts, but were never officially taught.

This was a great opportunity to further my development as a master instructor, and I am very grateful to have attended this event.

Advanced Taekwondo Class

The Advanced Taekwondo Class begins Wednesday, February 1st.  


This class is recommended to anyone holding the rank between blue belt and black belt.  It will be a very physically demanding class with an emphasis of 'doing' Taekwondo, and less on 'learning' Taekwondo.  


The workout will begin at 7:05pm immediately following the All-Belts Class.  Students are expected to be warmed up and ready to go.  

Banbury Art Crawl 2012

Attention all current ATF students: Please plan to attend the Saturday morning class on February 4th. The Banbury Art Crawl draws a lot of people into the building, and it would be nice to have a good showing of our talents. Normal class runs from 9-10:15am, but we may extend or add extra classes for the duration of the event. Thanks!

http://volumeone.org/blogs/1/post/2869/Coming_Soon_Banbury_Art_Crawl_3
http://www.banburyartcrawl.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Banbury-Art-Crawl/172368509465823?sk=wall

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

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.

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.

November TKD Testing

Testing will be held:

Friday, November 5th at 6:00pm

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

Congratulations Mark and Mandy

We all had great time at the wedding!