Congratulations Recent Graduates!

Congratulations to everyone who graduated during this past weekend's belt ceremony. All of our students worked hard and demonstrated some great Taekwondo, fitness, and self-defense skills. As your instructors, Mr. Murphy and Ms. Dewberry were proud of everyone's efforts!

The following students were promoted:
New Orange Belts
Ryan Spencer, Logan Evans, Camden Haloszka, John Green, Ashley O'Connor, Carson O'Connor, Jakob Alexandrian, Rickey Mock, Staci Mock

New Yellow Belts
Jackson Sears, Jordan Mock, Brooke Mock, Lauren Lammens, Reyna Simoes, Amy Baker

New Camo Belts
Chandler Abbott-Flurry, Chris Simoes, Sheri Adams, Avery Baker, Alex Baker, Asa Baker, Nicholas Salter, Marcus Kim, Aaron Bell, Savannah Sizemore, Sahara Sizemore, Sophie Slayden, Joshua Wright, Tanner Slayden, Robbie Lammens

New Green Belts
Ethan Hughes, Graham Stewart, Matthew Vincent, Kevin Pelawi, Caleb Gayton, Terry Atcheson, Julie Atcheson, Nicholas Brocker, Jonathan Brower, Victoria Logan, Amanda Brower

New Purple Belts
Alix Green, Makayla Simoes, Mason Fischer, Joshua Gayton

New Blue Belts
Matthew Adams, John Lagana, Kathy Strom, Sarah Liebert, Ethan Sizemore, Matthew Patton, Jayme Bricker, Sarah Ellis, McKenna Haag, Randall Patton, Laura Bricker

New Brown Belts
Matt Moore, Sam Moore, Zach Bergman, Cade Strom, Jason Strom

New Decided Brown Belts (2nd Level)
Mara Logan-Henderson, Tom LaCaruba

New Red Belts
Adam Budd, Arik Logan-Henderson

Black Belts Midterms
Jazmine Boatright - 1st Successful Midterm towards 2nd Degree
Josh Morris - Final Successful Midterm towards 3rd Degree
Koby Boatright - Final Successful Midterm towards 3rd Degree
Ms. Dewberry - Final Successful Midterm towards 4th Degree

New Black Belts
Cody Smith - New 3rd Degree

Upcoming Graduation

WOW...it's been a while since our last update! That's how much fun with been having with all our students. I'm too tired to type at the end of the day!!!

Just a reminder about our upcoming BELT GRADUATION on Saturday, December 19th. All of our Tiny Tigers will be graduating at 9am, our White-Green belts at 10am, and our Purple-Red Belts at 11:30am.

This is a special day for all of our graduating students, but an extra-special day for a few students. Cody Pampel should be testing for his 1st Degree Black Belt. Cody Smith should be testing for his 3rd Degree Black Belt. And Ms. Dewberry will be completing her final mid-term testing towards her 4th Degree Black Belt, so hopefully she'll be testing for her 4th Degree in early 2010!!!

Remember to keep training in class next week and we'll be prepared for graduation!

Board-Break-a-Thon EVENT

http://www.firstgiving.com/cantonata

Our Board-Break-a-Thon is coming up quickly! Let's work really hard to raise as much money as possible for this event! "Creating Tomorrow's Leaders...One Black Belt at a Time!"

Fall Break Seminars

Hello everyone. Since Cherokee County Schools are closed the week of September 21-25, we will be hosting a 2-hour seminar each day of the week. These seminars are open to all Canton ATA members. The schedule is as follows:

Monday - Sparring Strategies
Tuesday - Ssahng Jeol Bahng (Nunchucks)
Wednesday - Grappling
Thursday - XMA Kicks & Tricks
Friday - Leadership Training

Each seminar begins at 10 am and lasts until 12 Noon. Each seminar cost is $20. We look forward to seeing on any day or days you choose to attend.

Board Break-A-Thon

http://www.firstgiving.com/cantonata

During our Halloween Party on October 30th we will have our first Board Break-A-Thon to Benefit the Grand Master H.U. Lee Memorial Foundation. This Foudation is one that provides students all across America with scholarships. The website above is one that we created where you can have your friends make dontions. We are asking that all students participate in our efforts to raise $10000. We know it sounds like a lot, but as Eternal Grand Master said, "Today not posible, tomorrow possible."

To get your packet of participation for the Board Break-A-Thon you must bring in 10 cans of canned food starting September 28th. You will be given a packet with instructions and letters to give your sponsors. More information will be given soon. If you have any questions please see Mrs. Murphy or Ms. Dewberry.

Panama City Beach, Florida Tournament ~ Battle on the Beach

Congratulations to the following students on a fantastic job at the Panama City Beach tournament Labor Day Weekend!

Matthew Patton ~ 3rd in Weapons
Randall Patton ~ 1st in Weapons, 3rd in Forms, 2nd in Sparring
Sarah Ellis ~ 3rd in Forms, 3rd in Sparring
Caitlen Barker ~ 3rd in Forms, 3rd in Sparring
Adam Budd ~
Mason Fischer ~ 2nd in Forms, 3rd in Sparring
Laura Bricker ~ 1st in Sparring
Jayme Bricker ~ 2nd in Sparring
Matthew Adams ~ 3rd in Forms, 3rd in Weapons
Ross Chamberlain ~ Awesome Job!
Scott Murphy ~ 1st in Forms, 1st in Sparring

Congratulations Ms. Rachel Saunier!

Congratulations to Ms. Rachel Saunier on her achievement of 1st Degree Black Belt! It is always special to earn a rank of black belt. It shows years of hard work and dedication to achieving your goal. It is also just as special for an instructor to see a student earn his or her black belt. Ms. Rachel Saunier is the first student in Canton to begin her training as a white belt under Mr. Murphy and earn a black belt. Mr. Murphy has been a part of several martial arts schools in the past and helped many students earn the rank of black belt, but Ms. Saunier is the first student to do this since Mr. Murphy has owned a school. Congratulations Rachel, and thank you.

Rachel as a White Belt!

Congratulations to All New Ranks!

Congratulations to everyone who graduated to a new rank over the weekend! The ceremony was exciting and fun to watch. Everyone was energetic and showed a great performance of technique and fitness! That's what we train for. Here's some pictures and results of the ceremony!

New Orange Belts:

Marcus Kim, Alex Baker, Asa Baker, Avery Baker, Robbie Lammens, Joshua Wright, Aaron Bell, Nicolas Salter, Savannah Sizemore, Sahara Sizemore, Chris Simoes

New Yellow Belts:

Graham Stewart, Nicholas Brocker, Julie Atcheson, Terry Atcheson, David Flurry, Ethan Hughes, Matthew Flurry, Chandler Abbott-Flurry, Victoria Logan, Hayden Saunders, Caleb Gayton, Sheri Adams, Christy Worsham

New Camoflauge Belts:

Makayla Simoes, Johnny Watson

New Green Belts:

Caisen Strom, Kathy Strom, Sarah Ellis, Jayme Bricker, Caitlen Barker, Sarah Liebert, Noah Pritchard, Matthew Adams, Ethan Sizemore, Matthew Patton, Taylor Jackson, Randall Patton, Bonny Tunnell, Laura Bricker, Mac Miller, John Lagana

New Purple Belts:

Zach Bergman, Cade Strom, Jason Strom, Matt Moore, Sam Moore, McKenna Haag

New Blue Belts:

Tom LaCaruba, Seth Folwer, Angelle Watson, Tommy Tunnell

New Brown Belts:

Dylan Morgan, Adam Budd

New Recommended Black Belt:

Cody Pampel

New 1st Degree Black Belt:

Rachel Saunier

Belt Graduation This Weekend!

Are you ready?! Make sure you train hard this week. If you don't have your invitation yet, let's train! Come to class as often as you can so Mr. Murphy and Ms. Dewberry can help you get ready. If you already have your invitation, we have just a few classes left to make everything sharp for the ceremony! Either way, we expect to see you in class and sweating like you want that new belt!

Atlanta Tournament July 18, 2009

All of our students did a great job at the tournament this past weekend! As the instructor, I am proud of all the hard work they put into training and preparation for the competition and even more proud of the positive attitude and great sportsmanship that everyone showed!

Here's a list of all of our competitors:
Josh Morris - Outstanding Competitor Black Belt Ring
Ross Chamberlain - Results Coming Soon
Jazmine Boatright - 3rd Place Sparring
Rachel Saunier - Results Coming Soon
Cody Pampel - Outstanding Competitor Red Belt Ring
Adam Budd - Results Coming Soon
Brandy Murphy - 1st Place Forms, 2nd Place Sparring
McKenna Haag - 3rd Place Forms, 2nd Place Sparring
Matthew Patton - 3rd Place Sparring
Randall Patton - 3rd Place Forms, 3rd Place Sparring
Taylor Jackson - 3rd Place Form, 3rd Place Sparring, 4th Place Weapons
John Lagana - 2nd Place Forms, 1st Place Sparring
Jayme Bricker - 4th Place Forms
Laura Bricker - 4th Place Forms
Matthew Adams - 1st Place Forms, 1st Place Weapons, 1st Place 1-Steps
Mason Fischer - 1st Place Forms, 1st Place 1-Steps
Sarah Ellis - 1st Place Forms, 2nd Place Weapons, 1st Place 1-Steps
Matthew Flurry - 3rd Place Forms, 2nd Place Weapons, 2nd Place 1-Steps
Chandler Abbott-Flurry - 1st Place Forms, 1st Place Weapons, 1st Place 1-Steps
Hayden Saunders - 4th Place Forms
Julie Welch - Outstanding White Belt Competitor
David Flurry - Outstanding Tiny Tiger Competitor
Cubby Schmersahl - Outstanding Tiny Tiger Competitor

We're Blogging Now!!!

We're excited to offer this new feature for our students!!! This will be used to highlight some of our students' accomplishments (ie, tournaments, graduations, demonstrations, classroom show-n-tells, etc.). We will also be publishing pictures and videos of the current curriculum for our Basic and Elite students. Hopefully, you will be able to follow this better than some of the DVD's we've tried in the past!

WE LOOK FORWARD TO USING THIS TO SHOW OFF THE ALL OF YOUR AMAZING EFFORTS!