4 of us (me, Eiko, Jon M and Manny) went and competed at the AAKF Nationals in Washington, DC and we all brought home medals! Manny even passed his black belt test! But honestly, the best part of participating in this kind of event is to learn and to get motivated to learn further through exchanges with like-minded friends from around the nation or world.
...But still, it's nice to be able to bring home some souvenirs:
Eiko: 3rd Kumite, 3rd Fukugo
Taichiro: 1st Kata, 2nd Kogo
Jon M: 3rd Team Kumite
Manny: 1st Adult Brown Belt (Kata & Kumite)
Next year it will be hosted in Minneapolis, MN. I highly recommend any of you to participate in the seminar, tournament or just to hang out and watch!
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VMAC Anniversary Party is coming up on Saturday, July 18 at 11AM. This year we will be watching some little kids showcasing their deadly martial arts skills and going "Awwwww...!!!" before starting to eat and drink. It will be fun and everyone is invited.
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Next Kyu test will be on Sunday, August 23 at 5PM for kids, 6:30 for adults. It's just around the corner, train hard and get prepared. If you desire extra help, the instructors are available for private sessions.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Friday, May 8, 2015
2015 Western Regional Championships Results
May 3, 2015 at Redondo Beach Masonic Lodge
Kyu-level Kata
1st Emmanuel Yumul (VTK)
2nd Michael Khachanov (VTK)
3rd Misaki Montuya (VTK)
Kyu-level Kumite
1st Emmanuel Yumul (VTK)
2nd Michael Khachanov (VTK)
3rd Misaki Montuya (VTK)
Kata
1st Taichiro Kaijima (VTK)
2nd Jon Menefee (VTK)
3rd Joerg Kohring (TKA)
Fukugo
1st Joerg Kohring (TKA)
2nd Dan Grossman (TKA)
3rd Jon Menefee (VTK)
Kogo Kumite
1st Taichiro Kaijima
2nd Jon Menefee (VTK)
3rd Dan Grossman (TKA)
Kumite
1st Jon Menefee (VTK)
2nd Joerg Kohring (TKA)
3rd Dan Grossman (TKA)
Kyu-level Kata
1st Emmanuel Yumul (VTK)
2nd Michael Khachanov (VTK)
3rd Misaki Montuya (VTK)
Kyu-level Kumite
1st Emmanuel Yumul (VTK)
2nd Michael Khachanov (VTK)
3rd Misaki Montuya (VTK)
Kata
1st Taichiro Kaijima (VTK)
2nd Jon Menefee (VTK)
3rd Joerg Kohring (TKA)
Fukugo
1st Joerg Kohring (TKA)
2nd Dan Grossman (TKA)
3rd Jon Menefee (VTK)
Kogo Kumite
1st Taichiro Kaijima
2nd Jon Menefee (VTK)
3rd Dan Grossman (TKA)
Kumite
1st Jon Menefee (VTK)
2nd Joerg Kohring (TKA)
3rd Dan Grossman (TKA)
A lot going on...
As always, we have been busy at VTK/VMAC!
Also welcome new students and return of Leroy. And we have a brand new black belt, congratulations Nate!
June 23-25 there will be the national mini-camp in Washington DC, followed by the National Championships (for youth, Kyu level and black belts). For now I, Eiko, Jon Menefee and Manny are going. Let us know if you want to join us to have fun in DC!
After that, the next Kyu test will be August 23... train hard and be ready!
- Kids Tournament March 15
- National Seminar April 17-19
- Kyu Test April 26
- Regional Championship May 3
Also welcome new students and return of Leroy. And we have a brand new black belt, congratulations Nate!
June 23-25 there will be the national mini-camp in Washington DC, followed by the National Championships (for youth, Kyu level and black belts). For now I, Eiko, Jon Menefee and Manny are going. Let us know if you want to join us to have fun in DC!
After that, the next Kyu test will be August 23... train hard and be ready!
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
2015 VTK Kyu-Level Tournament
11 students competed in our in-house tournament last Saturday and they all did GREAT! Kudos to everyone who participated including judges.
Competition is always a great learning experience, win or lose. Sometimes you actually learn more by losing. It's nice to win of course, but if you win and think you're the best you don't know what you're practicing. NO ONE is perfect in our style of martial arts. That's why there is no grand master! :-)
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Our next event will be the AAKF Spring Seminar April 17-19! Early bird registration deadline is March 31. We printed out some registration forms for you to fill out. For our students only, we can charge the fee on your credit card or bank account if you wish, just let us know.
This 3-day seminar will probably be scheduled like this:
Friday - Kata (1 basic and 1 advanced)
Saturday - Kumite
Sunday - Conclusion
We haven't received many registrations yet, but I'm hoping to have a big turnout. We expect all of YOU to be there as well. Spread the words!
Competition is always a great learning experience, win or lose. Sometimes you actually learn more by losing. It's nice to win of course, but if you win and think you're the best you don't know what you're practicing. NO ONE is perfect in our style of martial arts. That's why there is no grand master! :-)
---------------------------
Our next event will be the AAKF Spring Seminar April 17-19! Early bird registration deadline is March 31. We printed out some registration forms for you to fill out. For our students only, we can charge the fee on your credit card or bank account if you wish, just let us know.
This 3-day seminar will probably be scheduled like this:
Friday - Kata (1 basic and 1 advanced)
Saturday - Kumite
Sunday - Conclusion
We haven't received many registrations yet, but I'm hoping to have a big turnout. We expect all of YOU to be there as well. Spread the words!
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Happy New Year - 2015
My new year resolution: To write on this blog at least every couple of months. There, I said it!
It will be a big year for our dojo. There are a few events lined up:
-Winter training
January 12-16: Rokah Karate at 6AM
January 17 (Saturday): VMAC at 10:30AM
-National Seminar
April 3-5: VMAC
-Western Regional Championship
April?
-National Championship
June ? at Washington DC
-Legacy Camp
July? at San Diego
-Pan American Championship
November? in Brazil
-Dojo Tournament
?
And couple of our students may test for their black belt. Very exciting!
Happy New Year, and hope to see many of you more often at the dojo this coming year!
It will be a big year for our dojo. There are a few events lined up:
-Winter training
January 12-16: Rokah Karate at 6AM
January 17 (Saturday): VMAC at 10:30AM
-National Seminar
April 3-5: VMAC
-Western Regional Championship
April?
-National Championship
June ? at Washington DC
-Legacy Camp
July? at San Diego
-Pan American Championship
November? in Brazil
-Dojo Tournament
?
And couple of our students may test for their black belt. Very exciting!
Happy New Year, and hope to see many of you more often at the dojo this coming year!
Friday, January 3, 2014
January 3, 2014
Happy New Year Everyone! We completed yet another successful year running a dojo. I just want to thank all the dojo members for training hard and supporting this nice little place. It has actually grown to be not too "little" - we have about 90 students combining all the programs. We set the goal to reach 100 students by the end of year and we didn't quite make it, but we have been steadily growing and that we do not have to increase the monthly fees this year, which is a big achievement in my opinion.
We had a few events since the last blog entry:
October 31: Halloween costume training
November 9: Nishiyama Memorial
December 15: Kyu Test
December 18: Manny's first teaching!
December 28: VMAC Annual Oosoji
And the 2014 Winter Training is coming up next week. It's every morning (6-7AM) from Monday through Friday at Sensei Avi Rokah's TKA dojo in Beverly Hills area, plus Saturday morning at 10:30 we have the closing training at out own VMAC! Believe me, it's a great training and definitely worth waking up early. Who is going? I am!
Also, check out an upcoming Summer Training Camp information here: http://www.legacykarate.info/
Ugh, this blog page is not letting me do the photo layout easily... FYI, many photos can be viewed on our dojo Facebook page (www.facebook.com/pages/Valley-Martial-Arts-Center/152796298146068) or on our dojo website photo album (valleymac.com/VTK/vtk_album/index.html).
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And last but not least, I just want to say something about my previous blog entry. At that time I was still working for ITKF office part time so it was probably not the best to talk about ITKF's internal problem on a public blog. However, I just want to clarify that 1) I wrote that article based on my subjective observation about the issues happening, 2) It was no way reflecting ITKF's official opinions, and 3) I did not mean to support either side. Without saying I thought it was clear that that article was my private opinion for my private dojo students, but a person from another country became upset reading it, claiming that I caused significant damage worldwide (though the page was accessed only a handful of times based on the stats and I had to wonder how much "damage" this has actually caused... Oh well.). In any case, I apologize if I misled anyone with that article. I am no longer working for ITKF, so I hope it's not going to cause any more troubles...
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