June Newsletter

As you have probably realized there was no June Newsletter.  I got behind in April and decided to consolidate the June and July Newsletters so that I can catch up.

July

We will be closed on July 4th, but open the other normal days.

Web Site

In June the web site was damaged.  I have also been getting false positives from Norton Anti-Virus that a virus is embedded in the web site, Downloader. I have worked to try to fix the problem, but have so far been unsuccessful.

I have tried repeatedly to fix the issue without removing and restoring the web site from backup.  Because I have not been successful, I will be taking the web site offline to make the repair.  I am sorry for the inconvenience and will have the website back up and running as soon as possible.

Graduates and 4th Quarter Honor Roll

As a reminder to all the sparring students, no sparring classes are held on the night of Junior Belt Testing.  Parents should expect the Junior Belt Test to be approximately an hour and a half long.

Hamilton-Fairfield Taekwondo is proud of our students and their scholastic achievements.  We strive to not only instill  concepts of physical fitness and spirit, but also focus and commitment to school work.  Healthy bodies and healthy minds are important for our juniors as they become working adults.  During the 4th Quarter, the following students were on Honor Roll.  Students whose names are shown in Bold Red also had straight A's.  If you see these students, please congratulate them on their academic excellence.

Vacation Travel Tips

This month, we are focusing on vacation travel tips  There were many online resources with tips on traveling.  Some had car games, suggestions on traveling with babies, suggestions on traveling with teenagers, and even suggestions when taking mom and dad on a trip.  The following are just a few tips and some links to sites for further information:

• If you are flying, take a carryon bag that has the essentials, e.g. medicines, valuables, change of clothes, toothbrush.  While our family does not fly frequently, the one time we did travel by plane our bags were a little later than we were arriving. Luckily, we had what we needed in the carry on bags.

• If you are flying with carry on luggage, keep an eye on it.  Thieves know that you are likely to keep valuables in the carry on luggage.

• Do not pack valuables in luggage that will be checked at an airport.  It is possible for the bags to be lost and the bags are handled in unsupervised locations where a thief might open your bag and steal something.

• Select motels or hotels where the doors open to an inside corridor.  While it is convenient to have an exterior door for loading and unloading luggage, thieves are also able to watch you coming and going at these types of hotels, and they will wait for the opportunity to enter your room and rob you.

• Try to stay at hotels that use electronic keys.  The electronic keys are coded for each guest and make it harder for someone to steal your key and use it to later get into your room.

• If you are driving, plan for rest breaks and/or driver changes.  Many accidents occur simply from the driver falling asleep at the wheel after having driven for too long without a break.

• If you are traveling with friends or family, they may have different lifestyles and ideas of a good time.  For instance, some people may want to see the world's biggest ball of twine while others may want to sit by the pool and read. To remain on speaking terms with your traveling companions:

  • Consider carefully whether to take two cars so that you are not bound to what the other people want to do

  • Be flexible.  It is vacation.  It should be fun.

  • Give your friends or family space.  Not everyone wants to spend every waking moment with you.

  • Be honest.  Before you leave on the trip, be sure that everyone understands that you may want to do something on your own.  If you do want to do something on your own, be honest and tell them.  Your friends and family might appreciate a little time away from you, too.

• Vacation is supposed to fun and relaxing.  I am a bit compulsive about planning, and have to remind myself that freaking out on details isn't fun and isn't relaxing.

Have a great summer and vacations.  Here are some of the links I found with further information:

Family Travel Guides

Vacation Ideas

Take Me Fishing

In our Taekwondo, grappling, and self defense classes, we spend a lot of time teaching Escapes from the Mount.  If an attacker gets you on the ground on your back in the Mount Position, it is very difficult to defend yourself and you can be badly injured. 

This position is also a favored position for most attackers, particularly stronger attackers.  Because this position is so bad, we spend a lot of time practicing escapes from the position.  The technique this month, Escape from the Mound (3) - Hip Bucking, is not as commonly practiced in our school, but can be very effective at keeping an attacker off balance and getting out of the position. 

Martial Artists: Robert Gerhardt and Craig Stoll