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Can you believe it’s almost July? Summer is in full bloom and taekwondo isn’t slowing down. A few weeks ago our students competed in the State tournament and we took home 27 first place titles! Plus we got even more that placed in the top three. In just a few short weeks Black Belts will compete for the World Championships!

We know that summer means that kids are out of school and people are taking their well deserved vacations. But now is not the time to lose focus! With World coming up and a brand new tournament season right around the corner, it’s extremely important to keep your eyes on the prize. Not to mention, with school being out kids tend to be more rowdy and misbehave. Staying consistent with taekwondo can help that.

Come to class:

Coming to class is the most important thing to do for your taekwondo student. We know that it can be hard with travel, but coming in whenever you can will make a huge difference. Staying consistent in their activities will help with focus, plus they are still learning on and working on the life skills in each class. They must stay disciplined and respectful in class, and that will carry into homelife as well. Plus, they need to keep working to become a champ at the next tournament!

Practice outside of class:

If you don’t want your student to fall behind or lose momentum, have them practice outside of class. When traveling, have them go over their forms and the definitions of the life skills. Every form is on our website and can be watched over and over again. If they stay focused on their goals even when they aren’t able to make it in, coming back to a consistent schedule will be a lot easier for them. Kids love showing off their forms on vacation!

Enjoy your rest:

Sometimes, a little rest is all we need to come back refreshed and rejuvenated. Take your rest and enjoy it! Just remember, rest makes rust and doesn’t last forever. Enjoy it, but get back to taekwondo as soon as you can. We know that kids are around all the time during the summer and you might need a break from them too. Bring your kids to class, drop them off, and know that they are in good hands for the next hour. Parents need a break too! What better place to get it then in a place where your kids are learning and becoming the best versions of themselves?

Happy summer from Mueller’s Martial Arts! We are here all year. Drop by this summer to set your kid up for their best life.

This week is the final week of champ camp for 2023! Champ camp is held yearly during the summer. It is four weeks of training, three days a week, three hours a day. Students that are on the competition team come to champ camp in order to get extra training before State and World Championships.

Mueller’s Martial Arts competition team consists of elite students that have proven their skill and perseverance in class. They are the students that show up on a daily basis and have committed to becoming the best Martial Artist that they can be. They train nearly every day including every Friday for their own comp team class, which is two hours long and far more difficult than any of the other classes.

Beyond that, comp team is made up of leaders in the school. They are students that can teach others, and always have a black belt attitude. They have a certain mindset that separates them from other students and that is why they are invited to be on comp team. They have to prove themselves day in and day out to remain on the team.

While comp team members already train extremely hard on a normal basis, champ camp is the opportunity for them to put in extra work with the goal of winning a championship. It’s not easy, in fact, most students say that it is the most difficult four weeks of the year. But after bringing home more than 27 State titles this year, we would say that it is worth it.

The students put in their blood, sweat, and tears (literally) to be a part of comp team and champ camp. Many say that they want to be a part of it, but only an elite few are actually willing to show up and put in the work to do it. From running miles, to hundreds of kicks with ankle weights, to hours of practicing forms, champ camp is certainly an arduous task. Those willing to put work will have their efforts pay off, both by winning State titles and hopefully bringing home some World Championship titles.

The State Tournament is next weekend! On June 10th, the National Martial Arts Alliance will be hosting the State Championship Tournament in Golden, Colorado. Students all around the state of Colorado will compete to become the state champion! Students karate kids ages and older of all belt levels will get the chance to win the title. Mueller’s Martial Arts will be there, ready to win some titles!

Throughout the year, students compete in tournaments throughout the state and country to earn points towards competing in State. Each tournament they earn a certain amount of points depending on how they do. Those points are added up and determine if they qualify to go to the tournament to compete. The top ten students of each ring get the honor to go to the tournament.

The students can compete in all events- elevated, inventive, sparring, forms, weapons, and weapons sparring. The catch is that they have to earn the ability to compete in those events. So based on how they do throughout the year will let them know if they qualify for any certain event.

This is the only chance throughout the year for color belts to earn a big title. Only Black Belts compete at World Championships, so State is where color belts earn their titles. Black Belts can also compete at State. It’s the opportunity for all of their hard work to pay off so that they can bring a title back to their school.

Winners get a plaque, a medal, and a trophy! They earn a uniform with “State Champion” written on the back. Every time they put on their uniform or someone sees them in it, they know that they are in the presence of a champ. They get to show off their hard work and earn what they have worked so hard to achieve.

Mueller’s Martial Art’s students have been putting in countless hours to win that State Champion title. Many of our students will be competing on the 10th. They come to class every night and practice countless hours at home.

This year is likely to be the largest State tournament yet. You don’t want to miss it!

Gabriel “Gabo” Chavez was elected student of the year! Gabo is ten years old and goes to Addenbrooke Classical Academy. Each year, the teachers of the school choose a student that they believe exemplifies a great attitude, is a leader among their friends, and is an excellent student. Gabo personified every one of those traits and even more when he was made student of the year.

Gabo believes that taekwondo training helped him earn this title. He says that it increased his discipline which made him pay better attention in class and work even harder to get good grades. He uses respect, taught to him in class, to treat his teachers and peers with kindness. He is an A+ student that is a joy to be around by all that attend Addenbrooke.

Taekwondo is a huge part of Gabo’s life. He is a member of the competition team, a group of students placed on a team by invite only. The team is composed of the elite athletes of the school, not only the best martial artists but also the kids with the best attitude that are willing to put in the hard work. Gabo believes that the hard training on the comp team taught him to never shy away from a challenge and work together with his fellow students to become the best he can be.

As a member of the comp team, Gabo attends every taekwondo tournament. There, his hard work is rewarded, as he is consistently bringing home winning medals. His is always the first to arrive and the last to leave, always offering out a helping hand.

All of Gabo’s peers and mentors agree that he has a bright future ahead of him. His success in school and taekwondo prove that he is willing to work hard for his dreams. His teachers and instructors agree that he deserves every accolade and is polite, respectful, fun- all the good things you can find in a person. We all agree at Addenbrooke and Mueller’s Martial Arts that this kid is incredible!

To help your child get on this same path, learn more about Mueller’s Martial Arts by clicking here.

Water cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence. In Martial Arts, as with all things in life, sometimes we feel like we are in a constant state of repetition. We practice the same form, the same life skills, and the same material over and over again. On the other hand, sometimes we feel like we have so much to learn and don’t know where to start. On both sides of the coin, persistence pays off.

Repetition:

Bruce Lee once said, “I fear not the man that has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times”. We get better when we continue to practice the same material over and over again until we become an expert. Because we are human, no one will ever be perfect every time they do something. But we can strive for our own sense of perfection- doing the best to our ability.

If you want to be great at something, even if you feel like you have practiced it an endless number of times, persistence pays off. If your goals are to become a black belt someday, you have to learn every single move in every single form. You will have to practice it again and again until you get it almost to perfection. If your goal is to become a World Champion, the same is true. You must practice your form over and over until it is the best it possibly can be. If you want to achieve greatness, you must persist.

Advancing:

On the other hand, maybe you have been training for awhile in taekwondo and you become an advanced rank. Or maybe you just became a red black belt. When achieving higher ranks in Martial Arts, training intensifies. The material gets more difficult to learn and remember. You may start to feel that you are not learning as fast as your fellow students or that you are not as good as they are. This is not the moment to get discouraged and definitely not the moment to quit. This is the moment to persist.

You put in the time and effort. You dedicated yourself to becoming a black belt, or even a higher degree black belt. We do not give up on our goals just because things get hard or we become self conscious about our abilities. If in this hard time you decide to show up more and work even harder, you will be rewarded. You will realize that you are capable of more than you ever thought you could be. If you persist, it will pay off.

Whether it’s on or off the mat, in life or during class, persistence pays off. If you set your mind to doing something and are willing to put in the work to get there, you will thank yourself for it. In life there will always be new things to learn and times where things feel repetitious, but we must persist. At Mueller’s Martial Arts, we will help you cut through that rock.

Life is hard and also beautiful. We face challenges that we think will break us, and moments that lift us higher than we could ever imagine. Taekwondo is the same way. It is a metaphor for life, the things we go through during our taekwondo journey directly reflect the things we go through in life. The important thing is how we grow through the journey. At Mueller’s Martial Arts, we guide students through their training to help them with life.

Challenges:

We all face challenges in life. Sometimes it feels like it can be every single day. The same can be said for taekwondo. We face moments where we push our bodies past our limits or our minds can’t learn one more bit of information. We get kicked in the head and fall down or fail at something we poured our heart and soul into doing. That’s life isn’t it? Taekwondo teaches us that each time we fall, we strive to get back up. It teaches us to face the hard moments in life head on, and never give up until we reach our goal. Instead of fearing the challenges, we embrace them with everything we’ve got.

Support:

No matter how alone we feel in life, there will always be people that love and support us. You will always have someone you can count on. The same is true for taekwondo. Though it is an independent sport, you are never alone. You are surrounded by coaches, mentors, and friends who want you to succeed. There are always people in your corner rooting for you. They are willing to do whatever it takes to help you reach your goals. If you really think about the people in your life, we bet there’s at least one person who is that for you. The community you find in taekwondo is just like the community that supports you in life.

Growth:

Life is never about standing still. We are constantly changing and evolving, becoming the person we are meant to be. Taekwondo is the same way. You learn something new every day and are always working towards your next goals. You start training to become a Black Belt but the journey doesn’t end there. Just like in life when you achieve a goal your journey does not end in that moment. It is about the things you learn and the better you become along the way. It is all about growing into an incredible human being, and an amazing Martial Artist.

Taekwondo is a metaphor for life, whether it is overcoming challenges, finding your community, or growing into the person you are meant to be. Martial Arts training helps us navigate through life and have fun along the way.

To learn more about Mueller’s Martial Arts, click here.

You did it. You took the first step in setting your child up for a happy life and successful future by getting them enrolled in Martial Arts. Or maybe you have been involved for a long time, taking them to and from class, bringing them to tournaments. Though your child may be the one actually taking taekwondo classes, your job isn’t done. You play a huge role in their success.

Accountability:

Many parents come to karate because their children have been acting up and they want help teaching them discipline. Or they have been bullied and lack confidence, and their parents want them to learn self defense and to believe in themselves. We teach the foundations of those skills in taekwondo- respect, discipline, confidence, goals, perseverance, attitude, focus, and integrity. But it is the parent’s job to make sure that those skills carry over at home. They need to reinforce the things they learn in class, and not let bad behaviors slip through the cracks.

Discipline:

We live in a world where we can get anything we want at the touch of a button and only have to focus for short periods of time. This makes our attention span extremely limited, especially for kids who are learning their most basic thought and behavior patterns during this time. Let’s face it, when we do something enough times, we are bound to get bored with it. The same can be true with Martial Arts training. At that moment, it is critical that the parent steps up. Parents should teach their child to follow through on their commitments with a disciplined mind. That means to keep going to class even if they sometimes don’t want to, and to try new things so that they are always challenged. There is always something new to learn, and by not giving up parents work with instructors to teach a valuable life lesson.

Overcoming Challenges:

Life is full of ups and downs and hardships that will challenge us. Those challenges often make us into the people that we are meant to be. However, we can never be prepared for life’s challenges unless we face some when we are kids. In taekwondo, children will be challenged both mentally and physically. They will have setbacks and failures that will teach them to keep going and never give up. They may want to quit because they think it’s too hard or they experience a let down. It’s at that time when parents need to step up and push them to keep going because once they become successful they will be that much more proud and grateful.

Parents and instructors need to work hand in hand to make sure that their children are getting the most out of Martial Arts training. Together they can make it not only fun, but a life changing and enriching experience that will set them up for a bright and amazing future. At Mueller’s Martial Arts, we give out “parent stripes” before testing to ensure that the lessons taught in class are being carried over to home. To learn more about our program, click here.

Everyone wants to change the world. We all want to live in a better place where there is respect, inclusion, and people are happy. We all want to find our purpose and be good people while doing it. At Mueller’s Martial Arts, we believe that we can change the world one Black Belt at a time.

Life skills:

In taekwondo class we teach students about the eight essential life skills. They are discipline, respect, integrity, focus, attitude, goals, confidence, and perseverance. Not only do we teach them their meanings, we also work on them in each class so they are ingrained in their mind. The students carry those skills into their everyday lives. A person that is built with a foundation of those values is destined to be a great leader and make a positive impact on the world around them.

Physical health:

In the US, we are constantly surrounded by processed food and technological devices that keep us sitting on the couch in solitude. Martial Arts training gives us a place to exercise and take care of ourselves. It pushes us in ways that help us grow and make us realize what we are capable of. We train our students to take care of themselves and push their minds and bodies to the limits. That is not the standard for many other activities and with that training, students can make a better world.

Community:

The foundation of a good world is a community of good people. That is exactly what a taekwondo dojang is. It is a group of people that work hard to accomplish their goals. They learn and practice being good people. Most importantly, they support and uplift each other, helping each other learn and achieve their goals. They all contribute to make everyone feel included and to make it feel like home. Imagine if we had an entire world that everyday made you feel like you were part of something bigger, and were part of a welcoming and supportive family. Isn’t that the world we all want to live in? That’s what taekwondo training gives us.

Black Belt Mentality:

Black Belts are trained to be humble, work hard, respect everyone, and never give up. They are strong in heart and mind, and they always help those around them. Black Belts are honorable and protect those in need. They know they are capable of anything they set their mind to. If the world was full of Black Belts, it would be a better place.

At Mueller’s Martial Arts, we work with people of all ages to become the best versions of themselves, physically and mentally. We have a community of people working together to become amazing people. We live with a Black Belt spirit. We strive to change the world, one Black Belt at a time.

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Summertime in Taekwondo

Champ Camp

State Tournament

Gabo is Student of the Year

Persistence Pays Off

Taekwondo is a Metaphor for Life

A Parent’s Duty in Taekwondo

Changing the World One Black Belt at a Time