The past week, our coach, Joe Van, started a goal planning project called “Focus on YOU”. Focus on YOU was a week long goal-setting-idea where one area of weakness was “focused” on. The idea was to find one tangible goal that each individual could personally work on that week to elimnate any kinds of shortcoming each figher may have. The project was successful in that it allowed each athlete to be mindful of Taekwondo throughout their busy schedule this week.

Texas Taekwondo is a goal-oriented club that focuses not only on athletics but also the development in each member’s life at a personal and professional level. The goal setting project of the past week was a testament to the club’s commitment towards personal development as well as preparation for a fight-off that will take place at Texs A&M.

Tomorrow at College Station, Texas Taekwondo will be at A&M to fight matches between other colleges that have a Taekwondo program. Texas A&M, Baylor, and University of Texas are the schools that will be present. With the football team losing to Baylor today, the Taekwondo program will be sure that the glory stolen from them on the football field will be recaptured. In the Taekwondo ring, we will let our presence be known as our athletes will show the struggles that we have overcome as a team and as University of Texas students and  athletes.

Texas Fight!

-Kyung “Kevin” Won

The dual was successful because we got to fight new people.This gave all of us the opportunity to fight with a great variety of people. This is great because when we start to fight the same people we get used to the our team members fight. With A&M and Baylor, we get to spar other types of fighters and it gives us more experience under our belts.

This was our first dual this academic school year, but we look forward to seeing another one in December. The Texas Taekwondo team is all about improving, and having another dual nearby gives us something to work towards at while we prepare for collegiate and getting better in general. The next dual will show us how much we’ve improved from out first fight, and show what other things we need to work on in order to become better fighters.

Photos from the dual:

Tina Tran

DanielRegueira

Kevin Won

Martin Huang

Tina and Ray

Court Flato

Malissa and Jonalyn

As the semester draws to a close, classes enter their last frantic tests.  But this is the most important time to remember to take care of your body. It’s flu season so be sure to get your shot, get plenty of rest, and drink lots of water.

2. Baylor Fight Offs

We had a great time kicking it up with Baylor and A&M this past Sunday.  We warmed up, ran drills, and then had non-point short matches to get experience with more partners.  A big thank you to our drivers Daniel Moreno, Whitney Wong, and Raymund Lee.

3. Kicks for Tips + Pedicabbing

November 12th is not only another home game, it’s also another fundraising opportunity!  We’ll be having kicks for tips: part two as a chance to earn more money for collegiates in the spring.  We’ll meet in front of the Rec, wear taekwondo shirts, and start walking.  If you attended our first kicks for tips event, this one will be much the same except we hope to have some boards for people to pay to break.  Further details are available on our Facebook page.

Simultaneously with our kicks for tips, we will be trying a new fundraiser.  We’ll be pedicabbing tailgaters for the football game so if you’re interested in this newest fundraiser- contact Raymund Lee.  Another excellent means to get information on this opportunity is by joining the sub-group within Texas Taekwondo at this link:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/10150849003125294/

4. Socials- Secret Santa

Continuing the tradition from last year, we’ll be having a secret santa gift exchange.  Details still to be posted but we encourage everyone to participate- club and team members alike!

5. Kicks 4 Kids

As mentioned in the officer update, Texas Taekwondo has started an after-school program with UT Elementary School to teach basic kicking techniques and create an atmosphere of respect and self-discipline.  The program runs every Monday from 4-5pm at UT Elementary on East 5th street (across from the LiveStrong foundation).  If you’re interested in participating, please contact one of the officers.

6. Officer Update

Our officers are a hard working lot who are trying to grow the Taekwondo program to new heights.  Currently, they are doing a teaching program for UT elementary students once a week on mondays as well as organizing “fight-offs” with local gyms. They are also making a push for more fundraising events.  Offers of assistance are always welcome and encouraged, particularly if you have a contact with another school interested in some friendly sparring matches.

7. Membership Forms + Dues

Membership forms can be obtained from any of the officers and must be completely filled out and returned.  Along with the filled out form you need your insurance information and dues.  If you chose to write a check, they should be made out to “Texas Taekwondo.”  Once your form and dues have been turned in, we will add you to the Texas Taekwondo Facebook group where our lessons and conversations are documented with photos and videos.  If you haven’t turned in your paperwork by the third class day, we can’t allow you to kick with us for liability reasons.

8. Try Outs

Try outs for this semester have been concluded.   If you missed tryouts but are interested in team, keep attending Tues/Thurs practice.  There will be an opportunity at the beginning of next semester to join team.

9. Practice

We will continue having kicking practice every Tuesday and Thursday from 7-9pm in RSC 1.138.  We encourage you to spread the word to all your friends and bring them along.  We can always use more training partners and it’s a great way to share an activity we all love.  Also, we added Saturday practice 12-2pm in RSC 1.138 to further our technique and knowledge basis.  This is as a sort of TA session where you can ask for specific drills.

10. Facebook

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook and share our page will all your friends!  The link can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/TexasTaekwondo

11. Anonymous Response Form

See anywhere we could be improved? Have ideas for team training?  We want your feedback!  Fill out this form to let us know how we can better serve you.  It’s completely anonymous so don’t feel shy about being completely honest.  The form can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHpBNEt0VHZVYVR3b3dwRUdoT3lGNXc6MQ

See you at practice next week!

Texas Fight!

This will also be the first time for our freshmen to fight outside of team practices. Texas Taekwondo is a club that is open to all skill levels. Because of this we get a lot of new members who are just learning about Taekwondo and sparring. In the tournament last week, freshmen members of the Texas Taekwondo program were not allowed to fight, because they were still learning the ins and outs of the sport.  It was their job to observe and learn from watching experienced team members as they supported the team on the sidelines. After the tournament at Fort Worth, our freshmen are eager to fight and put their hard work and knowledge to test.

For the experienced members, we sat together and watched videos of our fights at Fort Worth. We had an objective coming in to the tournament, and it was to establish our presence on the mat through various strategies. We discussed whether we were successful in accomplishing our goals and identified individual weaknesses to figure out the next step to improving each fighter’s game. Every member has his or her own problems to focus on, and the fight at Baylor will be a test on how effectively we train and eliminate our own shortcomings.

With only a few practices left before the Baylor fight off, both the new and experienced team members practice with excitement, intensity, and determination.

We are going to Baylor on the 6^th.

Texas Fight!!!

-Kyung ‘Kevin’ Won

Raymund Lee: Bronze

Martin Huang: Bronze

Daniel Regueira: Silver

Tina Tran: Gold

Sadie Witkowski: Gold

Kyung “Kevin” Won: Gold

And a huge thank you to Jonalyn Herce, Luiz Garcia, Tim Fu, Kyu Hur, and Daniel Moreno for being volunteers, pit crew, runners, and so much more.  We definitely couldn’t have been as successful without you.

Also thanks to those who have given us support both in and out of class. That includes club members and those that show support online through the taekwondo facebook page and twitter. We’re thankful for all your help, club members. And those that show support online, thank you for backing us up. It is much appreciated.

Here are some photos from the tournament, they can also be seen on our Facebook page and our Flickr page as well:

Ray Lee:

Sadie Witkowski:

Tina Tran:

Martin Huang:

Team Fall 2011:

Cheers,

-Daniel Regueira

Whether you’re a beginner, martial artist, a former athlete, tired of the body pump class or plainly out of shape from partying too much, remember this date: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st.
You don’t need any gear or uniform, just wear something comfortable to workout in. And please, keep your shirt on.

If you are interested in sparring competitively and joining the team, this practice is mandatory.

Hope to see you there!

FB event link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=140434376051316

How to download:
1. Click desired photo
2. Click desired photo again
3. Click “View all sizes”
4. Click on desired photo size (I suggest the original for printing purposes)
5. Click “Download ______ size of this photo”
6. Repeat process for other desired photos

For those of you interested in more photos of us, we’ll try to keep the flickr more periodically updated

Thanks!

Further information can be found at the event’s Facebook page at:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=213084768721404

The event information, schedule, and directions are listed below:

Location: Oasis

Date: May 7, 2011

Time: 11:00 AM – 1:30 PM

Directions:

Oasis

6550 Comanche Trail

Austin, TX 78732

Phone: 512-266-2442

Schedule:

11:00 AM – 11:30 AM             Introductions, Welcomes

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM            Presentations

Promotional Video- Joseph Van

Officers- Joseph Van and Tony Le

Team Member Awards and Certificates- Coach Tony Smith

Seniors- Officers

Next Taekwondo Season

New Coaches- Tony Smith

Community Service Project- Stephanie

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Dine, Sign Photos, Slide Show

From the University CO-OP (next to UT campus):

1. Head south on Guadalupe towards West Mall

2. Take first right onto W 22nd St

3. Take first right onto San Antonio Street

4. Turn left onto W 24th St

5. Slight right onto Windsor Rd

6. Turn right onto Hartford Rd

7. Slight left to merge onto TX-1 Loop N

8. Take the Northland Dr exit toward TX-2222

9. Turn left onto Northland Dr/Ranch to Market Rd 2222W

10. Slight right onto Ranch to Market Rd 2222W

11. Turn left onto Ranch Rd 620 N/Ranch to Market 620

12. Take the first right onto Comanche Trail

13. The Oasis will be located on your right but ample (free) parking is available to the left side

From Houston:

1. Take US-290 W toward Austin

2. Take the exit toward E Anderson Ln

3. Keep right at the fork, follow signs for US-183 N and merge onto E Anderson Ln

4. Take ramp on the left onto US-183 N

5. Take exit toward TX-360 Loop/Capital of TX Hwy/Great Hills Trail

6. Merge onto Research Blvd

7. Turn left onto TX-360 Loop S

8. Exit onto Ranch to Market Rd 2222W

9. Turn left onto Ranch Rd 620 N/Ranch to Market 620

10. Take the 1st right onto Comanche Trail

From Dallas:

1. Take I-35 S

2. Take exit 252A-252B toward Farm to Market Rd 620/McNeil Rd

3. Merge onto I-35 Frontage Rd

4. Turn right onto Ranch to Market 620 W/Round Rock Ave

5. Continue straight onto Ranch Rd 620 N/Ranch to Market 620 W

6. Turn right onto Comanche Trail

Our focus has not been on only practice, however, but networking as well. From the 40 Acres Festival, Tecas Taekwondo’s Facebook page increased by a staggering 150+ likes! This is very exciting and proves promising for the future of the Team. We appreciate all those who came out to show their support and spend a little bit of their time with us this weekend.

This, along with another successful fundraiser on Sunday, propels us into the most important week in our competition calendar. Know that Texas Taekwondo is working their hardest to produce lasting results at the Taekwondo Collegiate competition this weekend, whether it be  in the form of placement medals and achievement of significant personal goals. We hope you will continue to show the support we have felt the entire year leading up to this significant event.

The competition starts at 11 AM at the Read Building on the Texas A&M campus. If you’re in the area or are interested in showing your support to Texas Taekwondo, please come out and join us.

Everyone involved with Texas Taekwondo is grateful for the chance to compete at a collegiate level and looks forward to the coming event.

If you have any further inquiries or want to know any more about the tournament, a link to their Facebook event is:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=200930276585930&index=1