XMA Comes to ATA

Sunday, May 23, 2010 provided an elite group of students the first look at the world of XMA, X-Treme Martial Arts. Vince Johnson came to share his knowledge of XMA and tricking with students from ATA West Chester, ATA Middletown, and ATA Elkton. Students of all ages, sizes, and martial arts talent worked on new tricks such as butterfly kick, tornado kick, cartwheels, aerials, butterfly twist, 720's and more! Despite the fact that some of the power in the building was out (including the air conditioning) the students still put forth 100% effort for over 4 hours! Way to go, guys!

2010 Community Day Open House

On Saturday, May 22, 2010, ATA Martial Arts hosted its second annual Community Day Open House. The day was full of exciting martial arts training classes. The day started with a packed class for children's self defense. The 60 some students had fun learning about entry points (EYES EYES!!) and how to get away from strangers. The next class was the first ever XMA training class in ATA West Chester and it was taught by one of the best in the biz...Vince Johnson. Even though space was tight, everyone had a blast learning split kicks and butterfly kicks. The day rounded out with board breaking out in the parking lot and more self defense training. We gave away so many prizes throughout the day including pre-screening passes for the new Karate Kid movie. Everyone enjoyed the free hot dogs, chips, and juice. The bake sale and board donation money ended up at around $450 that will go toward a new AED for the school. We had the West Chester Fire Department bring a truck, the Sheriff's Department there with the DARE Cruiser, and Good Fellowship Ambulance there as well. MicroGuard treated and cleaned up everyone's sparring gear and Suntricity showed everyone how solar panels work! Thanks to everyone who came out, participated, and helped make the event a great success!

Double Sshang Jeol Bong Training

ATA West Chester hosted it's first ever Double Sshang Jeol Bong Seminar at the school on April 30th! We had 2 classes. One was for the Tiny Tigers and the other was for the Juniors, Teens, & Adults. Both classes were a lot of fun. We did all 9 Double Sshang Jeol Bong drills as well as putting together some of our own personal free style forms for the last 10 minutes of the class. Second Degree Black Belt and 2009 Weapons World Champion Ms. Sharon Gladson was there to assist! We will now be working with this new training tool in our Leadership Classes. We had a blast!

Be on the lookout for ATA Martial Arts of West Chester at the Chester County Hospital's May Festival next weekend on May 15th and 16th. ATA will have an on stage demonstration on Saturday the 15th at 1PM. We will also be hosting our Community Day Open House on Saturday, May 22nd. For more information, call Miss Boulden or Mr. Jouan at 610.344.9370!

MicroGuard Environmental Health Comes To ATA!

Today ATA Martial Arts of West Chester was treated with MicroGuard, a cutting edge antimicrobial protection to keep our students and their families healthy and safe. MicroGuard is considered a "long lasting control and prevention service to harmful pathogens like bacteria, mold, and viruses". This proactive technology will help prevent common germs around our ATA school. It is EPA approved and is the same protection being used right now in hospitals, healthcare businesses, and even NFL locker rooms! For more information on MicroGuard Environmental Health visit their website at www.microguardhealth.com.

ATA Las Vegas Nationals

Last Wednesday-Saturday Mr. Jouan & Miss Boulden traveled cross country to Las Vegas, Nevada for ATA Spring Nationals! The event took over the Las Vegas Convention Center and drew thousands of ATA competitors and ATA instructors from across the world. Miss Boulden & Mr. Jouan's agenda included a two day Oh Sung Do(Korean Broad Sword) Certification, ATA Fitness Tests, an Instructor Workout, and Black Belt High Rank Midterm Tests.

Although the students back home in West Chester were missed, the trip was a huge success! Both instructors had an informative Oh Sung Do Certification and can officially teach the new weapon at ATA West Chester! Although they had a tough judge, they both passed the ATA Fitness Test with flying colors! Miss Boulden scored a 349/300 and Mr. Jouan scored a 408/300! A lot of knowledge was shared from many of the Chief & Senior Masters at the Instructor Workout. Finally, the Midterm Test was a great success! Forms were completed, sparring was action packed, and board breaks were crushed! Results from the Midterm Test will be available in a few weeks after the ATA Headquarters reviews them.

The Tree Is Firmly Rooted

The tree is firmly rooted in the Earth. ATA West Chester tested their first group of brown belts this past Saturday at Belt Promotion! We had over 100 students advance in belts and patches in presence of our Special Guest Judge, Master Karla Capobianco! Mr. Jouan and Miss Boulden felt very honored to have Master Capobianco share this great milestone with them.

At the conclusion of our High Rank Belt Promotion, Dr. Lorna Stuart from The Clinic in Phoenixville, was our Guest Attitude Judge. Dr. Stuart is a leader in our community because she provides health care for the uninsured. As the founder of The Clinic, Dr. Stuart has appeared in People magazine and on The Today Show. All February the students at ATA West Chester collected various items such as chapstick, soup, tea bags, thermometers, throat lozenges, tissues, and hand sanitizer for special Geusenheit Bags that Dr. Stuart hands out to her patients at The Clinic. We were able to put together a total of 40 bags and even had some extra items leftover to donate! ATA West Chester is very proud. For more information about The Clinic, please visit www.theclinicpa.org.

New Jersey Regional Tournament

Sunday, February 14th, ATA West Chester sent almost 30 students to a Regional Tournament in Lincroft, NJ! The West Chester students did very well and came home with many trophies-- many of these were 1st places! A few of our students are currently in the running for Pennsylvania State Champion. We are very proud of everyone and are excited to help each student reach his or her goal!