Ice Cream Party

This past Friday night was our first annual Ice Cream Party! Mr. Jouan & Miss Boulden brought the ice cream and each family brought a topping to share! We had a wide range of goodies including chocolate syrup, M & Ms, gummie bears & even nerds! The students and their families really enjoyed creating their own masterpieces. The evening concluded with a few rounds of musical chairs and limbo. A great time was had by all!

Summer--New Belts, New Leaders, New Schedule

This past weekend was a busy weekend at ATA Martial Arts of West Chester. Friday night we had our End of the School Year Parent's Night Out. It was a lot of fun! We did many martial arts workouts as well as playing kickball & dodgeball outside, eating pizza, and playing ninja reflex on the Wii. The children had a blast!
On Saturday morning we had our belt promotions for Tiny Tigers and then promotions for Junior, Teen, & Adult students immediately following. We had over 50 students acheive new ranks and reach new goals. We were very grateful to have Deputy Anthony Schubbeio from the West Chester Sheriff's Department to be our attitude judge.
Also, a special congratulations to Mr. Walker Holman for being the first student at ATA West Chester to earn his Junior Leadership collar. We are very proud of everyone who promoted and a special thank you to all the parents and families who make this all possible for your children and self.
After the belt promotions on Saturday, we did our annual Father's Day Workout. The dads did a great job and were very intense. The students loved training side by side with their dads and holding targets.
Monday started our new schedule! We now have intermediate classes for all the students who promoted to the camo belt level! We are very excited!

Open House

Saturday, May 16th was our first annual Spring Open House. We kicked it off at 12:30 with a Dynamic Kicking Seminar, at 1:30 we did the ATA Kidz n' Power program, and then at 3:00 we did a Board Breaking Seminar. We had over 100 visitors throughout the day! We gave out free hot dogs, potato chips, pretzels, and Wawa drinks all day. We also had a live DJ, as well as having many local businesses in attendance such as the new Learning Rx and the First National Bank. The West Chester Police Depatement & Fire Department were there to show off their vehicles and to talk with the kids. It was fantastic! We also did fundraising activities for the Avon Breast Care Fund. We had a bake sale, wood boards for a donation, facepainting, and an hourly mega raffle. At the end of the day we raised over $250.00! We surpassed our $200.00 goal! We could not have done it without our loyal ATA families and close friends. We are glad everyone enjoyed themselves!

Mother's Day Workout

On Friday, May 8th, we had our first Mother's Day workout here at ATA West Chester. We had many students, moms, and even grandmothers come to the class. The students, moms, and grandmas did basic techniques and self-defense, held targets for one another, and even had the chance to put together the first four techniques of Songahm 1!! Some of the moms and grandmas can kick really high! We were very impressed.

A few of the moms and grandmas are attending regular class this week. All month of May any ATA mom can train for free in any beginner class! We look forward to seeing some new white belts in class. It is great to train with your family!!

We will see you at the next event, our open house, this Saturday, May 16th from 12PM-4PM. We will have many exciting classes and free WaWa food! We cannot wait!

Celebrating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's 25th Year Anniversary!

This past Saturday Mr. Jouan , Miss Boulden, fellow instructors from Region 110A, and a few students went to Citizen's Bank Park before the Phillies game(Go Phillies!) to help build excitement for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's 25th Year Anniversary! Michaelangelo, Raphael, Donnatello, & Leonardo were all there posing for pictures. They also brought their party bus which served as a free mobile museum. The turtles are bringing themselves and the party bus to many other major US cities. The next stop on their tour will be in Detroit.

ATA & the Turtles had a great time doing many demonstrations to get the crowd fired up before the game. We gave out many free goodies including comic books, buttons, and masks. The turtles even made an appearance on the field too before the game started! How cool! Cowabunga!
For more information about the turtle's mobile tour or for more pictures, please visit www.ataonline.com/tmnt!

Regional Tournament in New Jersey

This past Saturday 10 students competed in a Regional Tournament in Lincroft, NJ. Each student did a fantastic job and went home with a trophy! We are so proud of our West Chester ATA students for trying something new and challenging themselves in their martial arts training. Tournaments are a great way to build confidence as well as measure the quality of technique and skill. We hope all of the students are excited to support the next tournament in July, and then Master Stewart's tournament in September. Let's bring home some hardware!

Sparring Seminar

Monday, April 6th was our first ever Sparring Seminar at ATA Martial Arts of West Chester. We were very lucky to have 4th degree black belt special guest from ATA Long Island, Miss Michele Boulden. Miss Michele Boulden, who is also Miss Maria Boulden's sister, did many beginner sparring drills with the students who have the ATA safety gear. The students worked on footwork, blocking and countering. Everyone worked out non-stop for the entire hour and it is safe to say that all in attendance worked up a good sweat! We know we will have some Pennsylvania State Sparring Champions in the next couple of years!