Upcoming news & events

Belt Promotions is this week!  Join us on Wednesday (All Adults) for a special workout focusing on our unique fitness challenge and performing all the curriculum we've been working on over the past two months.  That Adult Belt Promotions is going to be at 7:15pm.  Make sure you've registered for Belt Promotions before then.

On Saturday, all of the kids and the rest of the Adult Black Belts will perform at Belt Promotions.  As with the Adult Promotions, make sure you register ahead of time with Ms. Ellishia or an instructor before Saturday.

With Belt promotions, many students will be moving to a new class (Yellow Belts going to Camo Belt, Red/Black Belts going to 1st Degree) so make sure you know the new schedule.  There is usually new equipment needed to keep up with the more advanced training.

On September 4th, we are going to be learning special knife attack defenses.  Learn more about the seminar on our Facebook Event Page for that event.  That highlighted part right over there is the link, click on it.  YOU DON"T NEED TO HAVE A FACEBOOK PROFILE TO SEE IT!!!

September 14th: The Parent's Night Out event themed for the Lego Product "Legends of Chima."  Lots of kids are already registered and they are really excited to bring their favorite TV show, video game, and legos to life!  Register at our school next time you're in.  Here's the link for it:  Legends of Chima Event Page

September 21st: A few months ago, I went to the Chamber of Commerce for Main Street in Elkton asking to do an event with them.  A few years ago, there was a special Firefighter Combat Challenge and they stopped hosting it starting last year.  I wanted to focus on inspiring families to eat more nutritious meals, get active, and inspire kids to try their best in school (Mental Self-Defense).  I need a big team of volunteers for the event, especially for one special part of it.  At 3:30pm, we are going to have a mock grilling competition.  It will be perceived as a competition but our aim is to show people how easy it is to create good meals at home on the grill AND get the whole family involved.  Many moms and dads love to grill and if you have a way to get your grill onto main street in Elkton, I NEED YOU!! We can't do it without our best families from ATA martial Arts.  If you can be there, please let me know because it's really important to me that this whole day goes off without a hitch!  Just email, reply or give us a call to get it started!

Upcoming News

Hey members! I'm on vacation in Ocean City, MD and wanted to send a quick email for news & updates!  For anything you have to register for, please use this website and choose "online store."

https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/adm/home.asp?studioid=27262

This week is a great week to test for those stripes that are missing so let Ms. Leach know that you're ready!  For kids, charge them up and send them asking Ms. Leach to catch up with any stripes that they were missing and have been working on!  There's still 2 weeks left until belt promotions and it's not too late to grab a few extra private lessons or really focus on memorizing the forms and mastering the physical skills!

This weekend (August 24): NO MOBILE DOJO: visit Ms. Holubyckyj at our school to catch up on all stripes and get some tips on how to make your forms stronger this weekend!

August 28th: Adult Belt Promotions (All Adults welcome for testing & midterms).  7:15pm til about 8:00pm, See the event on Facebook

August 31st: Whole School Belt Promotions: 10am Tiny Tigers, 12pm Juniors, 2:30pm Red/Black and Black Belts, See the event on Facebook

September 2nd: ATA closed for Administrative purposes!

September 4th: Basic Knife Threat seminar (Adults only).  RSVP to attend, The first 15 students to register will receive a free training knife for use at the seminar and afterwards.  See the event on Facebook to know how to register for this one!

September 14th: Parents Night Out, Themed for Legends of Chima!  All the kids were going crazy over this class because it's going to be unique and very exciting!  Kids take on the role of being different characters from the show and acting them out with martial arts combos!  Join this event for only $10 and drop your children off for a 4 hour class!  See the event on Facebook.

Always ask your instructor for more information and feel free to reply to the email you received this link from with any questions!  See you on Monday!

Events coming up in the next few weeks

No video update today - instead, I made a quick list of things to look out for.  Here it is:

August 10th - Mobile Dojo at the Park!

August 12-16 - Hyper Kicks & Flips Camp! You can still register for this camp - there are only 5 spots left!  This camp is going to be the most fun because we are learning about Being Awesome.  That means believing in yourself and always trying your best.  We're going to be having fast-paced and action packed classes that keep kids focused even when they are tired!  It's all about cool kicks, combos, and a special Hyper Pro Training form.  All the students get the brand new and unique light blue "Be Awesome" Hyper Tshirt!  Register with us as soon as possible - It's the last camp of the year!

August 17th - Mobile Dojo at the Park! AND the last day to register for Belt Promotions before you get into the RED ZONE!!  Register right away!

August 31st - Belt Promotions!  Here are the times for the one-day event: Tiny Tigers from 10am - 11am, Juniors 12:00pm - 1:30pm, Black Belts 2:30pm - 4:00pm

September 14th - Legends of Chima This "Parent's Night Out" style event is a bracket tournament to see which tribe will control the Sacred Pool of Chi!! Based on the popular children's show on Cartoon Network, kids will be divided into teams that represent one of the 8 most popular tribes in the show: Gorillas, Crocodiles, Wolves, Rhino, Bears, Wolves, Eagles, and Lions. Each "tribe" will have a special team name and learn a unique martial arts form/ combo based on the animal! Whichever team wins the team competition will help their favorite tribe move on to the championship round to see who will win control of the Sacred Pool of Chi! Note, this event is one of three. The first event is 4 challenges, the next is 3 challenges, and the last is the Semi-Finals and Finals!  All winners in the final competition will win special Chima prizes and everyone that attends will receive a chance to win an official Lego Playset! $10 per child, includes an ATA kid and a non-ATA kid.  This is an event to help keep our students excited about coming to our school and to get new members involved.

September 21st - Elkton Fall Fest.  We are hosting a Be a Healthy kids event at the Fall Fest where we are going to be inspiring kids to do their best in school with our "Success Course for Keeping A+ Grades" class!  Register via Facebook or at our front counter!

October 5th - The event we did on the 14th, we're going to do it again on 10/5 but it's going to the Semi-Finals in our cool competition!  Don't miss it!

First Mobile Dojo Class scheduled!

Our first Mobile Dojo Class will be held across the street from Meadow Park in Elkton, Maryland.  Classes include: Adults, young kids, and older kids.  To attend, come with a friend that is a member of ATA Elkton or just show up and look for the big red table to sign up!

If you call us first, you can take care of all the prep-work ahead of time! (410) 398-8624!

What is Mobile Dojo?

Mobile Dojo is a cool way to experience martial arts classes all over the place!  In your community, martial arts instructors are planning special field days where their students and their friends get to have fun martial arts classes at the park!

There's nothing like training under the sun, a bright blue sky, and on the grass!  It's how the ancient martial artists like it!

To be a part of Mobile Dojo in the Elkton, MD area, contact Josh Hayhurst or his staff at mrhayhurst@gmail.com or calling (410) 398-8624

This is something for the whole family so get out and train hard!

ATA Martial Arts presents Mobile Dojo

This summer, students from ATA Martial arts in Elkton, MD are going to be taking over the parks!  We are going to be hosting our fun classes at the park with Mobile Dojo!  Since our goal is to be the best martial arts athlete that we can be, we'll have fun drills, games, and outside exercises that will take our training over the top!

You can learn Karate, Taekwondo, and many unique styles of self-defense!

Our first event is going to be at the park across the street from Meadow Park in Elkton, Maryland. There's no official address but it's on Delaware Avenue (route 7) in between main street and whitehall road. Be sure to get there plenty early so you can find us! This is June 8th!  Here are the times:

+10am - 11am: Adult Martial Arts 14yr & Up
+11:15am - 12pm: Tiny Tigers 3-1/2 to 6yr
+12:15pm - 1:15pm Juniors 7yr - 13yr

We want these classes to be fun and full - if you are an ATA Elkton member, these are included in your membership. We want you to bring friends. Anyone that comes to mobile dojo that isn't an ATA Elkton member can participate in 4 weeks of Mobile Dojo Classes for just $10 

If you are someone just passing by and seeing our banner and you'd like to join mobile dojo, contact us via email MrHayhurst@gmail.com or by calling (410) 398-8624

This event is open to all ages and experience levels - beginners are the best!

Family Life Skill: Kids and Money

Parents teach their children to make bad financial decisions subconsciously.  I have seen it so many times in the past.  No, I didn't read this in a book or ask someone who is "certified" in this field.  Let me tell you a story about a kid named Justin.

Justin was one of my best students and he was always a pleasure to have in class.  He was a cool kid that rocked ATA gear to school and always motivated the kids in his ATA class.  Then, Dad lost his job (but mom didn't) and it hit the family pretty hard.  After about 3 months, Dad got another job but wasn't making enough money.  Mom and Dad were supportive parents and didn't let Justin stop doing karate while they were stressing about money.  But with that, imagine all the worrying that the children heard the parents doing and all the anxiety that Mom and Dad had about paying the bills.

A month after Dad got his job back and Mom and Dad started getting their bills back in shape, Justin starting telling his Mom and Dad that he didn't want to do summer camps, wasn't ready for Belt Promotions, and didn't like to compete in tournaments any more (even though he was a 3x State Champion).

Mom said, "I don't care if you continue with martial arts but you're not going to do it half-assed.  If you do it, you need to do it 100% if I'm going to be paying all this money."  Justin decided a few weeks later that he was going to quit karate.

What changed in the four months that Dad didn't have a job and the parents were in a temporary financial challenge? The anxiety and stress that the parents were feeling trickled down to Justin.  I know, after speaking with Justin years later, that he was worried that karate was making his parents not pay the bills.  He didn't want to be the reason that they couldn't go out to eat or his Dad to stop bowling every weekend.

People make decisions subconsciously because of events in their life.  You can call these things Superstitions.  These superstitions are similar to the old "don't walk under a ladder" or "see a penny, pick it up, all day long, you'll have good luck," only they make more sense.  To the outside world, the person looks just as crazy.  Justin made up a superstition called, "If I keep doing karate, my family will be poor and my dad won't be able to bowl anymore."  In his later life, he will make decisions to quit things instead of trying to "make it work" or to push on through challenges.

Now there is always a time when you should quit, but Justin LIED to his parents because he thought it was THE RIGHT THING TO DO.  He said he didn't want to do Camps or Belt Promotions and his Mom got angry because she didn't realize the real reason he was saying these things.

In the future, when finances get tight, keep it between you and your spouse.  Have a logical conversation about it with your children instead of adding anxiety and stress into their life.  If it's a decision to quit something because you can't pay for it anymore, have a good conversation about it and make sure the reasons are clear.

My passion for the character development in children inspires me to give you this call to action:  Take a stand for the important people in your life that train in martial arts - get them to commit to competing in a tournament to make them better martial artists and stronger people.

Our goals this cycle May and June 2013:

Main Goals and Dates:
May 8-11 - Stripe #1
May 22-25 - Stripe #2
June 5-8 - Stripe #3
June 8 - First Mobile Dojo Class
June 29 - Belt Promotions

White through Yellow Belt Tiny Tigers
We are focusing on Self-Defense techniques and Taekwondo Basics
Stripe 1: Parent Nomination - How has your child shown DEDICATION in their life?
Stripe 2: Parent Nomination - How has your child shown INTEGRITY in their life?
Stripe 3: Show Self-Defense Moves - Bear Hug from the back and Wrist Grab (Either one)

Camo through Red Belt Tiny Tigers
We are focusing on Self-Defense techniques and Taekwondo Basics
Stripe 1: Parent Nomination - How has your child shown DEDICATION in their life?
Stripe 2: Parent Nomination - How has your child shown INTEGRITY in their life?
Stripe 3: Show Self-Defense Moves - Bear Hug from the back and Wrist Grab (Either one)

White through Yellow Belt Juniors
We are learning the One-Steps for the Songahm 2 curriculum (Orange Belt DVD).
Stripe 1: Perform One-Step #1
Stripe 2: Perform One-Step #2
Stripe 3: Perform One-Step #3

Camo through Red Belt Juniors
We are working to become better at Free Sparring with Mr. Hayhurst's "Drill Set #1"
Stripe 1: Freesparring Challenge 1A - STOP your opponent with a Front Kick during Challenge Time
Stripe 2: Freesparring Challenge 2A - Evade a Head Kick without Hard Blocking it during a challenge
Stripe 3: Freesparring Challenge 3A - Set up your scoring technique by "Setting it up" first

Red/Black Belt Juniors
We are introducing Combat Weapons Sparring with Mr. Hayhursts's "Drill Set #1"
Stripe 1: Combat Weapons Sparring Challenge 1 - Score a point by hitting your opponent while they are trying to hit you
Stripe 2: CWS Challenge 2 - Move the entire time the match is going without locking your stance once (30 second match)
Stripe 3: CWS Challenge 3 - Bluff and Blitz your opponent and score the point

First, Second, and Third Degree Black Belts
We are working to become better at Free Sparring and Combat Weapons Sparring with Mr. Hayhurst's "Master Sets."
Checkpoint 1: Score over 300 points in the ATAfit challenge with the sum of Push-ups, Sit-ups, Kicks, Kick/Punch combos, and Punches
Checkpoint 2: Score more than 12 points in a 2 minute FREESPARRING match
Checkpoint 3: Score more than 12 points in a 2 minute COMBAT WEAPONS SPARRING match

Adult Martial Arts program students:
We are working to enhance our self-defense skills by learning Combat Wrestling. Every class will focus on those skills, blended with Forms and Fitness
Stripe 1: Catch your opponent's kick and take them down + Disengage
Stripe 2: Defend from your opponent "shooting" and prevent Single Leg Takedowns
Stripe 3: Control opponent by "clinching" and get "double underhooks" 3 times

How to motivate your child

"I want. I choose. I commit." -Randy Holeman

After competing in my first tournament I was inspired to take it to the next level. Many competitors who are students say they WANT TO BECOME A WORLD CHAMPION and then become uninspired by a loss or how much money it costs to fly all over the country. The business of motivating children and motivating people can be a challenging one.

When setting a goal like becoming a State, District, or World Champion, athletes must commit to it. This can give you the "emotional juice" to really achieve a goal that many people never get close to. What a great way to improve student motivation! I believe with the correct coaching, motivation, and inspiration, any able-bodied person can become a world champion!

When it comes to coaching, you CHOOSE YOUR COACH. When it comes to the motivation, you choose that too! I know people who have motivated their kids by saying, "If you get 1st, 2nd, or 3rd at Worlds, I'll buy you the Lego Death Star set!" While some people think that's just a bribe, I think that to get a child excited about training and winning, that might appeal to their personal interest better than red letters and a new uniform. To help children succeed, sometimes you need a little more than words of encouragement. Once the child FEELS the positive benefits of training and winning, the motivation for those students will move away from $300 Lego Sets into accomplishing a worthy goal.

When it comes to Information, we are 2 weeks away from unveiling the first Future World Champion product. It is called "How to create a world champion form in 12 weeks." This is created for Coaches, athletes, and instructors that want the end result to be WINS! It lays out elements of forms that are most important, what judges are looking for, and how to develop those elements into skills.

I've trained myself and others to win at local tournaments and world events using these steps. If you would like to get on the list for this special book, click on this link right here. As soon as it is released, we'll let you in on the ground floor!

Click here for the new product link

Future World Champ will change our teaching style and create world champions!

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with what's under one's feet." -Lao Tsu (Ancient Chinese Philosopher)
Lots of adults say they wish they started martial arts when they were younger and they're too old or out of shape to start now. In my opinion, people are consumed with the perfect situation to begin setting goals. Many people regret not taking action in the past. Lao Tsu's concept in the quote above rings true - everyone can start working on their goals using the skills that they have. That's why I wrote my book "Become a Forms Master."

I like to use the following quote, it's more modern and uses language that we and kids understand:

"Sucking at something is the first step to being kinda good at something." Jake from "Adventure Time"

Dividing your form into only Eight Segments and focusing on the four different "elements" that will create a show stopping form is exactly what I lay out in the Become a Forms Master book! The first product by Future World Champ.

Our goal is:

• To give instructors resources to create world champion forms athletes
• To give parents the tools to help their children become world champion forms athletes by training at home
• To give goal-oriented students tools to improve their forms on their own
• To help improve the parent-to-student and instructor-to-student relationship while training on their own

Click on the link HERE to get a sample of the new product. If you think it's a good idea for your friends and training partners, share it with them!

How to train your child at home

As instructors, we set goals for our students.  At ATA Elkton, there is a goal every two weeks.  Some students take longer to achieve them but most students stay right on track.  Depending on your rank, the requirements for stripes may change!  Ask your instructor if your not sure but one thing remains - you must practice at home to get it!

In between days that you have class, schedule a few training days.  The workouts don't have to be crazy, the best training I've ever had have been low-key and for between 15-45 minutes.  I just review all my material and practice doing it perfect or practice performing with speed and power!  

You can do the same thing!  And the best part- you don't even have to know how to do it perfect.  Practice whatever you know, however you know it.  When you come to class next time, you'll be able to polish it up and improve.

"But he won't practice at home with me!"  You have to make it their IDEA to practice!  Don't try and force it.  Kids know better than adults - no one can force you to do anything - NOTHING.  But if you make it their idea, they will be more likely to stick with it.  

Here's how the conversation can go:

"Mr. Hayhurst really wants you to practice at home by just doing your forms a few times.  How long do you think he wants you to practice at home"

Kid says, "I don't know, like 6 hours?" (Most kids don't get the concept of time)

Mom says, "Haha, I don't think that long.  Maybe like 5 minutes." (Understate because it's coming from Mr. Hayhurst, the kid will think it's a lot longer)

Kid says, "Yeah, probably like 20 minutes."

Mom says, "I bet you can practice for 20 minutes and not stop the whole time, you're pretty tough compared to some of the other kids." (Kids will always compare themselves, and it's OK.  Competition is GOOD!)

Kids says, "Yeah I could probably do 100 minutes!"

Mom says, "Well, what, like 2 days per week and then go to class 2 days per week?  Do you think that would be good enough for Mr. Hayhurst?"

Kid says, "That is probably good."

Mom says, "Well you have class on Mondays and Wednesdays, which days should you practice at home?"

Kid says, "Sunday and Thursday!"  (Probably just random days)

Mom says, "That sounds good, then let's try that, do you think Mr. Hayhurst would be proud that you practiced at home?  Let's tell him!"

Kid says, "Yeah!!"

There, you came up with a plan.  Now, write it down on 3 sheets of paper, really big like a sign.  Post one on the fridge, one on the child's bedroom door, and one on your bedroom door.  That way it's always all over the house and the kid knows what to expect.  Kids are creatures of habits whether they want you to believe that they are or not!  Post the exact time 6:15pm - 6:35pm on Sundays and Thursdays.  In addition, post the days that classes are too so if the child is busy with Nintendo DS or XBOX, they know class is soon and they have to save their games soon!  Then don't miss one workout.  Any kid can become a champion - ones without discipline, focus, or skill.  A lazy parent makes a lazy kid.  And lazy kids don't become champions!

Stick to it and stay strong!

More workouts = Less Effort

What!?  When we're talking about Martial Arts forms, sparring, weapons forms, and combat sparring, it's totally true.  Based on research I've done over the past two years, I've come up with a startling discovery!  Now, I'm probably not the first one to discover it, but I use it in my advanced classes.

Here's the science:  When your muscles become stronger, they require less oxygen (aka Fuel) to get the same amount of work done.  For example:  Let's say I'm working out with a much stronger partner and we're working on squats.  The bar is loaded up with 200 lbs and I'm up to do my set.  My goal is 10 reps and I pick the bar up on the front of my shoulders, squat down and struggle to come up.  Burning out 10 reps seemed almost impossible but I was finished, strained, and out of breath.  My bigger and stronger partner comes up to do some squats and he does it without taking a break and not breaking a sweat.  He's also not breathing any harder than he did when he was watching me!   This is because he got the same job done as me but with less effort.  He is more efficient

What that also means, is his capacity for weight is much higher than mine - he should probably do the same reps with more weight, right?  Then he would be struggling as much as me and breathing just as hard.  Let's take that same stronger guy and he's doing forms.  We are competing against each other and we both throw a strong front kick.  The science is the same - he just effortlessly throws out that kick and it looks awesome.  For me to have the same amount of power on that kick, I'd have to use every ounce of effort possible!  You don't want to make it looks like you are really trying hard, you just want that attitude in your facial expression (the Mean Karate Face!).

So, what the heck am I talking about!?

It's like this - use power lifting and other weight lifting programs in order to strengthen your muscles and balance your body in order to make your competition performances better.  Once you become stronger, you will need to relax your muscles and just whip the techniques out instead of pushing hard on every technique.  Sometimes, you'll feel weird about some techniques in forms and weapons forms.  The moves don't FEEL cool but they sure do LOOK cool!  So try recording yourself when throwing techniques.

Here's the moral to the story - the STRONGER you get, the less EFFORT you have to put forth.  In the video, I used Knifehand strike, it looks like I can control my power pretty well with those, but watch as I try to use all my strength on the front kicks, how sloppy they get!  Watch the video right after this sentence for a visual description!