Taekwon-do International is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the 2019 Taekwon-do International Summer Boot Camp on August 2-4, 2019 in Caldwell, NJ.
Register early to take advantage of the early bird discount. Bring your family to receive the family discount! Click for registration and more information. Once again, Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts in Asheville, NC took a contingent of students to the annual Taekwon-do International Invitational Tournament, known as “The 2019 US Masters Invitational Taekwon-do Championship". This event was hosted by Glen Ridge Taekwondo, which is owned and operated by Master John Meany and Master Laura Giletti. Asheville Sun Soo would like to congratulate Master Meany and Master Giletti for running an excellent tournament this year. As expected, this year’s tournament was characterized by positive energy, a high degree of professionalism, and an all-around healthy competitive spirit! Grandmaster Morris is proud of and would like to recognize the students from Asheville Sun Soo who made the trip to NJ to compete. All of them did well, and were a pleasure to have on the trip! This year’s competitors include: John Rivera, 3rd Dan Shallon Jacques, 3rd Dan Jennifer Marshall, 2nd Dan Cyd Smith, 2nd Dan Jillian Hintz, 1st Dan Devin Martin, 1st Dan Eve Flaum, 1st Dan Tabitha Morgan, Blue-Red Belt We would like to give special recognition to 2nd Dan Black Belt, Ms. Jennifer Marshall for winning the Forms Grand Championship trophy! This trophy is awarded to the top forms competitor in the Black Belt ranks, which this year included 17 different schools! Glen Ridge Taekwon-do in Montclair, NJ, held their fifth competition at The 2019 US Masters Invitational Taekwon-do Championship at Mount Saint Dominic Academy in Caldwell, NJ on Saturday, May 18, 2019. Each year the competition is bigger, having more competitors, from more schools participate and this year was no exception having 17 schools participate and over 125 competitors, and more than 20 Master Instructors in attendance. Taekwon-do International’s very own Founder and President, Grandmaster SJ Kim presided as Head Judge, and many other TKDI schools were in attendance including Master Marr of Master Marr’s Taekwon-do, Shaker Heights, OH, which won the “Best School” award for bringing the most competitors. Grandmaster Tony Morris of Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts, Asheville, NC, brought a large group as well, and their 2nd Degree Black Belt, Jennifer Marshall, won the trophy for Forms Grand Champion. Master John Meany, 7th Dan, Head Instructor and Owner of Glen Ridge Taekwon-do said, “we were glad to see so many people do well and we hope to see everybody next year.” Master Laura Giletti, 6th Dan and co-owner of Glen Ridge Taekwon-do said, "we want to extend warm thanks to everyone for coming, and special thanks to all of the people who gave time and energy so that the competitors could have a great time." The Taekwon-do International Boot Camp will be held on the same campus later this year on the weekend of August 2-4. Registration and more information about Boot Camp is available here. Other TKDI schools that participated were: Complete Taekwon-do, Bergenfield, NJ; Gotham Martial Arts, New York, NY; Oneonta Taekwon-do, Oneonta, NY; SJ Kim Taekwon-do, New York, NY; Yang Taekwondo, New York, NY. Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts is Proud to be a Recipient of the 2019 Sky High Growth Award5/28/2019
Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts, Asheville, NC, is proud to have been awarded a 2019 Sky High Growth Award by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. The Sky High Growth Awards recognize businesses for their growth and contribution to the local economy. Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts was selected as one of only 20 businesses in the greater Asheville area, from among the tens of thousands in its business community. Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts was chosen in acknowledgement of its exceptionally high professional standards, innovations within the martial arts industry as well as the business community at large, along with its 12 ½ year continuous history of sustained growth, #1 ranking in the annual “Best of WNC” area voting, and contribution to the local economy and quality of life in Asheville. Grandmaster Tony Morris and Master Michael Dickinson received the award on behalf of Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts. Also present at the ceremony were Instructors Master Amy Dexter, Master Thabiti Sabahive, Ms. Tina Clark, and Ms. Cyd Smith, as well as Krisy Williams, our Operations Manager. The award ceremony was held at Sierra Nevada Brewing in Mills River, and was well-attended by many local businesses, many of which also received a Sky High Growth Award. Asheville Sun Soo is thrilled to have been recognized by the Asheville Area Chamber for its business excellence. Asheville Sun Soo in Asheville, NC would like to congratulate all who tested, and they are very proud of their students and how much work they put into their practice. Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts was grateful to have several high-ranking Guest Master Instructors in attendance. They conducted a fun and informative Master’s Seminar on Saturday, and served on the judging panel! Thanks to: Master James Marr is a 7th Degree black belt who, along with his wife Master Elaine Bayless, a 5th degree black belt, runs Master Marr’s Taekwondo in Shaker Heights, OH. Masters Marr and Bayless are both students of Grand Master Suk Jun Kim. Master John Meany is a 7th Degree black belt with over 25 years of experience practicing and teaching Taekwon-do. Master Meany is a student of Grand Master Suk Jun Kim in New York City. He and his wife, Master Laura Giletti, a 6th Degree black belt, run Glen Ridge Taekwondo in Montclair, NJ. Master Paul D’Ambrosio (Master D) is certified as a 7th Degree Master in the original traditional style of Taekwon-do, as well as 4th Degree Master in Olympic Sport Taekwondo. This uniquely qualifies him to teach to a very wide range of students, from the young Olympic hopeful, to the more mature practitioner. He is the founder and primary instructor at Aliso Hills Taekwondo in Aliso Viejo, CA. Master Ethan Morris is a 4th Degree Black Belt, and hold the distinction of being the first student promoted to the rank of Master in Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts. Master Ethan Morris is a senior at UNC Chapel Hill, and will be graduating with honors this year with a dual major in Economics and Spanish. Also in attendance was Master Bob Kerr. We always appreciate his presence in our space, and while he did not sit on our panel, we would like to acknowledge his being here! The April testing also served as our Grand Opening Celebration. While not the first belt rank testing held in our current location at River Ridge Market Place, it was certainly the first in which we truly felt like we were settled in at our new home. We would like to acknowledge all the students who advanced in rank at this testing event. Special acknowledgement to (now) Grandmaster Tony Morris, who was awarded his 8th Degree during the April testing. The following students tested for Black Belt Ranks during the June testing: Jonathan Ortiz – 10, promoted to Junior 2nd Degree Emily Orozco – 12, promoted to Junior 2nd Degree Katie Parsons – 13, promoted to Junior 2nd Degree Sterling Bishop – 16, promoted to 2nd Degree Aria Cronin – 10, promoted to Junior 1st Degree
On Friday, February 22, 2019, Complete Taekwon-do in Bergenfield, NJ held their second promotion test. Newly founded in 2018, Complete Taekwon-do is owned by Grandmaster Mark Nathanson, 8th Dan, formerly of S.J. Kim Taekwon-do in New York City, and by Master Chris Malarkey, 5th Dan, formerly of Glen Ridge Taekwon-do in Montclair, NJ. Also attending the test were Taekwon-do International Founder and President Grandmaster S.J. Kim and Master Laura Giletti, 6th Dan, of Glen Ridge Taekwon-do. The day after the test Master Giletti returned to lead a Women's Self Defense class for parents, students, and local residents. The session was held for teenage girls and women to teach strategies of staying safe, and what to do in emergency situations. On Sunday, February 10, 2019, Glen Ridge Taekwon-do in Montclair, NJ, held a Board Breaking competition for students of all ranks and ages. Competitors were limited to two breaking stations and a maximum of three boards but they had three matches to set up and break boards. Students were paired up and would set up their breaks before the judges to see which of the pair performed better, each time against a different competitor. Students ranged in age with the youngest being 6 years old and going up to Adult, and ranged in rank from White Belt to Black Belt. Because the judging was designed to give experience to Black Belts with less experience, the judges included some of Glen Ridge's youngest black belts, and matches were determined simply by indicating the winner of the match, and not scored with precise numbers. There were more senior black belts to help those with less experience either in judging or in board breaking so everyone could learn and improve their taekwon-do while having fun. The event had 28 competitors, times 3 matches each, breaking 3 boards each time which makes a total of 252 boards broken for the day. The whole event took about two hours from the briefing the competitors and judges a the beginning through to sweeping up afterwards. As Master Laura Giletti, 6th Dan, said, "where else can you break a whole lot of stuff without getting into trouble?" At Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts in Asheville, NC, Spring Break and Summer Day Camps, children will enjoy a variety of activities including self-defense, character building, arts and crafts, movies, swimming, games, "mad science" and field trips! No prior martial arts experience necessary, and your child does not have to be a student in order to participate. 2019 Asheville Kids Spring Break Camp Dates: April 15th-19th, 2019 2019 Asheville Kids Summer Camp Dates: Week 1: June 17 - June 21 Week 2: July 8 - July 12 Week 3: July 15 - July 19 Week 4: July 29 - August 2 Week 5: August 5 - August 9 *Standard camp schedule is from 9am - 3pm. **Extended day available for additional fee. Early registration discounts are available! For more information, please call us at 828-505-4309. Registration is limited to 30 students. Register early to reserve your child's spot! On Monday, January 21, 2019, Glen Ridge Taekwon-do in Montclair, NJ held a one-day mini-camp for school children since schools were closed for the holiday. The camp came about as a result of the close relationship the school has with fellow TKDI school, Master Marr's Taekwon-do. It is collaborations like this that show the real value of Taekwon-do International to enable schools and school owners to work together to make each and every school a better version than before. The camp was run by Master Laura Giletti, 6th Dan and co-owner of Glen Ridge Taekwon-do, who said, "I try to come up with new ideas to keep things fresh for the students as well as the instructors, so when I saw that Master Marr was running a series of one-day mini-camps I thought it would be fun to try it! Master Marr and Master Bayless have a lot of fun events throughout the year." The full-day camp happened to be on one of the coldest days of the year--temperatures outside were in single digits but inside students stayed warm with taekwon-do lessons, volley ball games with balloons, races to stack school equipment, and each camper got a chance to try the Laser Maze. And even though the campers were disappointed that no actual lasers were used in the making of the maze, the challenge of getting through was enjoyed by everyone, even the camp leader, Master Laura Giletti! |