2022 TKDI Bootcamp

/in , ,

 

Asheville Sun Soo is honored to host the TKDI (Taekwon-do International) Bootcamp,  August 5th through August 7th, 2022. This event will bring together over 100 practitioners of varying ranks, representing schools throughout the TKDI family. We are excited to have Grandmaster Kim share his vast knowledge, enthusiasm and many years of experience with students of all ranks.

The weekend will feature round robin training sessions, meals, and time to socialize with fellow practitioners.

Read more

Teen girl at ready stance2019

Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts Prepares for February 2020 Testing

/in , , , ,

Asheville Sun Soo will conduct belt rank testing on Friday, February 14th and Saturday, February 15th.  We are excited to welcome 3 visiting Guest Master Judges for this event – 9th Dan Grandmaster Ju Hun Kim, 6th Dan Master Robert Word, and 5th Dan Master Bob Kerr! 

Grandmaster Kim (not to be confused with Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim, Founder of Taekwon-Do International, our parent organization) was the first Tae Kwon Do instructor under whom Grandmaster Tony Morris studied, when he was only 10 years old, in 1972! Grandmaster Kim ran his own school, Kim’s School of Tae Kwon Do, which was headquartered in Charlotte, NC (with many associated schools over the 50-year history of Kim’s School of Tae Kwon Do that were located in other cities, states and countries!) for several years.  Grandmaster Kim instilled a sense of excellence and tradition that Grandmaster Morris continues to pursue in the day to day operation of Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts. Please be certain to greet Grandmaster Kim at testing this weekend! 

Master Robert Word is a longtime friend of the school. He and his wife, 5th Dan Master Dawn Word, owned and operated AIM Tae Kwon Do in Greensboro, NC, for several years before taking some time off. Masters Word plan to open a new school in the upcoming year. We are happy to welcome him back to the school! 

Master Bob Kerr, also a longtime friend and frequent visitor to Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts, has been a pastor for several decades, and still practices with Grandmaster Ju Hun Kim today. Welcome back Master Kerr! 

We want to congratulate all of our testing students for all their efforts and accomplishments. We want to give special recognition to the five students testing for Black Belt ranks: 

John Mellin, 13, testing for Junior 1st Dan 

Lucca DeGennaro, 10, testing for Junior 2nd Dan 

Silas Flaum, 14, testing for Junior 2nd Dan 

Devin Martin, 18, testing for 2nd Dan 

Amerie Delfin, 14, testing for Junior 3rd Dan 

Reminder: 

We will be closed for classes beginning at 11:30am Friday, February 14th. There will be no classes on Friday afternoon or evening, all day Saturday, February 15th, and all day Monday, February 17th. We will resume our normal class schedule on Tuesday, February 18th.  

Testing Schedule: 

Friday, February 14th 

4pm: Mighty Tiger/Mighty Lion Testing 

6pm: White Belt Testing, White-Yellow Belt Testing, Color Belt Board Breaks, Black Belt candidates begin testing. Please arrive by 5:30pm.  

Saturday, February 15th 

10am: Special Seminar for students in the Black Belt ranks, conducted by Grandmaster Kim! 

12pm: Testing for all students, ranked White-Yellow belt and above, Black Belt candidates complete testing. 

Community meal immediately follows testing. Food will be provided by Happy Cinco de Mayo, a delicious restaurant located within the River Ridge Market Place, specializing in Mexican cuisine. 

Students should wear WHITE uniforms ONLY! 

We will be closed for classes throughout testing weekend, as well as on Monday, February 17th  (in order to reset the space)! Classes will resume on Tuesday, February 18th and will follow our regular schedule! Please wear your current belt to your first class back. Students who have been promoted will receive their new belt at their first class back.  

Kids who move up to yellow belt or blue belt should attend one more class for their current rank. White-Yellow belts who test to Yellow belt should attend one more Kid’s Beginner class, then begin going to Kid’s Intermediate classes after receiving their new belt. Green-Blue belts who test to Blue belt should attend one more Kid’s Intermediate class, then begin going to Kid’s Advanced classes after receiving their new belt.  

We look forward to seeing all of you this weekend! 

 

Asheville Sun Soo Welcomes Chief Master Brice Bishop as Guest Master Instructor at our December 2019 Belt Rank Testing

/in , , , , ,

Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts is excited to welcome Chief Master Brice Bishop as the Guest Master Instructor for our December testing event. Grandmaster Tony Morris met Chief Master Bishop when they both served as the Guest Masters at the October Testing of Taekwondo University, the collection of schools run by Grandmaster Terry Brumley – our visiting Guest Master Instructor from August!

Chief Master Bishop recently visited Asheville Sun Soo in anticipation of his serving in the capacity of judge for our upcoming testing. His visit provided him with context for what he will see on the mat during testing, and he looks forward to seeing the difference 3 weeks has made in our students. In addition, Chief Master Bishop will be holding a special class for Asheville Sun Soo Black Belts centering on footwork as it relates to effective sparring.

We look forward to hosting Chief Master Bishop this weekend, and having him share his perspective and skills with our students. Please be certain to meet him and thank him for being here!

Photo of TKD students in the Black Belt ranks with 3 Grandmaster instructors2019

Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts Hosts Annual Fall TKDI Invitational Tournament

/in , , , , ,

 

Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts is honored to have hosted the 2019 Fall Taekwon-Do International Invitational Tournament. The Fall TKDI Invitational Tournament is hosted annually by Asheville Sun Soo, and this year’s event was the first invitational tournament held in our new River Ridge location!

Master Instructors and students from several different schools participated and contributed to a fantastic day! Competition was rigorous, respectful, and challenging and allowed students from different schools to share brackets, which made the day fun as well as a valuable way to develop and improve martial arts skills.

Students ages 3-80 competed in different areas of practice – forms (patterns), sparring, and board breaks. Competing in these areas provided competitors with multiple opportunities to cheer for their fellow practitioners, make new friends from participating schools, and to notice things about their own practices – all of which contribute to growth as a martial artist!

We want to give special thanks and recognition to 9th Dan Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim, President and Founder of Taekwon-do International, 9th Dan Grandmaster Terry Brumley, Founder of United Taekwon-Do Alliance, 8th Dan Grandmaster Barry Partridge, 7th Dan Master John Meany, 7th Dan Master James Marr, and 5th Dan Master Shay Tippens – as well as all their participating students – for their collective contributions to the 2019 TKDI Invitational Tournament.

Congratulations to all who competed! We look forward to seeing our sister schools at future events!

Students at Tae Kwon Do Tournament
Students at Tae Kwon Do Tournament
Preschool and Kindergarten martial artists with boards
Preschool and Kindergarten martial artists with boards

Schedule Changes for the Week of July 29 – August 3rd

/in , ,

We are excited about travelling to Boot Camp on Friday, August 2nd! In order to facilitate our primary instructor staff attending this awesome training opportunity, we are amending our schedule for this upcoming weekend – August 2nd and August 3rd.

On Friday, August 2nd, our 8:30am Adult/Family Mixed Rank class will be replaced wit an open mat session. This will be an awesome opportunity for all ranks to practice curriculum on their own, facilitated by some of our adult students in the Black Belt ranks. Class credit will be granted for all students who attend this open mat session, so please pull your card upon arrival!

There will not be an Adult BBC class on Friday evening. However, the Adult Beginner class will still be held as is usual. Please remember that while this class is open to all adult practitioners, the curriculum covered will be explicitly geared towards our students who are currently white belts.

All other Friday classes will follow their regular schedule.

On Saturday, August 3rd, all classes, except for the Masters class, will follow their regular schedule. The Masters class will, much like Friday morning, be an open mat opportunity for Black Belts of all ranks. Students in the Black Belt ranks are invited to take this opportunity to practice upper belt curriculum.

We will resume our regular schedule on Monday, August 5th. Please remember that our August testing event begins Friday, August 9th (a week from this Friday, August 2nd)!

Thank you!

Photo of tournament participants from Asheville Sun Soo2019 Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts

Asheville Sun Soo Participates in the 2019 US Masters Invitational Taekwon-do Championship

/in , ,

Once again, Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts took a contingent of students to the annual TKDI Invitational Tournament, known as the “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:

Photo of tournament participants from Asheville Sun Soo 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!

Ian Dowling wins Grand Master Championship

Asheville Sun Soo Participates in Suk Jun Kim Cup Tournament in New Jersey

/in , ,

As we do each year, Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts took a contingent of students to the annual TKDI Invitational Tournament, now known as the Suk Jun Kim Cup. This event was hosted by Glen Ridge Taekwondo, which is owned and operated by Master John Meaney and Master Laura Giletti.

We would like to congratulate Master Meaney and Master Giletti for running an excellent tournament this year. There was good energy, a high degree of professionalism, and an all-around healthy competitive spirit!

Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts would like to recognize the students from our school who made the trip to NJ to compete. All of them did well, and we are proud of their great effort! Students Include:

Ian Dowling, 3rd Dan

John Rivera, 2nd Dan

Sofia Rivera, 2nd Dan

Shallon Jacques, 2nd Dan

Devin Martin, Recommended Black Belt

Leah Dickinson, 2nd Dan

Amerie Delfin, 2nd Dan

Shonna Campbell, Blue-Red

Frances Hochschild, Red-Black

Amy Vaughn, 2nd Dan

Phillip Dexter, 1st Dan

Collectively, our students earned 9 gold medals, 11 silver medals, and 8 bronze medals. We would also like to give special recognition to 3rd Dan Black Belt, Mr. Ian Dowling for winning the Grand Masters trophy! This trophy is awarded to the top forms competitor.

Photo of Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim demonstrating a technique on Master Michael Dickinson of Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts

Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim Holds Taekwondo Special Seminar at Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts

/in , , ,

Master Tony Morris and Master Michael Dickinson, on behalf of Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts, would like to thank Grandmaster Kim, again, for coming to Asheville for our Saturday May 12 Traditional Taekwondo Special Seminar.

Over 130 students participated across all belt ranks and ages (5 years old -79 years old!). The seminar covered a variety of topics, as well as technical development. There were 2 separate sessions, the first lasting 1-1/2 hours, was dedicated to lower and middle belt ranking kids. This session helped them light the fire of excitement about their practices and opened their eyes to the opportunity of having a lifelong Taekwondo practice. The second session lasted 3 hours, and was dedicated to kids ranked red belt and higher, as well as teens and adults of all ranks. This seminar section included a variety of topics, technical clarifications, and introduction to some new technical variations.

Each session ended with a question and answer session with Grandmaster Kim, helping students gain insight into his personal history, as well as the lineage and history of Traditional Taekwondo and the place we all hold within that framework.

Although it seemed to be over quickly, our time with Grandmaster Kim, as always, was impactful and enlightening. What a great contribution to our collective practice!

Thank You Grandmaster Kim!

Master Tony Morris

Taekwondo Bootcamp at Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts

2017 TKDI Bootcamp A Huge Success

/in , , , ,

Asheville Sun Soo was honored to host the TKDI (Tae Kwon Do International) Bootcamp, held August 4th through August 6th, 2017. This event brought together over 100 practitioners of varying ranks, representing schools throughout the TKDI family. All classes & training sessions were run by Grandmaster Kim, who shared his vast knowledge, enthusiasm and many years of experience with students of all ranks.

Bootcamp began Friday night, with registration and a meet and greet. It was wonderful watching students from different schools interacting and getting acquainted with one another. Practitioners then shared a meal, and got prepared for the an exciting and rigorous training session, finishing with a talent show that evening.

Saturday morning, there were many opportunities to learn about the nuances and mechanics of proper kicking technique, as well as words of wisdom from Grandmaster Kim about recognizing that we each practice for ourselves. Practitioners from all participating schools then enjoyed a tubing field trip, and were able to take in some of the natural beauty of this area while resting and relaxing. Students reconvened at Asheville Sun Soo in the late afternoon, and after enjoying a shared dinner, resumed training with a short session, led once again by Grandmaster Kim, in the evening.

Sunday morning’s training session although optional, but was a fantastic turnout despite the tired legs! Each visiting Master Instructor led a session, with the purpose of reviewing material covered during the weekend. Practitioners were able to ask questions, get clarity on techniques, and otherwise absorb additional information.

All in all, TKDI Bootcamp was an excellent opportunity to enhance the practice of all who participated, to meet fellow practitioners from our sister schools, and to receive instruction from other Master Instructors, thereby further contributing to a more whole understanding of the curriculum. Students left inspired and invigorated in their practice.

Many thanks to all of the highly skilled instructors who supported the training. They include:

Grandmaster S.J. Kim, 9th Dan, Founder and President of Taekwon-do International
Master Mark Nathanson, 8th Dan, Glen Ridge Taekwon-do
Master Tony Morris, 7th Dan, Asheville Sun Soo, Asheville NC
Master John Meany, 7th Dan, Taekwon-do International Chief Instructor, Glen Ridge Taekwon-do, Montclair, NJ
Master James Marr, 7th Dan, Master Marr’s Taekwon-do, Shaker Heights, OH
Master Paul D’Ambrosio, 6th Dan, Aliso Hills Taekwon-do, Aliso Viejo, CA
Master Laura Giletti, 6th Dan, Glen Ridge Taekwon-do, Montclair, NJ
Master Keith Klok, 6th Dan, Klok’s School of Martial Arts, Wake Forest, NC, Full Instructor Krav Maga
Professor Thabiti Sabahive, 5th Dan Dansan Ryu Jujitsu, Asheville Sun Soo, Asheville, NC
Master Michael Dickinson, 4th Dan, Asheville Sun Soo, Asheville NC

Next year’s Boot Camp will be held in early August (2018). More details to come as definite plans are made.

Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts Hosts 2017 TKDI Bootcamp

/in , ,

Asheville Sun Soo Tae Kwon Do is excited to be hosting the 2017 Annual TKDI Bootcamp, which will be held from August 4th -6th. This is our second year hosting this event, and we at Asheville Sun Soo are honored to host the event once again. Last year marked the largest attendance ever for a TKDI Bootcamp event at over 130 practitioners. We expect this year’s attendance to set another record!

There are under 3 weeks left until this event, so see your school’s Master Instructor for registration and details. In order to help with the logistics of planning this event, we are offering a free t-shirt to all participants who register by Wednesday July 26. Anyone who registers after this date can purchase the t-shirt once they arrive at Bootcamp.

Host families are available for out-of-town students who would like to avoid the cost of lodging while attending Bootcamp. Please let your Master Instructor know if you would like to make this arrangement.

We are happy to announce that Grandmaster Kim will be lead instructing ALL of the major training sessions during this year’s Bootcamp – and he is excited to see and work with everyone’s Tae Kwon Do. Supporting Grandmaster Kim’s lead instruction will be more than a dozen additional TKDI master ranks.

In addition to all of the awesome training sessions, we will also hold a talent show, share 5 meals together in the dojang, and hit the river for tubing!

Don’t miss this awesome TKDI training experience!

We look forward to seeing you at Bootcamp!

Special Note: Remember that Asheville is a fantastic vacation destination, and we invite you to consider staying and enjoying additional vacation days in our city. For more information on things to do while in Asheville, please visit http://ExploreAsheville.com