American Moo-Do Kwan

NEWSFLASH
We will be celebrating our 40th Anniversary the whole year! Our current banner commemorates the AMK's start as the HP Moo-Do club & photos from the 70s. To find out more about each photo visit our Facebook page!

Resources

Member Login

Who's Online
We have 20 guests online

Polls

2011 Photo of the Year

WEBSITE INFO
12/17/11 ACTIVE MEMBERS This area has been updated. (login required to view this area) 5/14/11 LEGACY MEMBERS I have updated our Legacy Members page to include students *#125 Larry Skipworth. It can be found under Our History>Legacy Members. Next update will be either Friday or Saturday. Perhaps it will be YOU!*

2011 End of the Year Message & Video

2011 Photo of the Year

Every year, I create an End-of-Year message. It reflects upon the lessons of the past year and sets the tone for the next year. 2011 meant a lot to our members and to me.

To say that 2011 was an eventful year in the history of the American Moo-Do Kwan (AMK) would certainly be a major understatement. Since founding the school in 1972 I have not experienced the likes of a year like this. In the past, we have experienced, and recovered from traumatic events several times, which led to the adoption of the Phoenix as a symbol of our resilience. That resilience, plus the growth in the quality of our higher ranks, complemented by the strong support of our parents, leads me to believe that 2012 will be stronger than any prior year.

We did it!

As a philosophical adherent of traditional oriental martial art training, it is my nature to try to probe and understand the meaning in the lessons that we get from life. John Lennon wisely observed that “…Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans…” Nowadays, all of our members understand and appreciate the significance of that observation. As the AMK’s Chief Instructor, I am keenly aware of my responsibility to relate our training to the traditional training that has existed for hundreds of years, yet make it relevant to the 21st century. That is a challenge that I accept must be addressed.

Thank You City of La Palma

The first part of the challenge is to be able to explain the philosophical paradigm of oriental martial arts. So often, people believe that oriental martial arts are about fighting, so they expect that is how one must respond to difficulties. However, I teach as I was taught. Simply, that the meaning of traditional oriental martial art training is to strive for peace. In fact, the Chinese calligraphy that symbolizes oriental martial art should really be translated as “The way of the contradiction between the perfect attack and the perfect defense.” Lacking this subtle understanding, many people who might become involved with martial art training because they never really understand or appreciate its complex philosophical underpinnings do not participate.

The second part of the challenge is a bit more vexing. Unfortunately, our culture has created a generation that has a sense of entitlement, possibly as an overreaction to the restrictions of the past. It was indeed unfortunate that our society went from one untenable extreme to another. I have made it my mission to return some level of discipline without losing the valuable personal growth movement of the 60s. The pleasure of 2011 was seeing that balance of those goals move forward through the growth in our program, in our instructors, in our students, and in our parent supporters.

3rd Quarter Testing Examiners

We had our final Saturday class of 2011 on December 17. At Master Lisa’s encouragement, all of the parents and instructors shared their thoughts on the meaning of 2011. I was totally captivated by what each had to share. Especially poignant were the comments offered by parent after parent. They really got it! As I said, our mission is two-fold—learning the value of traditional oriental martial art training and capturing the essence of the personal growth nurtured by the 60s movement. Before the 60s, there were still groups of American citizens who were disenfranchised. However, it was also the legacy of the 60s to set many of these shortcomings on a better path. Consequently, in our program, we have also followed that more enlightened view, and as a result, our students have learned to overcome personal or public challenges by means of focused disciplined training that was more inclusive of our diverse American culture. That certainly must be credited to the growth in understanding and participation by our loyal and dedicated parents.

JKI XXII (5 for 5)

During the summer, we restructured our entire program. It was extremely important to get everyone on the same page and encourage group ownership in the success of the program. Therefore, we focused on strengthening and expanding the responsibilities of the higher ranks to embrace leadership as a tenet. All higher ranks are now required to participate in monthly review sessions outside of class time. Instructors too must participate in weekly post-class “lessons learned” meetings. All of the parents are a part of the Parents’ Advisory Counsel and are partners in class decisions and quarterly status meeting with the La Palma Recreation Center (LPRC) management team. Our program has become more unified and proactive. I have never known a more dynamic environment in the history of the AMK program.

2011 EOTY DVD

This year, Master Lisa created her usual take on the overview of the year’s activities in the EOY video. There were so many things worthy of note that the video had to be a full 45 minutes in length. Watching just that video, the viewer immediately saw three major trends in our program. First, significant technical improvement was obvious in the continuing students as well as those who recently joined. Second, all of the students, instructors, and parents became more unified, sharing activities as well as outside of class activities, time together. In the broader view, that is what traditional martial art training hopes to achieve. Finally, it was obvious that the leaders of the city of La Palma grew to appreciate and support our program. Several city officials began visiting our classes and all commented on the pride that they felt by having this kind of program in the community. It made our members feel a great sense of camaraderie in their contribution to the community.

AMK's 40th Anniversary logo

We will start out 2012 with a revised, comprehensive Instructor Training course. We will follow that up by ramping up the training activities to build up our technical skills in our core martial arts. All of our higher ranks will become more actively involved in leadership and teaching. Our instructors will become more active in class administration and teaching skills. We will begin preparing earlier for the Jimmy Kim Invitational Championships by preparing all of our members to be ready for competition. We will continue to focus on working with the LPRC administration to develop a stronger contribution to the community program. Above all, we will continue to focus on stronger family support and good citizenship for all of our members. I am eager to get started on an exciting and productive 40th year. Certainly, the Force will remain with us always!

Please note: Our weekday first class of 2012 starts Tuesday, January 3 and our first Saturday class starts Saturday, January 7. Please make sure you are enrolled in the correct class BEFORE you attend classes. Thanks!

UPCOMING EVENTS

1st Quarter Testing
Saturday, March 17

Located at La Palma Recreation Center in La Palma, CA. Scheduled from 10am-2pm. Participation is mandatory. Pre-test sheet will be sent out once your hours are met. Our Major Review will take place the week before. Please contact Lisa SBN if you have any further questions.

2nd Quarter Testing
Saturday, June 16

Located at CSULB (The Pyramid) in Long Beach, CA. Scheduled from 8am-7pm. Participation is mandatory as either a competitor, volunteer, or referee.There will be NO CLASS THIS DAY. Please contact Lisa SBN if you have any further questions.

4th Quarter Testing (Black Belt Testing)
Saturday, December 1

Located at A'Roma Ristorante in La Palma, CA. Scheduled from 3pm-7pm. At our end of the year party, we will awarded our 4th Quarter Testing Results as well as our Special End of the Year Awards. It is strongly encouraged that all students and instructors attend this very important event.

FEATURE STORY

UPDATED SOON!