USA Taekwondo Junior Olympics is Underway
UMACA's 2010 U.S. Junior Olympic Medal Count Stands at 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze
The USAT Junior Olympics began on Tues., June 29, 2010.
Caitlyn Baker made weight and will fight on Sunday, July 4, 2010.
Jorgen Angell won the gold in the 16-17 Male Third Degree Black Belt Light Weight Forms Division. He won silver in the 14-17 Male Black Belt Board Breaking Division. He took the stand with gold medalist Alexander Wang, New Jersey, and bronze medalist Craig Cohen, Massachusetts. He competed but did not place in the 14-17 Male Black Belt Feather Weight Sparring Division against Joshua Salinas, Texas.
Anoushka Bergmann won silver in the 16-17 Female Black Belt Heavy Weight Sparring Division. She also competed but did not place in the 16-17 Female Red Belt Heavy Weight Forms Division against Jeanette Baleshiski, Arizona. Baleshiski went on to win Gold.
McKenna Chapman won bronze in the 10-11 Female Black Belt Heavy Weight Sparring Division, winning her first match 10 to 1. She took the stand with gold-medalist Jamilyn Williams, Texas, and silver-medalist Camryn Henry, Hawaii. Chapman also won bronze in the 10-11 Female 2nd Degree Black Belt Heavy Weight Forms Division. She took the stand with gold-medalist Katie Longhohn, California, and silver-medalist Kayla Miles-Streett, South Carolina.
Dominic Lawrence competed but did not place in the 10-11 Male Black Belt Heavy Weight Sparring Division.
Jason West made his first appearance in the World Class division of the USAT Junior Olympics, qualifying for the competition in Colorado Springs in March. He fought in the 14-17 Male Black Belt Sparring Heavy Weight Division, competing against 1st through 9th degree black belts. He lost his match to Egert Kreis, Florida.
Jordan Wolf won gold in the 14-17 Female Yellow Belt Sparring Division. She also won gold in the 14-17 Female Yellow Belt Board Breaking Division, and brought home the silver in the 14-15 Female Yellow Belt Light Weight Forms Division, with Paiton Kelly, Alaska, taking the gold.
Click here for complete details on the event.
2010 Missouri Taekwondo Invitational is Scheduled for Sat., Sept. 18, 2010
The 2010 Missouri Taekwondo Invitational, hosted by Champion Martial Arts, will take place on Sat., Sept. 18, 2010, at Fort Zumwalt East High School in St. Peters, Missouri. Registration is not yet available, but please mark your calendars and save the date!
Taekwondo Testing is Sat., July 24, 2010
Mark your calendar for Sat., July 24, 2010. Students and guests should arrive at UMACA in St. Peters at 8:30 a.m. Testing begins promptly at 9:00 a.m.
Testing for belt advancement is by invitation only. Invitations are extended to students who have achieved mastery of their current kicks and forms for their current belt level. If you have any questions about whether or not your UMACA student has qualified for testing in January, please speak to Master Chapman.
Full uniform is required for testing. Female students may wear a t-shirt under their uniform top, but it must not change the overall presentation of full uniform and must also be tucked into their uniform pants.
Good luck!
Future testing dates are: Sat., Sept. 11, 2010, Sat., Nov. 6, 2010, and Sat. Jan. 8, 2011.
Wing Chun & Hung Gar Kung Fu Classes Now Offered at UMACA
UMACA is pleased to announce the introduction of Kung Fu to it's class lineup. Kung Fu classes will take place Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. in the little gym. Both Wing Chun and Hung Gar Kung Fu styles will be taught.
Wing Chun Kung Fu
Wing Chun literally means Eternal Spring and is a Chinese martial art that uses strking and grappling with a specialization in close-range combat. The most famous practicioner of this art in the West is Bruce Lee. The commonly accepted history of the art is that Ng Mui, a Buddist nun, escaped from an attack on her Shaolin Monastery and fled into nearby mountains. There she wittnessed a fight between a crane and a snake and carefully observed how they fought. As she already was a master of Shaolin Kung Fu, she applied her observations to her art. She taught this new style to a yong woman named Yim Wing Chun, who wsa being forced into an unwanted marriage. Wing Chun used this new Kung Fu style to fight off the unwanted fiance and get out of the marriage. She taught other this new martial art and, hence, it bears her name.
Hung Gar Kung Fu
Hung Gar Kung Fu is a fluid self defense system that includes techniques meant to mimic the dragon, the snake, the tiger, the leopard and the crane. It is a traditional Chinese style and one of the most practiced of the Shaolin Kung Fu styles. It derived from the "fighting monks" of the Shaolin Temple in the Chinese Henan province and was practiced along with Ch'an Buddism to both imprive the physical fitness of the monks for longer meditation sessions as well afford a level of protection to the temple.
