November 8th: We traveled with 6 students to Chip Wright's Championship Karate tournament in Medford. It was a well run tournament, and our kids did awesome. Need I say more? We returned in time to watch 5 more of our students sweating under the direction of Pat and Taryn.
A few of the pictures taken by Cheryl HOuston. Missing Tasha for now. If we can rip one from the video we'll post it! For more of Katie's fight, go to the photo section.

November 1: Saturday is martial arts work out day at Coquille Martial Arts! Coquille has Patrick's sparring/conditioning clinic from 4-6pm. Bandon sees Ray Chatman leading open floor Hapkido from 10-4 and at least once a month, Jim and Karen Saxton plan on going to the Matthew Lowe's systema training day in Eugene. Any adult is welcome(and teens with instructor approval) to join us. No need to have systema training before you go. This is a very inexpensive, well facilitated 3 hour training session and while we help ourselves, we help Matthew who is a certified instructor in training, move toward his certified instructor status. Plan to get sweaty, learn a lot about systema and yourself and work with some really great people. Check the monthly calender for details. Next week: Chip Wright's tournament in Medford

October 25th: The annual Halloween Party was well attended. Lots of great food, costumes, and fun. I got so many pictures that I'm going to be adding them to the photo 2008 page! Be sure to check back. In the meantime:

October 18th: Saturday was the Salem Tournament. Geoffery and Jamaica attended and each palced in weapons. Not bad for a tournament where the majority of competitors are working toward the big national events. Both students have been working hard and it showed, with Geoffery bringing home a 2nd and Tasha beinging home a 3rd. Next weekend is our annual Halloween party, with pictures to follow, and the weekend after that we are headed to a Systema training day in Eugene. All are invited. And speaking of systema training, we have been using our new tactical trainer in class, on the recommendation of James Williams. No nasty sharp edges, but the look and the feel of real metal on your skin.

October 4th: Home again and its great to be back where the weather is cool. So what do three martial arts instructors do while on vacation? They become martial arts students. Last Monday the Saxtons all woke up at 5 and wound their way through North County San Diego rush traffic to attend a systema class under James Williams. We got some great instruction from James and his assistants and will be incorporating those lessons into our systema and TKD classes on a regular basis. But before you think that's all we did, here are a few pictures from San Diego:

Sept 24th:

Lily and John tested for their yellow stripes and did a great job even with all the distractions... new students and construction on both skylights. Way to go John and Lily! Joe Ortega tested for his green belt and did an awesome job. Joe has been away for two years and started back in August.

Speaking of the skylights. We now have two new skylights. While I will miss the older big ones, the new ones are guaranteed not to leak! The roof is also being patched in time for the rainy season. And NW Natural is putting in natural gas so we have heat in our future, without worrying about the propane running out.

We want to extend a warm welcome to Ray our new Hapkido instructor in Bandon. If there is enough interest in the community, we will offer Hapkido in Coquille as well.

Sept 12th

- one week later. The sign!

Sept 6: Now you see it...... Now you don't! The Western Auto sign that is. Keep watching for the soon to be revealed new sign!

August 10, 2008: Yesterday was our summer picnic held to honor the kids form daycamp. As luck would have it, half of Coquille, including the chess club was at LaVerne Park. We managed to move in as soon as the chess tournament was over. Which was convenient for us, and for the families who had children in both events.

This is not our main picnic: that one comes in October. Be prepared for tons of food and games and many more awards at that event.

Our day campers walked away with many awards, and bottles of scented bubble solution. Pictures from the fair demos are up on the newest photo gallery. Make sure you take a look there too.

We have some exciting prospects coming up for the following school year, including Korean culture class, our tournament and more. We have announced our new family class on M & W, and this is proving to be quite popular already.

August 1 2008: We are still awaiting pictures from our demos at the fair. I will have them posted when they arrive.

In the meantime, our first annual day camp is a success. So far the kids have learned punches, kicks, blocks, forms and safety. Lots of safety.

In between times, they have been coloring, making sand castles, and watching kid videos. Parents report happy sleepy children heading off to bed when they get home.

July 13th: Many thanks to those who made our first "in" school summer fun tournament a big success. There are plans for a mid winter tournament and of course our big open tourney in the Fall.

The highlights for me included: Joselyn competing so that the girl from Henderson's had a division, and watching Kayla's new found confidence in sparring! Max improved his bo form. Also the littles did great... Johnathan and Lilly both. And Tianna really had a nice form after only one month of class. Then there was Cheryl's self defense, and Peyton's sparring. Gabe's form was about as good as I've seen it, and he was at camp instead of practicing all last week. Congrats to all, and special thanks to Mr Reiss, Mrs Croy and Sensei Sam for coming out to help us.

Our next event is the County Fair. After that, we're looking forward to the Reiss's tournament August 16th AND Patrick and Taryn's wedding party, all on the same day!

June 28th:

June saw the return of our annual Gold and Silver Falls hike. Taryn and Patrick, Tom, Cheryl and Kayla and Mr. and Mrs. Saxton attended. Like last year, the trails past Gold falls were hard to follow. UNlike last year we managed to find a major short cut. The homestead was awash in wildflowers, and we saw signs not only of the elk herd that lives in the valley, but also a rather large bear track. Patrick and Tom were all for going home for their hunting gear! We were indebted to Patrick for his clearing of the trail - that is some bo technique! And a picture from a past hike. The year the water was so high we picnicked near the old homestead.

Leslie's Yoga class is growing quickly. She is thinking of breaking it into beginner's and advanced classes when fall comes and her job at the myrtlewood factory slows down some. Build it, do it right and they will come. Good job, Leslie!"

We have decided to cut our Saturday classes, except for the once a month special classes: black belt club, breaking classes(fall through spring) and seminars. We can do this without cutting any classes due to our expanded floor space. There are now classes running on two floors at once a good portion of the time. Still room for more!

Speaking of more, we have added family TKD Monday and Wednesdays, and I've had some interest in re-opening the senior adaptive Tkd. Let me know if you are interested and I'll move forward on that plan as well.

Our next big event is our Summer fun tournament, held at the school. Be sure to come!

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