Not the Nationals.....it's the UTA World Championships

Well this is truly a shocker. This past Friday we were told that the Nationals were being held in Memphis and we would be competing in it.............Turns out it's the UTA 2009 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. Check it out: http://www.utalliance.com/register.php
Oh man, this is huge. Opportunities like this do not happen often and we are STOKED!

Can't type anymore, too excited. More to come later.

Nationals is When???!

Well the bad news is that the Spring Tourney scheduled for March is cancelled. The good news is that the Nationals are in April.........wait maybe it's the other way around?! Nah, it's all good. We found out tonight that the Regional Tourney was cancelled so the Teams can focus on the Nationals the first of April. Not even an April Fools joke. Excited, nervous, hopeful, unsure.......ah the emotional roller coaster.

Going to Nationals for the 1st time is gonna be CRAZY! Four Densons competing at the same time, whew, I'm exhausted just thinking about it. We will be not only representing ourselves, but also our Family & School. Now it is truly time for us to focus on every aspect of TKD. What an exciting time it is.

Tonight we focused almost the entire time on the basics. Stancing, chambering, power, timing...all of which we will continue to work on at home as well. I have a sneaky feeling that I will be one of the older competitors in the Adult Under Rank division, AGAIN! Ah well, helps to motivate me, which in turn (and more importantly) inspires my young'ns to do their best. It's all about perspective anyway.

Until the next time, I wish Peace to each of you!

Variety is Key

This will not be a TKD post. It's a little something about our weekends. I'm sure the weekends add variety to your life and our family weekends are no different. After daily training in TKD, Saturdays are the Denson Sports day. TKD has helped the kids with balance coordination and flexibility. This is a very good thing because Emily Grace is cheering and Tyler is playing Basketball. Here's a few pics from today.

Always Smiling:

On the left end and still smiling

Tyler just waiting for the big steal:The moment after the steal and he's off to the races:

Ahhh, what fun we have on Saturday mornings.

Until the next time, I wish you safety and joy!

New Year- New goals

Has it really been over a month since the last post?! Man, have I been a slacker. Actually over the holidays there was little in the way of TKD to post. Hope all had the greatest Christmas Ever & the Happiest of New Year's.

I can't believe we've been at this over a year now, yet the kids are still focused and dedicated. It's an amazing family experience. If you have youngsters, please consider finding a School that has Family oriented classes, so you too can experience the joy of training and learning together. TKD USA is a great school and I highly recommend them to anyone in the Millington, TN area.

We started back to TKD last week and I have to admit that we started back a bit sluggish. The 3 weeks layoff was not beneficial for the body. Last week was focused primarily on clearing the cob webs and refocusing on being better Martial Artists. We have started an every morning routine at the urging/insistance of our Instructors that includes the following: push ups, sit ups and lunges. The numbers are low to get the body accustomed to this new routine. Should help start the day off....besides, my oldest (Dalton) will not let me slack at all in the morning. He has been a great accountability partner to get up earlly to do the routine and practice all of our patterns up to this point.

We have testing in 3 weeks, so we are really focused on being prepared. Patterns, Stick Drills, Sparring & conditioning M-F.
We all are being tested for new ranks:
Emily- testing for Purple belt
Dalton, Tyler & Dad- testing for Brown belt

Also, coming up in March we have a Regional Tournament. I am sure I will face some of the folks that have been in the previous two tourney's. I'm sure one fella that I faced in the Sparring Finals both times is gonna be looking to whoop me & will be bringing his A game. Just means more work and effort to be ready ;-)

Hope everyone has a great week!

Peace 2 U n u'rs!

A little about nothing

There is absolutely nothing TKD related to post since testing. I went to Chicago the Saturday after Thanksgiving and returned late this past Thursday.........so no TKD activity has occured.

Two weekends ago, a family friend and incredible man passed away unexpectantly. So, I want to take a minute to say "Thank you" to Tim for being such a fine example of Friend, Father, Leader and Example of a Strong Man. You will be remembered and missed often. Nothing has quite touched my heart as much as pouring thru your work laptop trying to find/retrieve your family pictures for Becky & Trey. Your passing reminds me to appreciate every minute, day, week, year that I am blessed enough to have with family & friends.

Today is my 42nd Birth Day so I am signing off now to celebrate with the family!!

May God Bless each & every one of you!

A month late

WOW, has it really been four weeks since I last posted. Holy cow, I have really fallen behind. Let's get started. This month has hosted two milestones for us. The first one occured Friday, November 14th. We attended out first Board Breaking Seminar. Mr Wiggins was the host and it was a blast. We learned proper technique for getting the maximum focal power while striking and kicking. Ultimately, it's not about the actual board breaking as much as it is about learning to focus your power to a smaller point for maximum impact effectiveness.

Mr Wiggins leading the kids:

Kids warming up:

Emily & Dalton waiting their turns:Tyler breaking with a Side Hammer:

Dalton executing a very effective SideKick:

Dad's turn with a SideKick of his own: Tho Emily was ready, the Board was not willing to cooperate....but she tried hard, all the while constantly smiling:

This past Friday we tested for our next ranks. Gladly, we all passed and advanced in rank. Me & the boys are now Advanced Blue Belts and Emily is now a Green belt.

The next couple of months will be slow due to the coming Holidays. But the new year should start off with a bang.

Happy Thanksgiving to all & may God Bless you during this and all other times of the year.

Peace!

Feeling it

It has been over a week since I last posted, so I am taking a 15 minute break from work to write this. We did train 5 days last week, but we were a bit lackluster coming off the Tournament focused training. Since we are testing mid-November, we are not gonna slow down.

TKD has truly helped us bond. Nothing like learning, sweating, and earning together. Emily Grace's kicks have improved tremendously over the course of the last couple of weeks. Her balance, height and power is getting better each week and it is cool to be apart of. We hit the pads at home a couple of days a week (just me & her) in addition to the classes and she seems to really enjoy the one on one time.

Dalton & I have added circuit weight training to our mornings. T-man is not so into joining us ;-) but he does get up a couple of times a week and join us for patterns, so that's cool. This extra work is an attempt to be more healthy and active.

Our training plan is as follows-

• Mon-Wed-Fri: up @ 6am for 30-45 weight training in a circuit (20 reps per expercise) followed by going thru our 6 patterns 3-5 times.
• Tues-Th-Sat: up @ 6am HIIT program for running. Run 1/4 mile 85%, then walk 1/4, & repeat cycle 3 times. The program calls for adding 1 cycle every 2-3 weeks......huh, guess we'll see how that works out?!

We started the running program September 29th and last week it was time for us to add the weight cycle. So far this weight & running program has enabled me to lose 10 lbs and that's a good thing (only 30 more to lose). Unfortunately, my right knee has been non-stop nagging at me (never had knee problems until now) and I am truly feeling my age. And Yes, it stinks to admit that. Hoping this bad boy heals up soon.

Until the next time, I wish all Peace & happiness!